Mieczyslaw Koscielniak, "Roll Call 1941," painted after liberation
by a Polish political prisoner
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Roll call was one of the torments of camp life. Initially, prisoners
assembled on a central square. After new buildings were erected
on the square, prisoners were lined up on the camp streets in
front of the blocks. Thousands of prisoners had to take part daily
in roll calls that lasted for hours, and on occasion for more
than twelve hours.
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Wladyslaw Siwek, "Digging the Foundation for Block 15," painted
after liberation by a Polish political prisoner.
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In 1940, the camp included 20 pre-war buildings, mostly one-storied.
As the camp population increased, the SS decided on expansion.
In the spring of 1941, construction was begun on 8 new two-story
blocks. Upper stories were added to 14 other one-story buildings.
Prisoners did all of the heavy construction work: they dug foundations,
carried bricks and bags of cement on the run, and pushed wheelbarrows
full of gravel and sand. Many of them died as the result of the
long hours of backbreaking work, or were killed by the SS men
and capos who supervised them.
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