Choiceless Choices: The Sonderkommando of Auschwitz as Victims

Authors

Taylor Rice, Brigham Young University

Keywords

Sonderkommando, Jewish prisoners, Auschwitz

Abstract

To undertake the Extermination of Europe's Jews, the Nazis needed more manpower than the ranks of the SS could provide. The Germans relied on the constant supply ofJewish prisoners to meet their need for a large labor force in the concentration camps themselves. At its highest rate of extermination, more than one hundred inmates were assigned to work in each crematorium at Auschwitz-Birkenau. The Sonderkommando (special detachment) at Auschwitz was composed of prisoners selected by the Nazis to participate in extermination work. As a result, members of this special detachment had an incredibly intimate view of the inner workings of the Nazi death machine. They were responsible for dragging the twisted and disfigured bodies of victims out of the gas chambers. They were responsible for shearing the hair and removing gold fillings from the teeth of those who perished in the gas chambers. And they were forced to place them into the ovens to be incinerated.

Recommended Citation

Rice, Taylor (2014) "Choiceless Choices: The Sonderkommando of Auschwitz as Victims," The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing: Vol. 43: Iss. 1, Article 7.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/thetean/vol43/iss1/7