Upon arrival, the masses of Jews were immediately sorted for death or slave labor.

by Rabbi Eliyahu Ellis and Rabbi Shmuel Silinsky

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Arrival At Auschwitz

Deportees Exiting The Trains At Auschwitz
photo courtesy of Yad Vashem

 

Those who survived the transport went to the famous "sorting" platforms. As soon as the people got off the trains, they would be divided up – women on one side, men on the other. One by one every person passed by a medical doctor.

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Transport On Arrival

Jewish Transport Arriving At Auschwitz
photo courtesy of Yad Vashem

 

 

 

 

 

The doctor made a split second decision: Can they wring a little bit of work out of this body?

There were over 123 of these monsters, including some of the finest doctors from the finest German clinics and hospitals. One was even a professor of medicine from Harvard. And all had sworn their medical oath to uphold and help humanity.

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Selection

Lining Up For Selection
photo courtesy of Yad Vashem

The doctor would decide: Life or death. If the decision was "death," then two or three hours after leaving the platform their ashes were going up the chimney.

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Before Selection

Children And Women Separated For Selection
photo courtesy of Yad Vashem

 

The alternative was going to "life." But it was not actually "life"; it was "slow death."

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Published: Wednesday, December 31, 1969
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Visitor Comments: 7

(7) Brad Wilson, April 20, 2006 12:00 AM

great job on what you do.

this is a good thing to show people who don't know what happened

(6) Miranda Angel, March 14, 2006 12:00 AM

wow

this story or research was very wow. in some parts i had to just stop and say oh my gosh i cant beleive these people was treated like this.

(5) Jackie MSith, May 24, 2005 12:00 AM

It makes me so sad to see these things

I can not even believe how many women, children and men were murdered....all because of one man and his radical and down right sick ideals and hate for others who were different than he.
I cry each time i see a picture or read about the poor children, they really did not have even a fighting chance.

(4) Jannette, November 19, 2004 12:00 AM

I can't believe how much hate

I'm 15 years old and i have studied the holocaust i have read "night" by Elie Wiesel i read this whole book in an hour and brust in tears i just can't believe that this happened how could people let this happen. I just hope i get to study more about this and i just want to say that this was a lesson for us and if we don't learn from the errors of the past we will do them again.

(3) Anonymous, October 31, 2004 12:00 AM

A Living Hell!!!

Adolf Hitler is the cruilest man I can even imagine.The way he tortured, killed,beaten those inocent men, women,and children.I can not even imagine the pain and suffering he caused millions of human beings no different than hisself.

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About the Author

Rabbi Eliyahu Ellis

Rabbi Eliyahu Ellis studied biology and geology at Northern Illinois University. In addition, he spent time as a deep-sea diver in the oil fields in the North Sea between Scotland and Norway and has circumnavigated the seas of the world in a sailboat. Rabbi Ellis received rabbinic ordination from Aish HaTorah where he is a senior lecturer at the Discovery and Essentials programs.

Rabbi Shmuel Silinsky

Rabbi Shmuel Silinsky received his BS from Cornell with a major in Communication Arts and a minor in Archeology, and did post-graduate work at UCLA in the field of Desert Plants and Natural History. Prior to moving to Israel, he worked in the field of Urban Ecology including several years as a landscape designer in Beverly Hills. Rabbi Silinsky received rabbinic ordination from Aish HaTorah and the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem. He currently teaches at the Yeshivat Aish HaTorah in Jerusalem.

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