The so-called Sauna building. Allied photograph, 1944.
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In this building, brought into operation at the end of 1943, newly arrived prisoners designated by the SS for forced labour in the concentration camp were registered and disinfected. From now on they would be know only by a prisoner number which was tattooed on to their forearms. Here they were also issued with striped prisoner uniforms and had all their body hair removed.
The SS also made additional "selections" here, sending pregnant women to be murdered in the gas chambers. The poor state of hygiene in the concentration camp, and the hordes of insects, brought illness and epidemics which threatened the efficient functioning of the camp and the health of the SS who ran it. This building was therefore used in periodic campaigns to delouse the prisoners and their clothing. |
