Auschwitz Was Initially Just Another Labor Camp

Auschwitz (O;wi;cim) was by far the most efficient killing machine in the “Holocaust by Gas” – the deadliest phase in the “Holocaust Project”. In fact, Auschwitz (more precisely, Auschwitz II-Birkenau) is the site of the largest mass murder in a single location in human history. Consequently, its establishment in May of 1940, was a giant step on the Road to Holocaust.

However, it was much, much more than just that: ultimately, it grew to become a gargantuan complex of over 40 camps operated by WVHA (SS Main Economic and Administrative Office) in occupied Poland.

This diabolical monster included Auschwitz I, the main camp (Stammlager); Auschwitz II-Birkenau, a concentration and extermination camp with gas chambers; Auschwitz III-Monowitz, a labor camp for the chemical conglomerate IG Farben; and dozens of labor subcamps.

Initially, Auschwitz was just another KL which underwent a rather typical evolution: from army barracks to concentration camp for political prisoners to a forced labor camp. The only difference was that – unlike previous camps – it was built for Poles, not Germans.

After Wehrmacht occupied Poland in September 1939, the Schutzstaffel (SS) converted Polish army barracks (future Auschwitz I), into a prisoner-of-war camp for captured Polish soldiers and officers.

Soon it graduated to a concentration camp for Polish political prisoners (those who were spared during “pacification” project). The first transport of political detainees to Auschwitz consisted almost solely of Poles (for whom the camp was initially established). For the first two years, the majority of inmates were Polish.

Fifty km southwest of Krak;w, the site was first suggested in February 1940 as a quarantine camp for Polish prisoners by Arpad Wigand, the inspector of the Sicherheitspolizei (security police) and deputy of Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski, the Higher SS and Police Leader for Silesia.

Around 1,000m long and 400m wide, Auschwitz consisted at the time of 22 brick buildings, eight of them two-story. A second story was added to the others in 1943 and eight new blocks were built.

The first mass transport – of 728 Polish male political prisoners, including Catholic priests and Jews – arrived on 14 June 1940 from Tarn;w. By March 1941, 10,900 were imprisoned in the camp, most of them Poles.

The first experimental gassing at Auschwitz took place in August 1941.