Did people know about Auschwitz when it opened?

Answer 1

This is one of the Horror stories of WW2. If people were taken straight from the transport train to the gas chambers, they no doubt thought they were just going to the showers, but, if they had been taken to the main camp, and then at a later stage were removed during the 'selection' system, then I am afraid they KNEW!!

There is the story of a Rabbi who was on his way to the Chamber with hundreds of Women and Children, who prayed to God, and Said something to the effect; "God, if you are real, save my people from this horror" Then, as the 'shower' doors closed on him and his people, he was hear to shout, "You are not a True God, you do not exist, it's all been a lie!!" and then the doors closed, and the gas entered.

This story, with the name of the Rabbi was told by people who were still alive when the Russians entered this Camp in Poland, and shows the true horror of all this.

The next question that could be asked, is just how could people do this, to other human beings? There is no true answer to this!

We, in our 'safe' lives, would say, " I would not do this, I would refuse!" But think about it? Would you refuse, if it meant you were pushed in with these poor people? WELL, MAYBE some of us would! But many of us would just do what we were told to do.

The sad thing about this is, that after the second or third time you did this, you would start not to even think about it anymore.

Which is why, nothing has changed in this World. The same things are being done right now in many parts of the World, though not in the same massive numbers.

History tends to repeat it's self, and if you read History, you will find many incidents of this nature, people killing other people, and in the past in very large numbers.

Only the Methods changed. In WW2 Science was used, not the sword as in the 'old' days.

Answer 2

The function of Auschwitz changed over the time it operated. When it opened in May 1940 it was a very harsh concentration camp mainly for Polish intellectuals and resisters. It was rapidly expanded from October 1941 onwards. When the camp first opened it had few, in any, of the emotional overtones now associated with it. Please see the related question.

Answer 3

The British and American governments received frequent reports about the Holocaust from late 1941 on, but were reluctant to believe them.

The key facts were known in the West by early to mid 1942, and Jan Karski of the Polish Underground met President Roosevelt personally, face to face, twice and asked him to intervene.

The Holocaust was reported and discussed in the press in late 1942 and early 1943 in Britain and the US; pamplets about it appeared, there was even a book about it by Jan Karski which appeared in 1944 in English and sold about 400,000 copies in the US by the end of the war.. There was even an article about it in Reader's Digest in February 1943. However, it did not get daily coverage and perhaps it did not 'sink in' and stick.

In Britain a committee was set up early in 1943 to try to do something about the Holocaust but it achieved nothing. There was no quick solution.