ody parts, and reattaching them to different areas of the body. By January 20th, 1944, the population of the Auschwitz complex had reached 80,839. That number rose higher and higher as the months past by and more prisoners came. The first gas chamber to be used was built in Auschwitz I. The gas that was used in the chambers was called Zyklon-B. In Birkenau, the largest number of people that could be killed in the gas chambers was 6,000 people, daily. The gas chamber looked just like a shower room. The prisoners were told they needed to be clean before work, and then the nazis would lock the doors, turn on the gas, and kill the innocent people. Starting in March of 1942, trains arrived at Auschwitz-Birkenau daily, carrying Jews from Europe. On the borders of Auschwitz I and Birkenau, electrical fences were put up. Watchtowers and SS men lined the complex with automatic guns to be used in any escape situations. Canals also lined the border of Birkenau. The prisoners knew how difficult it would be to try to escape, and live through it. A few brave souls did decide to make a run for it. When one of the camps was having a very difficult time, 667 prisoners tried to escape. Only 270 of them made it, and the ones who got ended up getting caught were executed. A group of women at the camp also destroyed one of the gas chambers in an uproar. The leaders of this incident were found and executed on January 6th, 1945. During my Senior year, over spring break, my family took a vacation to Washington D.C. The second day we were there, we visited the Holocaust Museum. That will be one experience I will never forget. It was silent in there, except for the people that were softly crying to themselves. They showed movies, had displays, and pictures. The most moving area, for me, in the museum was the hall that had the shoes in it. The walls in the room were white, and the only walkway was a bridge. The lights were ...
