Jamshed V Rajan

Block 11: The Death Block Block 11 was the camp prison within Auschwitz I — the most feared building in the camp. It housed the SS Gestapo court, the standing cells in the basement (tiny spaces where prisoners stood through the night as punishment), and the starvation cells where prisoners were condemned to death without … Read more

The Gas Chamber & Crematorium I at Auschwitz Crematorium I at Auschwitz I is the first gas chamber built at the complex and the site of the first experimental killings using Zyklon B in September 1941. It served as a killing facility from 1941 to 1942, when the larger Birkenau crematoria replaced it. Visitors can … Read more

The Gas Chambers & Crematoria at Birkenau Birkenau contained four purpose-built gas chamber and crematorium complexes — Crematoria II, III, IV, and V — operational from 1943. Together they were capable of murdering and incinerating thousands of people per day. In late 1944, as Soviet forces approached, the SS dynamited all four to destroy evidence … Read more

The International Monument to the Victims of Fascism at Auschwitz-Birkenau The International Monument to the Victims of Fascism stands between the ruins of Crematoria II and III at the far end of the Birkenau railway ramp. Unveiled in 1967, it consists of a series of large stone memorial slabs bearing inscriptions in the languages of … Read more

The Prisoner Barracks at Birkenau Birkenau at its height contained over 300 prisoner barracks across multiple camp sections, housing men, women, and children in conditions of extreme overcrowding, malnutrition, and disease. Most of the barracks no longer exist — burned or demolished by the SS or collapsed over time. What remains are the rows of … Read more

The Prisoner Exhibitions at Auschwitz I: Blocks 4, 5 & 6 Blocks 4, 5, and 6 at Auschwitz I house the museum’s core permanent exhibitions. Block 4 documents the process of mass extermination, including the hair room (photography prohibited). Block 5 displays the personal belongings confiscated from victims on arrival — shoes, suitcases, glasses, and … Read more

The Kanada Warehouses at Birkenau “Kanada” was the name given by prisoners to the warehouse complex at Birkenau where property confiscated from arriving deportees was sorted, catalogued, and stored before being shipped back to Germany. The name reflected the prisoners’ association of Canada with wealth and abundance. At liberation, Soviet forces found 348 warehouses containing … Read more

The Railway Ramp at Birkenau The railway ramp at Birkenau is the platform alongside the railway track inside the camp where arriving deportees disembarked from transport trains and underwent the SS selection process. Those deemed fit for forced labour were registered as prisoners; the remainder — typically 70–80% of each transport, including almost all children … Read more