Block 11
Block 11 was a brick building in Auschwitz I, the main camp of the Auschwitz complex, functioning primarily as the camp's central prison from early in its operation.[1] Known to prisoners as the "death block," it housed individuals under investigation for offenses such as suspected sabotage, escape attempts, or contact with civilians, where they endured isolation in regular cells, dark cells, or cramped standing cells measuring approximately 0.5 by 0.9 meters.[1] The basement, referred to as the bunker, confined prisoners sentenced to death or subjected to extreme punitive measures, including the first recorded starvation experiments in 1941 targeting groups of ten prisoners each following escapes from the camp.[2] Adjacent to Block 11 stood the "Death Wall," a site between Blocks 10 and 11 where SS guards conducted shootings, with estimates indicating nearly 1,000 executions of prisoners previously detained in Block 11.[3] These practices underscored the building's role in enforcing discipline through terror, contributing to the broader machinery of control and extermination in the Nazi camp system.[4]Construction and Physical Layout
Architectural Design and Modifications
Block 11 originated as a brick barracks building of the Polish Army's 2nd Battalion, 73rd Infantry Regiment, initially marked as Block 13 in spring 1940, having sustained bomb damage in September 1939.[5] Renovations to convert it for camp use began in spring 1940, with intensified work from autumn 1940 through early 1941 to establish it as the primary detention and punishment facility.[5] The building's basement, originally an undivided space reinforced by columns, underwent significant modification during this period, resulting in the division into 28 discrete cells by 1941.[5] These cells encompassed standard detention units, dark cells fitted with 18 cm by 18 cm barred windows subsequently obscured by metal covers, and four compact standing cells—each measuring 90 cm by 90 cm—integrated into the structure of Cell 22.[5] The ground floor served initially as quarters for the penal company from August 1940 to May 1942, while the upper floor temporarily housed the disciplinary company from May to August or September 1941.[5] Dedicated women's cells, equipped with concrete floors and wooden bunks and numbered 1 through 7, were partitioned using iron bars for separation.[5] Exterior modifications in the enclosed courtyard included the installation of execution posts and two gallows; additionally, a perimeter wall known as the "Death Wall" was erected in November 1941 and removed by October 1943.[5] Later postwar efforts preserved select original dark cells (Numbers 2 and 20) while adapting others for exhibition purposes.[5]
Cell Configurations and Facilities
Block 11 in Auschwitz I served as the camp's primary detention facility, featuring cells on both the ground floor and basement levels configured for isolation, interrogation, and punitive confinement. The basement, known as the "bunkers," primarily housed prisoners under Gestapo investigation for activities such as resistance or escape attempts, with cells adapted for severe punishments including death by starvation.[6] Ground floor cells accommodated "police prisoners," typically Polish civilians from the Katowice Gestapo district awaiting trial or transfer, alongside spaces for SS administrative functions like a duty room and summary court proceedings.[6][1] Regular cells included wooden bunks for sleeping and windows partially bricked up externally to restrict light and external visibility, facilitating prolonged detention for offenses like suspected sabotage or unauthorized civilian contact.[1] Dark cells, devoid of windows and equipped only with small vents featuring metal screens for minimal ventilation, required prisoners to sleep on the bare floor; these were used for extended isolation periods lasting days to weeks or for executing sentences of starvation, often imposed on escapees or as collective punishment.[1] Standing cells, constructed in 1942, comprised four individual compartments within a single unit, each under 1 square meter in area, accessible through a low floor-level opening secured by bars and a wooden hatch, with a 5 by 5 centimeter air inlet covered by a metal grille.[1] These confined up to four prisoners overnight, compelling them to remain standing due to the restricted space, while mandating daytime labor; durations ranged from several nights to weeks.[1] Facilities across cell types were Spartan, typically limited to basic sanitary provisions such as pails for excrement, with some basement bunkers featuring small barred windows for scant illumination and air circulation.[1] No dedicated washing or bedding amenities were provided, emphasizing the punitive intent over prisoner welfare.[6]Operational Role in Auschwitz I
Detention and Solitary Confinement Practices
Block 11 in Auschwitz I primarily functioned as the camp's internal prison, known as the Kommandanturarest, where prisoners were isolated from the rest of the camp under constant SS supervision. The building was strictly locked, with access restricted, and housed individuals suspected of offenses such as sabotage, attempts to escape or aid escapees, unauthorized contact with civilians, or involvement in resistance activities, as well as those under Gestapo investigation. Detainees included men and women from across the Auschwitz complex, "police prisoners" from the Katowice district awaiting summary trials, and occasionally SS personnel for infractions like theft. Confinement here often preceded further punishment, interrogation, or execution, with prisoners required to perform daily labor despite their detention status.