APRIL, 27 1940:
« Build me this camp fast ! » Such is the order of Heinrich Himmler, one of the dignitaries of the Third Reich. He wants to build Oswieam, later renamed Auschwitz will receive its first transport of Poles on June, 14 1940.
MARCH, 14 1941:
Auschwitz has 11 000 prisoners (mostly Polish), and covers 40km2.
MARCH, 1 1941:
Himmler wants another camp, on the Birkenau site, three kilometers from Auschwitz. This camp can accomodate 100 000 prisoners of war. In the second half of 1941, Himmler informed the camp authorities of the plans to exterminate all Jews in Europe. Birkenau will then be the place of gathering and extermination of all the Jews of Western Europe. In addition, this site is served by a large railway network, which will facilitate convoys of deportees.
SPRING 1941:
Several Kommandos of prisoners are placed in satellite camps on farms for agricultural work, but also in foundries, facteries, and even mines. The first (most important) camp, Buna Monewitz, is just around a large I.G. Farben rubber and gas plant. The Auschwitz complex consists three camps :
- the main camp (Auschwitz I).
- Birkenau (Auschwitz II).
- Monowitz (Auschwitz III).
It will become the largest and most populated Nazi concentration camps.
