Quarantine

Present state of Sector BIIa, which served as quarantine for male prisoners of Birkenau concentration camp.	From August 1943 until November 1944, there was a quarantine camp (Quarantänelager) here for Jewish and non-Jewish men deported from various countries. The purpose of quarantine was to terrorize newly arrived prisoners, to accustom them to the rigors of camp life and to unquestioning obedience, and to identify persons suspected of contagious diseases. Sick male and female prisoners brought from other parts of the camp were held in some of the barracks after April 1944.
The majority of the barracks erected in Birkenau were wooden. Wooden bunks are visible. Hundreds of prisoners were crowded into each of these barracks.