Auschwitz: Hatred, Agony, and Death

by Bria Emerson, Erin Vohryzek-Bolden, Catherine Nimmo, Jennifer Jacobson
December 2003

Auschwitz was the largest death camp during the Holocaust, which is located in Poland. The Nazis, lead by Adolf Hitler, used their extreme hatred to punish Jews, gypsies, political prisoners and many other victims in hopes to cleanse European society of a population they found threatening. Torture, labor and death were amongst the many ways Nazis performed their power over this weaker group. Auschwitz was a major factor in accomplishing the Final Solution.

Men of Hatred. About the Author: Erin Vohryzek-Bolden

As much as one can say that we are all equal, we cannot help but remember the terror in which one man inflicted on another during the Holocaust. SS guards, with the orders of Commandant Rudolf Hoss, committed murders of pure hatred towards another human being. These SS guards had a deep hatred toward Jews, and expressed it frequently with guns and whips, never to be frightened by a Jew. This authority in Auschwitz helped to create the reputation of pure horror in Auschwitz.

Living Conditions. About the Author: Bria Emerson

The Jews and all other innocent Holocaust victims were forced to separate from their families, leave familiar lifestyles behind and lose all self identity. They were also given horrible, unsanitary conditions to live in until the day of their death. From lack of food, death in the gas chamber and the torment distributed from all Nazi authority, these prisoners were poisoned mentally and physically.

Forced Labor. About the Author: Jennifer Jacobson

The forced labor in the extermination camps, especially in Auschwitz, is an extremely important area to cover during the Holocaust. Some of the shocking tasks and the way the prisoners were treated was cruel and emotionally painful. Because of the effect of the Holocaust this is an extremely important subject that is quite often overlooked, and not studied enough. 

Showers of Death About the Author: Catherine Nimmo

September 3, 1941, the first orchestrated gassings of prisoners were perpetrated at Auschwitz. Over the next three and half years, an estimated 1.2 million people were viciously murdered in these gas chambers. Beginning with only a single crematorium, the Nazis had limited means to eradicate their prisoners which led them to initiate the final plan and resurrect four more crematoriums making Auschwitz the largest death camp of the Holocaust.

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About the Authors

Erin Vohryzek-Bolden. Author of: Men of Hatred.

My name is Erin Vohryzek- Bolden and I am a sophomore at UCSB. I am technically undeclared in my studies, but I am planning to declare history as my major with an emphasis on 20th century Europe. I chose Interdisciplinary Perceptions to the Holocaust mainly because of the fact that I am a second generation Czech. My grandfather was born and raised in Hrdlovka, Czechoslovakia in the Sudetenland. He was lucky enough to escape Europe to South America, yet his father, my great grandfather was eventually sent to Auschwitz where he would be killed. Many of my grand uncles were killed along with my great grandfather because only the oldest boy of the family was able to leave the Sudetenland for search of a better world. My family history has really inspired me to learn as much as I can about the topic of the Holocaust as well as Auschwitz in general. Learning about the different aspects of the Holocaust was and is my main goal for this class and this project. I hope someday that I will be able to share the knowledge that I have learned about the Holocaust to kids when I hopefully become a teacher.

Bria Emerson. Author of: Living Conditions

I, Bria Emerson, am an undeclared sophomore at the University of California Santa Barbara. While leaning towards an Anthropology major, I am experimenting with various courses. Santa Barbara is a beautiful place to live; I am thoroughly enjoying my studies at this university. My intentions of joining Professor Marcuse?s Interdisciplinary Perceptions to the Holocaust class were to further my knowledge of the Holocaust. I have always been aware of the horrors of the Holocaust, but have wanted to learn more about the details and reasons guiding to these mass exterminations. This subject has always drawn me in and when given this opportunity to study the topic in depth, I immediately joined. The physical and mental trauma and harsh, deadly conditions I have learned more about are all so surreal. Is it truly unbelievable to read, hear about the extreme hatred one large group had for another.

Jennifer Jacobson. Author of Forced Labor.

