Gas chamberA gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or other animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. Poisonous agents used include hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide. General Rochambeau developed a rudimentary method in 1803, during the Haitian Revolution, filling ships' cargo holds with sulfur dioxide to suffocate prisoners of war. The scale of these operations was brought to larger public attention in the book Napoleon's Crimes (2005), although the allegations of scale and sources were heavily questioned.
Zyklon BZyklon B (tsyˈkloːn ˈbeː; translated Cyclone B) was the trade name of a cyanide-based pesticide invented in Germany in the early 1920s. It consists of hydrogen cyanide (prussic acid), as well as a cautionary eye irritant and one of several adsorbents such as diatomaceous earth. The product is notorious for its use by Nazi Germany during the Holocaust to murder approximately 1.1 million people in gas chambers installed at Auschwitz-Birkenau, Majdanek, and other extermination camps.
Extermination through labourExtermination through labour (or "extermination through work", Vernichtung durch Arbeit) is a term that was adopted to describe forced labor in Nazi concentration camps in light of the high mortality rate and poor conditions; in some camps a majority of prisoners died within a few months. In the 21st century, research has questioned whether there was a general policy of extermination through labor in the Nazi concentration camp system because of widely varying conditions between camps.
OświęcimOświęcim (ɔˈɕfjɛɲtɕim; Auschwitz ˈaʊʃvɪts; Oshpitzin) is a city in the Lesser Poland (Małopolska) province of southern Poland, situated southeast of Katowice, near the confluence of the Vistula (Wisła) and Soła rivers. The city is known internationally for being the site of the Auschwitz concentration camp (the camp is also known as KL or KZ Auschwitz Birkenau) during World War II, when Poland was occupied by Nazi Germany. The name of the city is of Polish/Slavic extraction, possibly derived from the owner of a Slavic gord which existed there in the Middle Ages.
Monowitz concentration campMonowitz (also known as Monowitz-Buna, Buna and Auschwitz III) was a Nazi concentration camp and labor camp (Arbeitslager) run by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland from 1942–1945, during World War II and the Holocaust. For most of its existence, Monowitz was a subcamp of the Auschwitz concentration camp; from November 1943 it and other Nazi subcamps in the area were jointly known as "Auschwitz III-subcamps" (KL Auschwitz III-Aussenlager).
Josef MengeleJosef Rudolf Mengele (ˈjoːzɛf ˈmɛŋələ; 16 March 1911 7 February 1979) was a German Schutzstaffel (SS) officer and physician during World War II. Nicknamed the "Angel of Death" (Todesengel), he performed deadly experiments on prisoners at the Auschwitz II (Birkenau) concentration camp, where he was a member of the team of doctors who selected victims to be murdered in the gas chambers, and was one of the doctors who administered the gas. Before the war, Mengele received doctorates in anthropology and medicine, and began a career as a researcher.
Theresienstadt GhettoTheresienstadt Ghetto was established by the SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstadt served as a waystation to the extermination camps. Its conditions were deliberately engineered to hasten the death of its prisoners, and the ghetto also served a propaganda role. Unlike other ghettos, the exploitation of forced labor was not economically significant. The ghetto was established by the transportation of Czech Jews in November 1941.
Yellow badgeThe yellow badge, also known as yellow patch, Jewish badge or yellow star (Judenstern), was a badge that Jews were ordered to wear by some caliphates during the Middle Ages, some European powers during the Medieval and early modern periods, and the Axis powers in World War II. The badges marked the wearer as a religious or ethnic outsider, often as a badge of shame. The practice of wearing special clothing or markings to distinguish Jews and other non-Muslims (dhimmis) in Muslim-dominated countries seems to have been introduced in the Umayyad Caliphate by Caliph Umar II in the early 8th century.
Star of DavidThe Star of David (מָגֵן דָּוִד) is a generally recognized symbol of both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles. A derivation of the seal of Solomon, which was used for decorative and mystical purposes by Muslims and Kabbalistic Jews, its adoption as a distinctive symbol for the Jewish people and their religion dates back to 17th-century Prague. In the 19th century, the symbol began to be widely used among the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe, ultimately coming to be used to represent Jewish identity or religious beliefs.
ArbeitslagerArbeitslager (ˈʔaʁbaɪtsˌlaːɡɐ) is a German language word which means labor camp. Under Nazism, the German government (and its private-sector, Axis, and collaborator partners) used forced labor extensively, starting in the 1930s but most especially during World War II. Another term was Zwangsarbeitslager ("forced labor camp"). The Nazis operated several categories of Arbeitslager for different categories of inmates.
