Auschwitz was an infamous complex of concentration and death camps. It was run by Nazi Germany during World War II, from 1939 till 1945. The complex was located in southern Poland. It was the largest of the Nazi death and concentration camps and its name has forever became associated with "genocide".
Jonathan Blumen, a World War II survivor, wrote the Auschwitz Alphabet. In this book he writes about the result of many years of what we know as the Holocaust. Through the English letter a through the letter b, he describes the horror of the Nazi Concentration Camp, Auschwitz.
The letter a stands for Arbeit Macht Frei. This means "Work Brings Freedom". It was a sign that hung over the gates of Auschwitz. Rudolph Hoss commander of the camp put it there. To him this meant that if you worked to exhaustion then you will be released, "in the form of endless labor does in itself bring a kind of spiritual freedom" (Jonathan Blumen).
The letter b stands for block 10. It was the medical experimentation block in Auschwitz. It was a balance of horrors. To be an experimental subject could prolong life, or could quickly end it. Block 10 was in the men's camp, but most people who were confined where women (Dr. Clauberg).
The letter c stands for clothing and nakedness. The inmates of Auschwitz hardly had clothes. Such as, Olga Lengyel who desperately needed a waste band to hold up his draws. Instead he got lucky and near the dumpster he found twine to hold them.
The letter d is for doctors. The doctors of Auschwitz played a crucial role. They participated in virtually all selections. They decided who should die and who shouldn't. Even though they saved the lives of many prisoner doctors, to enlist them as their human experiments. .
The letter e stands for escape, which was very rare at Auschwitz! There where only six hundred cases of escape from Auschwitz and four hundred of them where captured. When a person who tried to escape was captured he or she cam back with a sign on their neck that said hurrah (I am back), then they where hanged in front everyone.