My name is Jennifer Jacobson, and I am a Sophomore Pre-Psychology major at UCSB.  I came to Santa Barbara mainly because of the location.  I thought it was a beautiful school, with many different opportunities to offer.  I have always been intrigued by history, but have never really had the opportunity to take a history class. Searching through the F03 schedule of classes, I spotted this class and thought this would be a perfect opportunity to take a class of this sort.  I thought this would be a very interesting class, and something that I would definitely love to learn more about.  I didn't expect this class to teach me so much, and be so attention-grabbing at the same time.

My topic for this project was the Jewish labor system inside the concentration camps, focusing on Auschwitz.  I chose this mainly for the reason, that I feel this topic is highly disregarded, and not learned about enough.  The Holocaust was such a key point in history with an unthinkable number of atrocities, that we naturally overlook some of what we consider to be the smaller components in this period of time.  Thus, my goal was to educate myself more on the labor systems, and hopefully do the same for others as well.  Helping them to notice the forced labor system was just a different, but still a horrendous way of ridding the Jews. I found researching on this to be tremendously educational, and fascinating, and I hope others feel the same way also!

Catherine Nimmo. Author of: Showers of Death.

As a second-year psychology major at the University of California Santa Barbara, this is my first in depth look at the Holocaust. I have briefly studied the history of the Holocaust in high school but I have never gotten past the few facts and dates that were covered amidst the numerous other topics that were to be learned. As a psychology major, I have always been interested in the psychological aspects of the Holocaust and how one man, Hitler in particular, could turn a country up-side-down and murder a total of eleven million individuals.


Bibliography

Greene, Joshua and Kumar, Shiva. Witness, Voices from the Holocaust. The Free Press: New York, NY 2000.

Hoss, Rudolf. Kommandant in Auschwitz. English. Death Dealer : the memoirs of the SS Kommandant at Auschwitz. edited by Steven Paskuly ; translated by Andrew Pollinger.  Buffalo, N.Y. : Prometheus Books, 1992.

Kogon, E., Langbein, H., Ruckerl, A. (1993). Nazi Mass Murder: A Documentary History of the Use of Poison Gas. New Haven : Yale University Press.

Nahon, Marco. Birkenau, The Camp of Death. The University of Alabama Press: Tuscaloosa, Alabama, 1989.

Pawelczynska, Anna. Values and Violence in Auschwitz. University of California Press: London, 1979.

“Forced Labor – Nazi Camps.” 10 Years US Holocaust Memorial Museum. Copyright c United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington DC. Viewed 11/18/2003 http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/flabor.htm

“Forced Labor – B’nai B’rith Center.” This article is adapted from the B’nai B’rith Center for Public Policy. From: The Holocaust Web Assignment. Viewed on 11/18/2003. http://fn1.tfn.net/holocaust/online/reading7.html

“Forced Labor picture.” This article is adapted from the B’nai B’rith Center for Public Policy. From: The Holocaust Web Assignment. Viewed on 11/18/2003. http://fn1.tfn.net/holocaust/online/one.html#anchor871441

“Auschwitz Entrance.” Their source: United States Memorial Museum. Copyright 2003 – The American-Israeli cooperative enterprise. Viewed on 11/18/2003. http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Holocaust/auent.html

“Forced Laborers at Krupp Factory picture.” Source: Shoah – The Holocaust. Copyright 2003 – The American Israeli Cooperative Enterprise. Viewed on 11/18/2003 http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Holocaust/kruppslabor.html

“Auschwitz-The Concentration Camp.” Viewed on 11/18/2003. (no other information) http://www.holocaustforgotten.com/journey.htm

“The Persecution of the Jews.” Nazi conspiracy and aggression Volume 1 Chapter X11. http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/holocaust/resource/document/DOCPER7.HTM

Anatomy of the Auschwitz death campYisrael Gutman and Michael Berenbaum, editors; editorial board, Yehuda Bauer, Raul Hilberg, and Franciszek Piper. 
Bloomington : Published in association with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C. [by] Indiana University Press, c1994. UCSB Main Library D805.P7 A53 1994 [Regular Loan]

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