• Ideal location: Existing buildings, railways, and central in occupied Poland.

• Nazi expansion: Auschwitz became a major extermination center due to its suitability.

• Nearby subcamp: Auschwitz-Birkenau facilitated industrialized killings with efficient transport.

The 6 main people

• 1. Rudolf Höss: Longest-serving commandant of Auschwitz I (1940-1943), oversaw camp's expansion.

• 2. Richard Baer: Commandant of Auschwitz I (1944), responsible for increased brutality.

• 3. Arthur Puhch: Briefly oversaw gas chambers at Birkenau.

• 4. Rudolf Höß (returned briefly in 1944): Supervised arrival of Hungarian Jews for extermination at Birkenau.

• 5. Fritz Hartjenstein: Commandant of Auschwitz II-Birkenau (1943), oversaw gassing operations.

• 6. Josef Kramer: Commandant of Auschwitz II-Birkenau (1944-1945) until liberation.

  
  

  
  

• The killings at Chelmno started brutally in December 1941. They used sealed trucks as mobile gas chambers, pumping carbon monoxide to kill victims. Initially, they targeted Jews and Roma from surrounding areas.

How many jews were killed ( operation Reinhard )

• In Operation Reinhard, Nazi extermination camps killed an estimated 1.7 million Jews. This includes those murdered at Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka, along with others killed in related Aktionen (mass shootings).

The Nazis experimented with several poisons in their gas chambers, including Zyklon B (hydrogen cyanide) and carbon monoxide. Zyklon B was ultimately the poison they used to kill millions of people.

Describe the gassing process at Auschwitz-Birkenau

The gassing process at Auschwitz-Birkenau was horrific. People were forced into gas chambers under the pretense that they were going to be showered. The SS and their collaborators would then seal the chambers and release Zyklon B pellets, which would release hydrogen cyanide gas. The people inside would then die in agony, often clawing at the walls in a desperate attempt to escape.

Rudolf Hoss was the commandant of Auschwitz from 1941 to 1944. He played a central role in the extermination of Jews and other victims at Auschwitz. Hoss was a committed Nazi who believed in the racial ideology of the Third Reich. He was directly responsible for the implementation of the gassing program at Auschwitz and oversaw the expansion of the camp to accommodate the mass murder of Jews.

Hoss’s view of the gassing process

Rudolf Hoss viewed the gassing process as a technical exercise and showed no remorse for his crimes. He believed that he was simply carrying out orders and that he was doing his duty to the German state. After the war, Hoss was captured by British forces and put on trial for his crimes. He was convicted of mass murder and sentenced to death.