[1][6][5] The facility contained 28 regular cells on the ground floor, typically overcrowded and equipped with wooden bunks and partially bricked-up windows, serving as the primary detention spaces. In the basement, referred to as the bunker, were specialized punishment cells including dark cells and standing cells designed for intensified isolation and torment. Dark cells featured small 18x18 cm windows or vents screened with metal, bare concrete floors without bedding, and were used for solitary confinement, often combined with starvation rations or total deprivation. Prisoners in these cells endured days to weeks of isolation, sleeping on the floor, with conditions exacerbating physical weakening and psychological strain; for instance, on July 29, 1941, Franciscan friar Maximilian Kolbe was placed in a starvation cell as a hostage reprisal for an escape. Starvation sentences in such cells became formalized from 1942 onward.[1][6][5] Standing cells, located within basement cell 22, represented an extreme form of solitary punishment, consisting of four compartments each measuring approximately 90x90 cm, allowing space only for standing upright. Entry required crawling through a small hatch at floor level, with a 5x5 cm air opening providing minimal ventilation. Up to four prisoners were confined per cell overnight, prevented from sitting or lying down, then forced to labor during the day; durations ranged from several nights to weeks, intended as torture for minor infractions or as prelude to harsher measures. These practices aimed to break prisoner will through enforced immobility, sensory deprivation, and exhaustion, with no documented escapes or successful resistance from within the block's confines.[1][5]Interrogation and Investigation Functions
Block 11 served as the principal site for detaining and investigating prisoners accused of grave offenses in Auschwitz I, functioning as the camp's central jail under a stringent security regime. The Political Department, equivalent to the camp Gestapo, utilized the block for interrogations targeting suspected sabotage, escape attempts, civilian contacts, or aiding fugitives, where prisoners were held pending or during probes into these activities.[1][7] Interrogations often incorporated coercive measures within Block 11's specialized cells, including standing cells—each under 1 square meter, accommodating up to four prisoners who could only stand, with a 5 cm by 5 cm air vent—and dark cells featuring minimal ventilation and bare floors, where confinement extended from nights to weeks to compel confessions.[1] These punitive isolations were integral to the investigative process, exacerbating physical and psychological pressure during examinations by Political Department personnel.[8] The facility also hosted sessions of the German Police Summary Court from Katowice, which delivered summary sentences following investigations, particularly for recaptured escapees or resistance suspects, underscoring Block 11's role in the judicial apparatus tied to Gestapo-led inquiries.[9] Methods employed included torture to extract details on organized resistance or escape networks, with outcomes frequently leading to execution or prolonged penalties.[7][8]Punishments and Disciplinary Measures
Block 11 served as the primary facility for disciplinary confinement in Auschwitz I, functioning as the camp's internal prison where SS authorities imposed punishments for infractions ranging from minor violations like acquiring extra food, shirking work, smoking, or wearing non-regulation clothing to more serious offenses such as suspected sabotage, unauthorized contact with civilians, or involvement in escape attempts.[1][10] Regulation punishments were formalized through written orders from the commandant or camp director, often based on reports from SS personnel or prisoner functionaries, and typically involved isolation in the block's cells alongside requirements for daily labor despite confinement.[10] The basement of Block 11, known as the "bunker," housed specialized cells designed for prolonged torment, including dark cells equipped only with screened vents for minimal air circulation and a bare floor, where prisoners could be held from one day to several weeks without light or adequate sanitation.[1] Standing cells, introduced in 1942, consisted of four cramped enclosures each measuring less than one square meter, featuring a 5 cm by 5 cm air opening; prisoners were forced to remain upright for durations spanning several nights to weeks, with up to four such cells used simultaneously to enforce immobility and physical exhaustion as a deterrent.[1] Starvation cells within the same bunker were reserved for severe cases, such as hostages selected in response to escapes, where inmates received no food—only water—leading to deliberate death by inanition, a practice first documented in 1941.[1][2] Floggings were another common disciplinary measure linked to Block 11, administered on site or in conjunction with cell confinement for offenses like unsatisfactory work performance or improper behavior during relief periods, often exacerbating injuries from prior beatings.[10] Additional practices included assignment to the penal company quartered in the block, involving grueling labor details, or preliminary isolation before transfer to such units; these measures aimed to enforce compliance through a combination of isolation, deprivation, and coerced exertion rather than immediate execution.[1][11] Both male and female prisoners from across the Auschwitz complex were detained here, underscoring Block 11's role as a centralized apparatus for maintaining order via graduated severity of non-capital penalties.[6]Executions and Death Sentences
Methods of Execution Employed
