Auschwitz, Poland. Pressed by the spread of partisan warfare in the Governatorate, the occupied territories of Poland, the Nazis decided to create a concentration camp that could house a large number of deportees and a complex infrastructure of businesses and industries to employ the labor. This camp was also intended to facilitate the effective, efficient, and prompt implementation of the “final solution” to the Jewish problem, namely the extermination of European Jews, as mandated by the Wannsee Conference. Near the Polish village of Oswjecim, a large state-owned plot of land surrounding a disused artillery barracks was identified. This complex of 32 buildings could provide the ideal nucleus for the concentration camp. Having reviewed the plans and consulted experts, Himmler himself ordered the construction of a camp with a capacity of at least 100,000 people, which was given the German name Auschwitz. At the same time, it was also decided to build a synthetic rubber plant for IG Farben, which would absorb the first contingents of deportees. Thousands of Russian and Polish prisoners began to flock to Auschwitz to contribute to the construction work, to work in the farms and factories that sprouted like mushrooms around the camp. These businesses were attracted by the low production costs, given that the labor was provided virtually free of charge by the camp. Then there were the lucrative subcontracting contracts, from which the SS administration generously carved out its own share of the profits. The main camp, in short, was no longer sufficient. Next to Auschwitz I, first Birkenau, then Auschwitz II, then Monowitz, then Auschwitz III, arose. But, in addition to these camps, external commands, both permanent and temporary, gradually multiplied as production demands increased.
