Of all the people sent to Auschwitz, only 65,000 survived (Adler 48). .
Birkenau was another concentration camp. It was known for burning the most bodies in 24 hours. It could hold 100,00 people (Grzech 2). Most of the time there was between 50-60,000 men, 30,000 women, and the rest were children (Bedford 88). .
The last one of the major concentration camps in Treblinka. Of the 700,000 people who were sent to Treblinka and were murdered, gassed, and buried only forty survived (Steiner 35). .
Living conditions in concentration camps were unbearable. The prisoners entered a life of role call, work, beating, and random selections for the gas chambers. Roll call happened twice a day. Prisoners stood at attention until the roll call was over, usually taking hours (Adler 51). If prisoners collapsed while being beaten they would be shot (Steiner 36). Men and women were brought into the camps in cattle cars (Grzech 3). Once they arrived they were stripped, numbered, and shaved (Bedford 86). Prisoners slept on wooden bunks, three tiers high, with six men to a bunk (Bedford 88). Most prisoners died of exhaustion (Steiner 36). There were many rats, eating away at the sick and dying (Bedford 86). Everyone in the camps suffered from lice (Bedford 88). "No ordinary prisoners could hope to live longer than four months- (Bedford 86). Food was very scarce. Special groups of people had a maximum of 700-800 calories a day (Bedford 86). The rest of the prisoners were served bread and soup once a day (Bedford 32). .
When brought into the camps, the prisoners were put in two different lines. One of the lines sent people to the gas chambers, and the other line was for people who could work. Children were made to stack potatoes from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Bedford 86). Many of the prisoners also worked in the unit where the belongings of new arrivals were stored, tagged, logged, and stored. Jewish prisoners also had the job of escorting condemned prisoners to the gas chamber and then hauled their bodies to the crematoriums (Adler 51).
