arrival
Upon arrival at the killing centers, deportees were told to line up. Men were separated from the women and children. An SS Physician would go through the line-up and judge whether or not a prisoner was fit for work or not. Pregnant women, the elderly, young children, and sickly prisoners almost never survived the first inspection. The ones who were weak and unable to perform labor were killed immediately. The ones who proved they could perform labor were taken to concentration camps such as Belzec, Sobibor and Treblinka, all grouped together as "Operation Reinhard."The official would point for the prisoner to go left or right as soon as prisoners arrived on the center, but the Jews had no idea whether they were going to live or be killed.
The Gas Chambers
Prisoners that were selected to be killed were sent to gas chambers. Prisoners were to strip all belongings including clothes and were locked behind a steel door. To avoid panic, the guards said they were going to take a shower to rid themselves of lice. After locking the thick steel doors, guards would either bombard the chamber with either Zyklon B pellets, or carbon monoxide gas. Within minutes, those inside would perish due to the lack of oxygen. After the massacre proceeded, prisoners that were not chosen to be killed were forced into transporting the corpses into another room nearby. Often times those who had to dispose of the bodies were dragging the life-less bodies of their loved ones. Guards and officials were allowed to search the bodies and pocket any valuables that they discovered. Most of the gold found was melted down and put into an SS bank account. Hair from the prisoners was also saved to sell to business firms that utilized the hair and made rope and mattresses out of it.
Revolt at auschwitz
In October of 1944, prisoners in crematorium 1 initiated the revolt. Those in crematoriums 3 and 4 followed along while the Sonderkommando in crematorium 2 broke through the wires of the camp. The Sonderkommando were jewish prisoners who worked for the killing centers to receive special treatment. Women who worked in the ammunitions depot would secretly smuggle gun powder in small amounts to the Sonderkommando. Using the smuggles gunpowder, the Sonderkommando made home-made mini grenades out of sardine tins. In crematorium 1, a ruthless Nazi official was detained, stuffed into an oven, and burned alive. Soon after the revolt, German guards charge into the camps and counterattack with heavy machine guns, shooting every prisoner in sight. Realizing their demise, the Sonderkommando of crematorium 4 carry their make-shift bombs into the oven rooms and detonate them in an act of defiance. The revolt is hastily stopped and escaped prisoners were brought back and killed using the help of German citizens. The 200 Sonderkommando who took part were forced to line up and were executed with a single bullet shot through the back of their head. While some were taken in for questioning, the 12th Sonderkommandos' bodies were disposed of by the 13th Sonderkommando. Those who were tortured for answers eventually gave in and gave the names of some women who smuggled the gun powder. They were raped, beaten, and tortured, but the only information the women gave were names of already deceased. The four women were publicly hung in January 1945. Before the trapdoor fell, one of them shouted "Be strong and be brave!". Their defiant actions were not in vain however as crematorium 4 was damaged beyond repair and could not be used ever again.