The usage and destruction of Jews was discussed at the Wannsee Conference, they all agreed that previous methods of extermination such as, hanging, shooting etc were not as versatile and suitable now, they realized and figured that the methods were time consuming. Not only were they time consuming but these methods were mentally disturbing and upsetting the executioners. What they needed now was a method that would wipe out a hell of a lot of Jews in a short space of time and also which was cost efficient and cheap.
Then Zyklon B was brought up in the discussion at the Wannsee Conference, Zyklon B was a pesticide which was used to kill rodents, it was also used in hospitals to kill off disabled and mentally disturbed people. But now the Jews being the pests and the Nazi’s being in charge of the pest control led to the poisoning of the Jews which resulted in immediate death.
What was the only thing left now? A perfect location! To be able to carry out the official plan, the plan being the ‘final solution’. Auschwitz was found by Rudolph according to source B and recommended it to Hitler because of ‘its isolation’. The Nazi’s had taken over Auschwitz 1 which only consisted of Nazi designed Polish army barracks which were previously used to lodge political prisoners of war. Auschwitz impressed many of the Nazi’s as a very ideal site to carry out mass murder of the Jews, Hoss was confident about this location as it already had a ‘few huts left over’, these could ideally be used to accommodate Jews. Also it was located on land extending over 40 kilometers and was ‘capable of expansion’.
These reasons were helpful, but were not the sole incentive for Auschwitz being the ideal. The area was very remote, and barely had 1600 citizens, which made the massacres more discrete, with minimal disturbance. The area was almost marshland, hence why there were few inhabitants. This factor was also a massive benefit to the Nazi’s, as it made escape difficult/impossible. If escape was achieved, the habitants were split 50/50, some were Pro Nazi and the others were against Nazism. This made escape more of a deterrent. However the Nazi’s returned the escapees to the camp, and made exhibitions of the escapees to show what would happen if anyone else thought of escaping. They were maimed, tortured, or executed. Also, anybody found aiding an escaped Jew, would be executed. As the number of Jew detainees increased, the barracks began to struggle to accommodate. Himmler, leader of the SS, decided to put ahead plans to drain the marshland so that more Jews could be accommodated and ultimately, more Jews could be massacred.
Auschwitz was a very convenient place to locate a concentration camp for many reasons. The most important reason was because there was great means of transport from different places around Europe. Trains were a quick, simple and cheap process of transporting hundreds of thousands of Jews to Auschwitz who were to be killed off. There were no routes of escape once you were in the sealed carriage.
Auschwitz II also known as Birkenau was extremely advantageous for the Nazi’s due to its woodland environment. This was a big plus point because wood was needed to produce more barracks for more Jewish victims and also to burn and dispose of the murdered Jews. As Zyklon B was a success in exterminating a vast number of Jews in Auschwitz I it only seemed ideal to commence this method here in Auschwitz II as it had a chemical factory.
Auschwitz III also known as Monowitz was a slave labour camp. The Jews who were capable of working and of good strength usually from the ages of 15 to 40 were sent to this camp and were made to work and work to death deliberately.
Factors such as Auschwitz central location in the third Reich, 40 kilometers of land to expand on, the rail links with Polish and USSR Jews, Polish army barracks that could ideally be used to accommodate Jews and a very minute population proved Auschwitz to be an ideal location for a Nazi death camp.
I personally feel that the most important reason was the rail links between the death camp and locations populated with Jews around Europe. Without these I think the Nazi’s would have struggled in trying to transport so many Jews to the death camp. Nevertheless even without these rail links, Hitler would have still done almost anything to carry out the ‘final solution’ but the destruction of the Jews would have been on a much smaller scale.
To conclude, Auschwitz, Birkenau and Monowitz all consisting of an isolated environment and many more factors proved to be extremely ideal and appropriate for death camps and Birkenau being the main camp for exercising the extermination of Jews.
