Bizarre Postcards - Auschwitz Birkenau

Auschwitz was a network of concentration and extermination camps built and operated in occupied southern Poland by Nazi Germany during the Second World War. It was the largest of the German concentration camps, consisting of Auschwitz I (the Stammlager or main camp or administrative centre); Auschwitz II-Birkenau (the Vernichtungslager or extermination camp); Auschwitz III-Monowitz, also known as Buna-Monowitz (a labor camp); and 45 satellite camps.

Auschwitz I was the site of the deaths of around 70,000 people, mostly ethnic Poles and Soviet prisoners of war. Auschwitz II was the site of the deaths of at least 960,000 Jews, 75,000 Poles, and some 19,000 Gypsies. Auschwitz III-Monowitz served as a labor camp for the Buna-Werke factory of the IG Farben concern.

The main camp was built in February 1940, Auschwitz II was built in October 1941 abd the work camp in May 1942. On January 17, 1945, Nazi personnel started to evacuate the facility. Nearly 60,000 prisoners were forced on a death march toward a camp in Wodzisław Śląski (German: Loslau). Those too weak or sick to walk were left behind. These remaining 7,500 prisoners were liberated by the 322nd Rifle Division of the Red Army on January 27, 1945. Approximately 20,000 Auschwitz prisoners made it to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany, where they were liberated by the British in April 1945. Among the artifacts of automated murder found by the Russians were 348,820 men's suits and 836,255 women's garments.

It is estimated that around 1.6 million people were killed in the Auschwitz camps.

Arbeit Macht Frei
Main gate of the main camp

This unused postcard has the printed text...

Phot. St. Mucha
K. Z. Graf. 12 - 8.11.52 - M-3-21151 - 32.000
Zam. 793 - karton III kl. b. d. 200g 70 x 100
Nakladem Panstwowego Muzeum w Oswleccimiu
Przedruk wzbroniony

"Arbeit macht frei", literally "work makes free" is a German phrase that can be translated as "work liberates" or "work makes you free".

Auschwitz II-Birkenau Panorama

This unused postcard has the printed text...

Phot. St. Mucha
K. Z. Graf. 12 - 26.4.52 - M-3-19328 - 40.000
Zam. 364 - karton V kl. 200g 70 x 100
Nakladem Panstwowego Muzeum w Oswleccimiu
Przedruk wzbroniony

Gate of Death - Auschwitz II-Birkenau

This unused postcard has the printed text...

K. Z. Graf. 12 - 26.4.52 - M-3-19324 - 40.000
Zam. 364 - karton V kl. 200g 70 x 100
Nakladem Panstwowego Muzeum w Oswleccimiu
Przedruk wzbroniony

Crematorium Ovens - Auschwitz II-Birkenau

This unused postcard has the printed text...

K. Z. Graf. 12 - 26.4.52 - M-3-19325 - 40.000
Zam. 364 - karton V kl. 200g 70 x 100
Nakladem Panstwowego Muzeum w Oswleccimiu
Przedruk wzbroniony

Interior of Men's Barracks - Auschwitz II-Birkenau

This unused postcard has the printed text...

Phot. St. Mucha
K. Z. Graf. 12 - 8.11.52 - M-3-21152 - 32.000
Zam. 793 - karton III kl. b. d. 200g 70 x 100
Nakladem Panstwowego Muzeum w Oswleccimiu
Przedruk wzbroniony

On the Way to Work - Auschwitz II-Birkenau

This unused postcard has the printed text...

Phot. St. Mucha
K. Z. Graf. 12 - 8.11.52 - M-3-21153 - 32.000
Zam. 793 - karton III kl. b. d. 200g 70 x 100
Nakladem Panstwowego Muzeum w Oswleccimiu
Przedruk wzbroniony

The Shoes of the Gassed - Auschwitz II-Birkenau

This unused postcard has the printed text...

Phot. St. Mucha
K. Z. Graf. 12 - 8.11.52 - M-3-21154 - 32.000
Zam. 793 - karton III kl. b. d. 200g 70 x 100
Nakladem Panstwowego Muzeum w Oswleccimiu
Przedruk wzbroniony

Cremation of Corpses - Auschwitz II-Birkenau

This unused postcard has the printed text...

K. Z. Graf. 12 - 8.11.52 - M-3-21155 - 32.000
Zam. 793 - karton III kl. b. d. 200g 70 x 100
Nakladem Panstwowego Muzeum w Oswleccimiu
Przedruk wzbroniony

Execution yard of block II - Auschwitz II-Birkenau

This unused postcard has the printed text...

Phot. St. Mucha
K. Z. Graf. 12 - 8.11.52 - M-3-21156 - 32.000
Zam. 793 - karton III kl. b. d. 200g 70 x 100
Nakladem Panstwowego Muzeum w Oswleccimiu
Przedruk wzbroniony

Model of Crematorium Section - Auschwitz II-Birkenau

This unused postcard has the printed text...

Rzezb. M. Siobierski
K. Z. Graf. 12 - 8.11.52 - M-3-21157 - 32.000
Zam. 793 - karton III kl. b. d. 200g 70 x 100
Nakladem Panstwowego Muzeum w Oswleccimiu
Przedruk wzbroniony

When I was looking up information about the camps that made up Auschwitz I ame across may websites with comments like "Never Again". A nice sentiment but what world are these people living in? Have they not heard of atrocities such as Cambodia (1975) Rwanda (1994), Bosnia (1995) and Darfur (2003)?

This page created 12th April 2010, last modified 16th April 2010