"On Auschwitz" (13): The fate of Sonderkommando prisoners

One of the darkest chapters of the history of Auschwitz is
undoubtedly the story of the Sonderkommando - a group of
prisoners, mainly Jews - forced by the Germans to work in gas
chambers and crematoria of the camp.


Prisoners assigned to this unit, employed in places of mass
extermination, could not refuse to do their work or ask to be
transferred to perform other tasks in the camp. Failure to carry
out the instructions of the SS would result in immediate death.


Dr. Igor Bartosik from the Research Center of the Memorial talks
about the fate of Sonderkommando prisoners.


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Listen also to our podcast about the first crematorium and the
beginnings of the Sonderkommando:
https://anchor.fm/auschwitz-memorial/episodes/On-Auschwitz-6-the-first-crematorium-and-the-Sonderkommando-in-Auschwitz-e14rnsj