Charles Bournes
History 1200
12/9/14

While watching the videos, I gained knowledge on both how the Jews were treated and how many people were stored at Auschwitz. Elie Wiesel was one out of millions of Jews that were taken to Auschwitz. Him along with his family, were transported to the camp with no type of say or freedom. Wiesel referred to it as a slave labor camp. On the gate of Auschwitz was a sign in German which read, 'Arbeit macht frei', which means work makes you free. The camp was divided into three areas: Auschwitz was the camp commander's headquarters and administrative offices. It is miles away from the main part. At these camps, slave labor was used to kill the people. The working conditions were so poor that death was a sure result. Auschwitz began taking women prisoners in the earlier part of 1942, but later that same years, the women were housed in Birkenau. When the Jews arrived at Auschwitz, they were met with threats and death promises. If they didn't do exactly as they were told, they would be beaten to death, starved, or shot. At times the slaves were told that things would get better.
It surprised me on how these people were treated. They literally had no freedom. I learned that up to 8,000 people were being transported to the camps every day. The Nazi’s main goal was to completely wipe out there race. If you weren’t good enough to do labor you were killed in a vicious way. Women along with their children were sometimes put into gas chambers that held thousands of people and killed by a dangerous chemical. The bodies were then dumped in the basement where there were burned. I disagree with forcing labor on people and killing them shortly after. I couldn’t imagine having to sleep on top of thousands of people and living my life under the willingness of a Nazi. Gerda Weissmann was caught right in the middle of World War II at just 15 years old. She says that Bielsko, Poland was nice place to live. On September 1st there were explosions, planes, shooting and much more. At that point they knew the Germans were on their way. She explained the feeling as “not feeling at home anymore”. They were told to stand in straight lines and at that point her and her mother realized that they would not be going to the same place. They were then loaded into trucks with no ideal as to where they headed. Brave yet afraid, Gerda jumped off only to come in contact with a German soldier. She was told that she was too young to die and immediately thrown back onto the truck. Being so young and separated from your parents has to be the most terrifying time of your life. After arriving to the labor camp, she knew this wasn’t a good place. Hoping to soon be free, she stayed in the camp for 3 years. During their time there, they learned that working was either life or death. By the thousands the girls were lined up and ordered to march. She describes walking in the snow as one of the harshest days. They weren’t fed for days nor did they all have the proper clothing to endure the weather. To get through it she thought of things to get her mind off of reality. On this walk they planned an escape plan to disappear into the woods. It was until they witnessed the killing of girls who had already tried this that they changed their minds. For those that survived the march were abandoned shortly after. The feeling of freedom meant everything to her at this point. She said “to see someone who fought for their freedom looked like god to her”. To hear how harsh and devastating living conditions were brings great sympathy towards these young ladies. In my mind it’s no reason to have treated these people like this. However, after watching the video it makes me question what happed to the boys that were their age. This compared to Auschwitz are similar but still different in some ways. Gerda didn’t tell whether certain girls were disobedient or were killed immediately after their arrival to the camp.