How is Auschwitz-Birkenau classified?

Prisoner classification. The system of classifying prisoners through the use of triangles (winkels) originated before the war in the concentration camps in Germany. In Auschwitz, they were implemented with certain modifications, but were not used at all for some groups of prisoners. read more

The Roma in the Birkenau “Gypsy camp” were classified as asocial. Purple triangles marked prisoners imprisoned for belonging to the Jehovah’s Witnesses (Internationale Bibelforscher-Vereinigung - IBV), regarded as enemies of the state because of their pacifistic beliefs. read more

Auschwitz-Birkenau is the general term for the network of Nazi concentration and labor camps, established near the Polish city of Oswiecim. Together this complex was the largest of all the Nazi death camps across Europe and could hold upwards of 150,000 inmates at any given time. read more

This ceremony explores the female experience at the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp as expressed by women who were inmates there in 1944. While there are many commonalities in the male-female prisoner experience at Auschwitz-Birkenau, from selection through forced labor, there are also many aspects of the prisoner experience that were unique to women. read more