Auschwitz I concentration camp
Oświęcim, Poland |
Camp buildings: Germans adapted for the future camp twenty brick buildings of the former Polish Army barracks. 8 new blocks were added and the work reached completion in the first half of 1942.
The blocks were designed to hold about 700 prisoners each, but in practice they housed up to 1,200.
Camp fence and guard tower: the typical fence post was 3,3 m high and fitted with 24 ceramic insulators. There were concrete slabs underneath the fence to prevent prisoners from tunneling. Electricity for the fence was supplied by a high tension line from Siersza Wodna power plant to the main substation in Babice, from which two separate feeders ran to Auschwitz I and Birkenau, where it was connected to the fencing (400 volts at Auschwitz and 760 volts at Birkenau).
At the end of 1943, guard towers were replaced by new ones, fully walled and fitted with windows. Construction was completed in the spring of 1944.
Auschwitz I concentration camp
Oświęcim, Poland |
Camp buildings: Germans adapted for the future camp twenty brick buildings of the former Polish Army barracks. 8 new blocks were added and the work reached completion in the first half of 1942.
The blocks were designed to hold about 700 prisoners each, but in practice they housed up to 1,200.
Camp fence and guard tower: the typical fence post was 3,3 m high and fitted with 24 ceramic insulators. There were concrete slabs underneath the fence to prevent prisoners from tunneling. Electricity for the fence was supplied by a high tension line from Siersza Wodna power plant to the main substation in Babice, from which two separate feeders ran to Auschwitz I and Birkenau, where it was connected to the fencing (400 volts at Auschwitz and 760 volts at Birkenau).
At the end of 1943, guard towers were replaced by new ones, fully walled and fitted with windows. Construction was completed in the spring of 1944.