The Auschwitz concentration camp complex was a system of

concentration camps Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

(german: Konzentrationslager, abbreviated as either ''KL'' or ''KZ'') run by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

occupied Poland ' ( Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 Octobe ...

from 1940 to 1945. The main camp (German: ''Stammlager'') was Auschwitz I. Auschwitz II, or Birkenau, was a concentration and

extermination camp Nazi Germany used six extermination camps (german: Vernichtungslager), also called death camps (), or killing centers (), in Central Europe during World War II to systematically murder over 2.7 million peoplemostly Jewsin the Holocaust. The v ...

, and became the most notorious of the camps. Auschwitz III, or

Monowitz Monowitz (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 exis ...

, was a labour camp. In addition to the three largest camps, Auschwitz consisted of several subcamps. The satellite camps were named ''Aussenlager'' (external camp), ''Nebenlager'' (extension or subcamp), and ''Arbeitslager'' (labour camp). Several lay within of the main camp, with prisoner populations ranging from dozens to several thousand.

KL Auschwitz

Administration

As the size and purpose of Auschwitz changed during World War II, its structure and chain of command changed too. From 1940 to late 1943, Auschwitz I was the ''Stammlager'' and the other camps were subordinate to it. In November 1943 Birkenau and Monowitz became independent camps with their own commandants, although the commandant of Auschwitz I remained the senior officer. Auschwitz I and Birkenau were placed back under one command in November 1944, and Auschwitz III was named Monowitz.

Commandants

* Auschwitz I:

Rudolf Höss Rudolf Franz Ferdinand Höss (also Höß, Hoeß, or Hoess; 25 November 1901 – 16 April 1947) was a German SS officer during the Nazi era who, after the defeat of Nazi Germany, was convicted for war crimes. Höss was the longest-serving comm ...

(May 1940 – November 1943),

Arthur Liebehenschel Arthur Liebehenschel (; 25 November 1901 – 24 January 1948) was a commandant at the Auschwitz and Majdanek concentration camps during the Holocaust. After the war, he was convicted of war crimes by the Polish government and executed in 1948. ...

from (November 1943 – May 1944), Richard Baer (May 1944 – 27 January 1945) * Birkenau: Fritz Hartjenstein (November 1943 – May 1944),

Josef Kramer Josef Kramer (10 November 1906 – 13 December 1945) was Hauptsturmführer and the Commandant of Auschwitz-Birkenau (from 8 May 1944 to 25 November 1944) and of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp (from December 1944 to its liberation on 15 Ap ...

(May 1944 – November 1944). Other: Johann Schwarzhuber (overseer, men's camp, November 1943 – November 1944) *

Heinrich Schwarz Heinrich Schwarz (14 June 1906 – 20 March 1947) was an SS-Hauptsturmführer (captain) and concentration camp officer who served as commandant of Auschwitz III-Monowitz in Nazi-occupied Poland and Natzweiler-Struthof in Alsace-Lorraine. ...

KL Auschwitz

Administration

Commandants

Subcamps

See also

Notes

References

Further reading