Auschwitz was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany
in occupied Poland since 1939. It consisted of Auschwitz I, the main camp (Stammlager) in Oswiecim;
Auschwitz II-Birkenau, a concentration and extermination camp with gas chambers; Auschwitz III-Monowitz,
a labor camp for the chemical conglomerate IG Farben; and dozens of subcamps. Auschwitz I was first an
army baracks then a prison for political detainees. It became a camp for executions in 1941.































Auschwitz II (Birkenau) is only 3 KM from Auschwitz I. Bilding started in 1941.
It was able to exterminate 1500 people per day, 5 times that of Auschwitz I.







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