Selection
After arriving at a camp, men and women were separated, children staying with their mothers. A Nazi looked at each person to decide if he/she was healthy and strong enough for forced labor. If decided you weren't, you were sent to gas chambers, where you were condemned to death.
"Some officers had the custom of standing at the doorway… and feeling the private parts of the young women entering the gas bunker. After they were gassed, they were searched to see if they had not hidden jewelry in the intimate parts of their bodies, and their hair was cut off and methodically placed in sacks for industrial purposes" - Lieb Langfuss, one survivor was a member of the sonderkommando.
"Some officers had the custom of standing at the doorway… and feeling the private parts of the young women entering the gas bunker. After they were gassed, they were searched to see if they had not hidden jewelry in the intimate parts of their bodies, and their hair was cut off and methodically placed in sacks for industrial purposes" - Lieb Langfuss, one survivor was a member of the sonderkommando.
Those Jews selected for work were sent to a separate building for registration. Prisoners would be registered, before undressing, placing their clothes on a hook, together with their shoes.
Jack, aged 17, who had travelled from Greece to Auschwitz in Poland, says “They gave us striped pyjamas. Some of us got sizes too big or too small, but we changed among ourselves.” |
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They would then be tattooed with a registration number, shaved of all body hair, disinfected and forced through showers that were either extremely cold or painfully hot. After all of that, they would be given a set of striped pajamas and sent of to there sleeping bunks.
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Anna, aged 11, from Poland, describes the effect of having her hair cut: “I look around and I see young girls with scissors and clippers cutting hair off clean to the scalp... when the cold scissors touch my scalp and my hair slowly falls down, I can’t help it, my tears fall down, mixed with my black curls.”
Mel, aged 15, from Czechoslovakia, goes on: “We all looked alike... Rich, poor, young, old. We shared the same fate as in no way before. I hardly recognised my father. Friends would pass you by. It was a nightmare.” |