The Women's Camp at Aschwitz Birkenau - Latrine and Wash barracks

The women would try and get up early to wash and go to the toilet. Apparently thousands of women were required to use the toilet and wash barracks each morning. Those unable to go to the toilet would use their food bowls while a prisoner messing herself may be punishable by death. They had to queue in line and only had a limited amount of time to 'do their business'.

You can see from the wash barrack video that there was even a place for the soap. Unfortunately the latrine barrack was locked when I walked round the women's camp so the video is taken through the window of the barrack. You can see the latrine was basically a row of holes in a block which I heard in a documentary two to three women used at once. It is not comprehensible with modern living standards.

A lot of the bartering took place in the wash rooms and latrines. Obtaining a proper pair of shoes, mainly from Canada (where the suitcases from the transports were sent for sorting) was the difference between life and death. The SS provided sandals or clogs for the prisoners which was totally inappropriate for the harsh weather in the Polish winters.