Auschwitz: Place of Horrors

Most of the Nazi death camps were located in Poland. One of the most notorious was Auschwitz, located near the Polish city of Oswiecim, about 60 kilometers from Krakow. Jewish people lived and worshiped in Oswiecim, a city on the Vistula River, before World War II.

In October of 1939, Germany annexed part of Poland. Oswiecim was part of that annexation and, according to the city's archives, the Germans removed all Jews from the town council. By the next month, the city's ability to govern itself was completely eliminated. Instead, a German administration was set up.

By April of 1940, Henrich Himmler ordered a concentration camp to be built at Oswiecim. (It was a preferred location since it already had Polish Army facilities).

On June 14, 1940, the first camp inmates arrived: Polish political prisoners (numbers 31 to 758). Soon after, the camp was flooded with people. (A large number of rail lines led directly to it.)

The notorious Josef Mengele worked there. It was he who was personally responsible for the "selection" that ended the lives of so many men, women and children.