a) Millions of people were killed at Auschwitz. What is the meaning of the sign, Arbeit macht frei!, that the Germans put at its entrance?
b) Describe the 3 camps into which Auschwitz was divided.
c) How many people do you think are on this platform?
d) What might the people be thinking, seeing their luggage having been left behind on the cattle trucks from which they have just disembarked?
e) The able-bodied ones who were in this crowd were sent to work camps. What happened to the others?
f) What chance do you think there was of escape from a camp like Auschwitz?
g) What facilities were there for meals? for privacy? for possessions?

Polish Jews arriving at Auschwitz

h) Why would there be constant changes in the prisoners occupying each barracks?
i) "...Marika was told to cast her blue eyes down and to say she was 18 and not 15, as she passed Dr Mengele." Who was Dr Mengele and why was he known as "The Angel of Death"?
j) What is known about Mengele's whereabouts in the postwar period?
k) What evidence is there to show that places like Auschwitz really existed?
l) Before cremation, the victims were gassed with a deadly cyanide gas (Zyklon B) in special gas chambers. Then the bodies were removed to the crematoria for burning. What do you think motivated the Nazis to harness technology to annhililate the Jews and dispose of their bodies in this way?
m) Imagine that you are one of the inmates of a concentration camp. Write a personal account of your living conditions and meagre food rations in the camp. Recall your feelings during this traumatic time. You will need to consult survivor testimonies from this website and others sources.