Friday, 10 June 2016

The Ramp


The ramp within the grounds of Birkenau was built in 1943 and is where, from May 1944, the Hungarian Jews were unloaded from the trains, splitting men from women, fit from the old and weak and young. Prisoners helped the SS guards separate the arrivals into two columns, examples of which can be seen in the Jacob Album. The

The railway spur ran alongside the ramp and led to Crematorium II and III.

At the 'crossroads' on the ramp, where I was attached by a wasp, prisoners were led to the camp doctors where they judged the people based on their fitness, age and occupation decided whether to send them to the left or the right to either the crematorium and their death or to the camp and the hell of working for the SS.



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