Learn how the Nazis tried to hide their crimes in Auschwitz

Killing people for their religion, skin color, or social status is unjustifiable in any context. When concentration camp leaders were given higher orders to refer Jews to gas chambers, they knew very well that their actions were execrable.

There was probably reason to turn an order into thousands of deaths of innocent people, but at the first sign that Nazi Germany was numbered, steps were taken to hide the concentration camp crimes from the world.

Imminent end

By the end of 1944, with the advance of the Allied forces and the collapse of German organizations, Nazi officers began to plan defeat. As much as there were no more offensive options, it was necessary to keep up appearances and try to minimize the damage that would come after the war.

The concentration camps worked for years, but when surrender became inevitable the order was that the Auschwitz gas chambers were destroyed. The decision maker was Heinrich Himmler, SS chief and one of the Holocaust architects. Some historians disagree on this point, as this order would conflict with an earlier one by Adolf Hitler himself, which determined the death of all Jews who still existed in Europe.

Despite the Russian approach, the prisoners had not yet been released, and their last job was to dismantle the structure piece by piece. When the lack of time began to speak louder, they used dynamite to blow up the remaining buildings.

Death march

After the destruction of much of the Auschwitz concentration camp, an uncomfortable walk began, where the prisoners were separated by their physical condition. The weaker did not even begin the journey, leaving the field to their own devices. Those who were selected had to face extremely adverse conditions, such as cold, hunger and psychological pressure from commanders.

During the journey, no stopping was tolerated, which resulted in the prisoner's death, whatever the reason for his suffering. The idea is that these people would serve as slaves to the Reich, so some were put on trains and taken straight to their destination cities.

The situation was desperate for everyone involved, causing leakage on all sides. For prisoners, entering a freezing forest could mean the only chance to survive; Nazi commanders have done something similar to try to escape possible punishment for the crimes they have committed.

Deplorable scenes

When the Red Army arrived in Auschwitz on January 27, 1945, it found people lying on their own droppings and expecting to starve, as well as children who were used in medical experiments and showed severe sequelae of the procedures.

That day, all Nazi officers had already fled, but they failed when they tried to destroy the depot of the people who passed through the camp. During a conflict, every kind of supply can be used, so there were stored 7 tons of human hair, 370, 000 men's costumes and 837, 000 women's coats and dresses.

Even at the time, the arrival of the Russians in Auschwitz did not gain much relevance in the press, showing that the crimes were covered in every possible way. Fortunately, the Nazis were unsuccessful in the total destruction of the site, which made it possible for future generations to know history.

A place for this purpose, if conceived in a work of fiction, would already be considered absurd. When we realize that humans were able to assemble such a large structure just to kill people more effectively, we need to think about what led so many people to execute such inhuman orders.