In Block 11, executions were primarily carried out by shooting, with prisoners detained in its cells or basement being led to the adjacent yard for execution by firing squad. From autumn 1941 to autumn 1943, this method targeted individuals sentenced for disciplinary violations, escapes, or Gestapo investigations, including approximately 1,000 prisoners directly from Block 11 confinement. Victims encompassed Poles sentenced by the Katowice Summary Court (around 4,500 total shootings), Soviet prisoners of war, and occasionally Jews, such as 200 shot on October 7, 1944, in reprisal for the Sonderkommando uprising.[3][4] Prisoners were typically stripped in Block 11 before being marched to the execution site, where shots were fired at close range to the back of the head or neck.[3] Starvation served as another deliberate execution method in Block 11, implemented mainly in 1941 as reprisal for prisoner escapes, with hostages selected from the escapee's block or work detail during roll calls and confined to basement dark cells without food. These cells, equipped only with minimal ventilation and bare floors, ensured death within days to weeks; all documented cases ended in fatalities, even if the escapee was recaptured. For instance, in July-August 1941, Franciscan priest Maksymilian Kolbe volunteered as a substitute hostage, enduring nearly two weeks of starvation before lethal phenol injection on August 14. This practice occurred sporadically in 1943 but was largely abandoned thereafter.[2][1] Hanging was employed sporadically as an execution method in Auschwitz I, often publicly during roll calls to deter other prisoners through intimidation, though it was less directly associated with Block 11 than shooting or starvation. Such executions stemmed from camp commandant orders or reports of sabotage, escapes, or civilian contact, with condemned individuals from Block 11 detention occasionally subjected to this fate.[4][12]The "Wall of Death" and Adjacent Killing Sites
The "Wall of Death," located in the courtyard between Blocks 10 and 11 in Auschwitz I, served as the primary site for executions by shooting within the main camp from late 1941 until early 1944.[13] Prisoners sentenced to death, typically held in the basement cells of Block 11, were marched to this enclosed yard for summary execution, often conducted by SS non-commissioned officers using small-caliber pistols to the back of the head or neck.[13] The wall itself consisted of a reinforced structure, partially screened by fences or other blocks to conceal the acts from the broader camp view, ensuring the killings remained isolated from general prisoner observation.[14] Executions at the wall commenced on November 11, 1941, when 151 Polish political prisoners were shot in a mass reprisal following escapes and resistance activities.[15] Subsequent shootings targeted a range of victims, including Poles accused of sabotage, Soviet prisoners of war, and occasionally Jews, with documented instances such as the execution of 16 prisoners on February 13, 1943, and 54 resistance members on October 11, 1943.[16][17] The procedure involved prisoners being forced to kneel or stand against the wall, after which they were killed individually or in small groups, with bodies subsequently removed for cremation or burial in nearby pits.[18] Adjacent to the wall within Block 11's confines, the basement cells facilitated other forms of lethal punishment, including phenol injections into the heart for selected executions and deliberate starvation in standing cells, where prisoners perished from exposure and deprivation over days or weeks.[6] These methods complemented the shootings, with the courtyard wall remaining the focal point for public-facing capital punishments until its dismantlement in February 1944, after which executions shifted to the more expansive facilities at Auschwitz II-Birkenau.[19][20] Post-liberation reconstruction in 1946 restored the wall as a memorial, underscoring its role in the camp's punitive apparatus.[19]First Uses of Gassing Techniques
The initial experimental use of gassing as an execution method in Auschwitz occurred on 3 September 1941 in the cellars of Block 11. Approximately 600 Soviet prisoners of war, along with around 250 ill or weakened Polish inmates, were confined in the basement for the test of Zyklon B, a hydrogen cyanide-based pesticide supplied by the firm Degesch. SS personnel, including those under the camp's medical and security apparatus, introduced the gas via pellets that released lethal fumes upon exposure to air, resulting in the deaths of all victims within the sealed space.[21][22] This gassing represented a shift from Block 11's predominant execution practices of shooting at the adjacent "Wall of Death" or lethal injections, aiming to evaluate Zyklon B's efficacy for larger-scale killings amid escalating demands for prisoner elimination. The experiment demonstrated the gas's potency but exposed practical difficulties, such as the need to evacuate standing prisoners from cells and ventilate the area post-use, which complicated operations in the densely occupied block. Despite these issues, the test confirmed Zyklon B's viability, leading to its adoption for subsequent gassings in Auschwitz, initially in the camp's crematorium morgue on or around 5 September 1941.[21][22] No further documented gassings took place in Block 11 after this inaugural trial, as the SS prioritized purpose-built facilities in Auschwitz II-Birkenau for mass extermination. The event underscored early adaptations in Nazi killing techniques at the camp, influenced by prior euthanasia programs using gas vans and carbon monoxide, though Zyklon B offered advantages in discretion and reduced direct SS involvement. Survivor accounts and post-war investigations, including those from the Auschwitz State Museum archives, corroborate the details through SS records and witness testimonies.[21][22]