Aushuwitz

The concentration camp system began even before World War II. Early camps began as torture chambers for the Nazi party's political enemies and were controlled by the Gestapo (Friendlander 1). World War II intensified the concentration camp system, bringing forth more organized and permanent camps. Heinrich Himmler, head of the German police, ordered the establishment of Auschwitz on April 27, 1940 (Museum 1). Auschwitz began in the suburbs of the city Oswiecim, Poland as a concentration camp built for the forced labor of Polish political prisoners (Dwork 181). The Nazi leaders chose Oswiecim as a building site due in part to the fact that there was already an old army barracks there, it was surrounded by swamp, and was easily accessible by railway (Lawton 11).

Over the years Auschwitz began to expand into three separate parts. The original part was designated the main camp and called Auschwitz I, with construction beginning in May of 1940. Auschwitz I or "Stammager" was meant for 7,000 prisoners but its average occupancy was around 18,000. The original buildings contained 28 two-story brick buildings with wooden side-barracks (Auschwitz). On March 1941, Himmler ordered the construction of Auschwitz II, or Birkenau, which was a larger section of the camp, 1.9 miles from Auschwitz I (Museum 1). Birkenau held up to 100,000 prisoners (Auschwitz) and was known as the most cruel and heartless section of Auschwitz. The living quarters in Birkenau consisted of wooden huts, which were originally intended as stables holding 54 horses. When these stables were used for prisoners they held anywhere from 400 to 1000 people (Shuter 16). Auschwitz III also known as Buna-Monowtiz consisted of 45 forced labor sub-camps, where many of the prisoners worked to produce synthetic oil or rubber in a factory called IG Farben (Dwork 198).

Night was written to not only reflect the horrors and chaos of the Holocaust but also the personal lives of the prisoners. Wiesel vividly portrayed his experiences, along with those of other prisoners, which for the most part are historically based. For instance Weisel discusses the devastation of separating families throughout the process of selection. Night goes on further to tell of the sickening smell of burning flesh produced by the gas chambers which in other accounts has been said to have made many prisoners sick. Wiesel also describes the shortage of daily rations, which have been recorded by many other sources. While there is no exact historical record of Moshe, it is not specifically proven that he did not exist. Examples of the historical authenticity presented in Night include the transportation process, selection, roll call, daily routine, rations, and the conditions of the living quarters at Auschwitz.

The novel begins with a description of a man called Moshe the Beadle. Moshe had been transported to Auschwitz but had fortunately escaped several months later. After his escape Moshe tried desperately to tell the Jews, and specifically the Weisel family, of his experiences in the concentration camp. Unfortunately his efforts were in vain, for the Jews refused to listen to him. They could not even begin to fathom how such cruelty could be possible, so they dismissed him as insane. Despite Moshe's warnings in 1944 the Wiesel family remained in Sighnet and later was transported to Auschwitz. While in the concentration camp, Wiesel was so horrified at what he saw and experienced that those moments were forever sealed in his memory, those moments which "murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust" (Night ix). For Wiesel's family, the selection process immediately divided them, and Wiesel never saw his mother and sister again. Both hunger and death surrounded Wiesel, noting that even the smell of the concentration camp was that of burning flesh. When Auschwitz was forced to evacuate, the death March was too much for Wiesel's father and he soon died

The life of the prisoners was that of a living death. Each day began with the much-dreaded roll call, which consisted of standing at attention completely motionless in the cold, rain, or snow for hours. Breakfast consisted primarily of two cups of coffee or tea, which was often nothing more then water and dried leaves. At best, lunch included three cups of thin turnip or potato soup. For dinner, prisoners received ten ounces of bread with possibly an ounce of sausage or cheese. These rations were carefully calculated to barely keep prisoners from starving to death (Shuter 14).

For those who were convicted of war crimes several trials were held in Poland and West Germany. Still, not all of the war criminals were given a sentence, such as Dr. Josef Me

Some topics in this essay:
IG Farben, Latvia Austria, Auschwitz Mengele's, II III, March Wiesel's, Auschwitz Wiesel, Despite Moshe's, Auschwitz Museum, Birkenau Auschwitz, Farben Dwork, concentration camp, gas chambers, world war ii, world war, war ii, living quarters, auschwitz officials, night written, process selection, ig farben, lawton 22, average life expectancy, speed killing process, dr horst schumann, concentration camp system,