CONDITIONS"The reasons for the epidemics and contagious diseases that prevailed in Auschwitz concentration camp included the dreadful living conditions" |
Living conditions in Auschwitz were dreadful and led to many of the prisoners deaths. As soon as the prisoners arrived at the camp they were dehumanized. Their clothes were taken, heads shaved and a number was tattooed on their body which was their only form of identification.
LIVING Prisoners were forced to live in barracks constructed of wood or bricks that were vastly over crowded. Each barrack housed around 700 people and did not contain any sanitary facilities. Three tiered bunks were installed and prisoners slept on straw mattresses and had only a thin blanket to cover them even when temperatures reached below zero. FOOD Food rations were given out three times a day; morning, afternoon and night. Meals that were given out would include: imitation coffee, watered down soup, small pieces of black bread and spoiled salami or other cold meat. The small portions of food given to the prisoners led many of them to organic deterioration which would result in them dying. LABOR Prisoners were forced to work for over ten hours a day in terrible conditions and were constantly watched. "Initially, they worked at building the camp: leveling the ground, erecting new blocks and buildings, laying roads, and digging drainage ditches." |