The Auschwitz Album Visual Essay | Facing History & Ourselves

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The Auschwitz Album Visual Essay

View a famous collection of photographs from the Holocaust of a transport arriving in Auschwitz from Hungary in early summer 1944.

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  • History

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English — US

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The Auschwitz Album Visual Essay

View a famous collection of photographs from the Holocaust of a transport arriving in Auschwitz from Hungary in early summer 1944.

People and belongings outside a train having just arrived at Birkenau.
People and belongings outside a train having just arrived at Birkenau.
Group of people next to train tracks.
Group of people next to train tracks.
The start of the selection process, in front of the camp's entrance. Some prisoners who had already been at the camp a while assist in sorting the new arrivals.
The start of the selection process, in front of the camp's entrance. Some prisoners who had already been at the camp a while assist in sorting the new arrivals.
A woman and children walking toward the crematoria.
A woman and children walking toward the crematoria.
Photograph of a trailer full of clothes and other belongings of new camp prisoners with a group of women on the side of the road.
Photograph of a trailer full of clothes and other belongings of new camp prisoners with a group of women on the side of the road.
Men in prison uniform and shaved heads stand in line.
Men in prison uniform and shaved heads stand in line.

“The Ramp”

Women and children arrive on the “ramp” at Birkenau, where they would be moved along toward the gates. There, physicians decided whether they were fit for slave labor or death.

Credit:
Yad Vashem

Arrival at Birkenau

Mass scene of Jews arriving after an arduous journey. Here they would face the selection process, which ended for many in the crematorium that can be seen in the background.

Credit:
Yad Vashem

Selection Process

The start of the selection process, in front of the camp’s entrance. Some prisoners who had already been at the camp for a time were made to assist in sorting the new arrivals.

Credit:
Yad Vashem

Crematoria IV and V

A group of women and children going toward Crematoria IV and V. There they would be killed, as they were considered to be too weak to do hard labor.

Credit:
Yad Vashem

Confiscation of Prisoners’ Belongings

A trailer full of the clothes and luggage of new prisoners passes a group of women, who are presumably heading toward the gas chamber.

Credit:
Yad Vashem

Selected for Slave Labor

These men were determined fit to perform hard labor. Their heads were shaved and their clothes replaced with prison uniforms.

Credit:
Yad Vashem

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