Auschwitz Buildings, “outside the wire”

[Makarov]

A little bit more about Hundezwinger/dog compound in Birkenau:.......It seems that there is not much to see anymore. Some fence posts still remain there.

That's more than I expected, I will take a closer look when I go back later this year. Thank's for bringing this up

[solarity52]

I have spent way too much time searching the internet with no success for a wartime photo of the SS Administration building at Birkenau that is now being used as a church. Hundreds of SS officers passed through that building and perhaps thousands of SS troops spent time living in the numerous barracks immediately behind this building. The entire barracks area has disappeared without any trace, even to the point that the road and lot layout is totally different.

You have to believe that many soldiers took photos of their time spent at Auschwitz yet there doesn't seem to be a single wartime photo available of this entire complex. Aside from the photo posted by Sampo Jämbeck in 2018 that might be from this area, the photographic history seems to have completely vanished. Seems rather odd.

[GregSingh]

Aside from the photo posted by Sampo Jämbeck in 2018

This photo comes from so called Höcker Album, apparently one of 116. Out of that number here are about 20-30 available:
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/ ... ries=18613

[history1]

I´m confused. As far as I remember we were not positive that this building in the photo is part of the camp administration building. That is what solarity52 was/is looking for. Or did I misunderstand something?

[solarity52]

Thanks for the reply. I have had no luck locating the rest of the Hocker album photos other than the relative handful that are all over the internet. Is there some site that shows the entire album?

"As far as I remember we were not positive that this building in the photo is part of the camp administration building. That is what solarity52 was/is looking for."

Yes,I would like to see any photos of the SS Admin facility at Birkenau. It was rather large with many soldiers passing through so it stands to reason a lot of photos were taken. Yet none are to be found online. No doubt many are sitting lost to the world in dusty, moldering scrapboooks and boxes.

[Sampo Jämbeck]

It has been a long time since I was here last time.
I found some of my old files related to SS-Truppenlazarett at Birkenau.
"Camera" is positioned approximately to the direction what you see in the picture.
Red arrow is used to connect the right picture. I do not know why I made it this messy.

TruppenlazarettTrial.jpg

Green arrow is used for probable location.

TruppenlazarettTrial2.jpg

This is one my interests because photos from SS-Truppenlazarett album seem to pop up sometimes out of context
and are mixed or confused with Auschwitz Stammlager photos.

Krankenzimmer.jpg

One such photo is labeled "Krankenzimmer" (sickroom) in Truppenlazarett album and is improperly located to SS-hospital at Stammlager.
Sometimes it is even located to prisoners hospital. It was in Infektionsabteilung or isolation ward for infectious diseases.

[*NL*]

Thank you Sampo Jämbeck for this very interesting addition to this thread, much appreciated. Best regards, Hans.

[Makarov]

Just got back from a trip to Poland which included yet another visit to Auschwitz. The main camp entrance has from mid June been removed from the former prisoner registration building on Stanislawy Leszczynskiej to the area of the former slaughter house on Wiezniow Oswiecima, just outside the former main camp. The slaughter house has been torned down and the new (underground) museum entrance is at that spot now. Perhaps some part of the slaughter house is integrated in the new entrance, the tour guide (or educater as the museum prefer to call them) implied that could be the case. I can't tell for sure. This removal is for the better, the chaos and the crowding that occured at the registration building, inside and outside, is now gone and no visitors is allowed there any more. The former registration building can now be historical preserved in a proper way. If it's gonna be part of the museum in the future I don't know. Visiting the grounds of the main camp is also much calmer than it used to be.

The educator also told us when we toured Birkenau that all the wooden buildings in section BIIA are replicas. I know Geoff discuss this in the link below.
http://www.thirdreichruins.com/auschwit ... m#lagerb2a

[Geoff Walden]

Thanks, Makarov, for this important update! Big changes there …
It’s too bad that a historic building was sacrificed, but I’m happy to hear that the crowding at the old entrance has been alleviated.
Where does the underground entrance let into the camp itself now?
I know that the guides are only allowed to say certain things, and that what they say to the tour groups is strictly controlled by the museum. Perhaps the museum doesn’t want to point out original parts of BIIA. I remember the last time I was there, a tour guide told our group that the ARBEIT MACHT FREI sign was original, but this was quite some time after the original was stolen and a replacement was installed.
Do you know - did they ever put the original back up?

[Makarov]

Where does the underground entrance let into the camp itself now?

Approximately 50 meter northeast of Crematorium 1, or just behind the officers mess behind the Crematorium.

I remember the last time I was there, a tour guide told our group that the ARBEIT MACHT FREI sign was original, but this was quite some time after the original was stolen and a replacement was installed.
Do you know - did they ever put the original back up?

The original one was finally restored in 2011 but a replica was put up quiet quick after it was stolen in 2009. I hardly think they installed the original one after it was restored, they simply can't risk anything to happen to it again. So I would put my money on it's safely stored somewhere in the museum. Perhaps it will be displayed in a future exhibition. Time will tell.