
The chief of construction of Auschwitz II-Birkenau was Karl Bischoff, a competent and dynamic bureaucrat who, in spite of the ongoing war, carried out the construction deemed necessary. The Birkenau camp, the four crematoria, a new reception building, and hundreds of other buildings were planned and constructed.[42] Bischoff's plans, based on an initial budget of RM 8.9 million, called for each barracks to hold 550 prisoners. He later changed this to 744 per barracks, which meant the camp could hold 125,000, rather than 97,000.[43] The SS designed the barracks not so much to house people as to destroy them.[42] There were 174 barracks, each measuring 116 by 36 ft, divided into 62 bays of 43 sq. ft. The bays were divided into "roosts", initially for three inmates and later for four. With personal space of 11 sq. ft to sleep and place whatever belongings they had, inmates were deprived, Robert-Jan van Pelt wrote, "of the minimum space needed to exist".[44]
When he learned what had happened, Schindler at first managed to secure the release of the men from the Gross-Rosen camp.  He then proceeded to send his personal German secretary to Auschwitz to negotiate the release of the women. The latter managed to obtain the release of the Jewish women by promising to pay 7 RM daily per worker. This is the only recorded case in the history of the extermination camp that such a large group of people were allowed to leave alive while the gas chambers were still in operation.
I have visited Auschwitz-Birkenau five times over seven years. The Main Camp offers graphic examples of man's cruelty to man (such as the hair exhibit in Block 5). Don't forget to witness the antechambers of hell in Block 11. It is Birkenau, however,which offers the true measure of the cost of following a tyrant into his madness. Enter the main gate and visit the womens' camp (to your left) and the primitive horror of Block 25. Follow the ramp to the monument and witness the ruins of Kremas II and III, Just beyond the sauna, turn left to the mass graves surrounding Bunker 2/5 and return to that corner, this time straight to the ruins of Kremas IV and V. Stand in front of the sauna and witness the vast expanse of hatred that fuels genocide. Auschwitz-Birkenau was God's test of our humanity - we failed!
Auschwitz originally was conceived as a concentration camp, to be used as a detention center for the many Polish citizens arrested after Germany annexed the country in 1939. These detainees included anti-Nazi activists, politicians, resistance members and luminaries from the cultural and scientific communities. Once Hitler’s Final Solution became official Nazi policy, however, Auschwitz was deemed an ideal death camp locale. For one thing, it was situated near the center of all German-occupied countries on the European continent. For another, it was in close proximity to the string of rail lines used to transport detainees to the network of Nazi camps.



Uprisings broke out in some extermination camps. The few remaining Jews kept alive to dispose of bodies and sort possessions realised the number of transportees was reducing and they would be next. Civilian uprisings occurred across Poland as mainly young Jews, whose families had already been murdered, began to resist Nazi oppression. With reports of rebellion and mass murder in the British press, the situation in the camps could no longer be be ignored.

The musicians themselves were all too aware of their role as both accomplices and victims of the Nazi terror.  For many of the women, being in the orchestra was demoralising and depressing.  Although they were afforded the 'privilege' of increased rations, improved living quarters, and other 'benefits', many were disgusted by the pleasure that they gave to their tormenters.  Fénelon and others describe with revulsion being forced to comfort the murderers by playing or singing their favourite pieces.
Discussing moral absolutes is effective in a classroom to encourage critical thinking and to help students develop a chosen, rather than an indoctrinated, moral ideology for themselves. Schindler’s List is particularly effective here since it presents readers with two ethical questions that in fact have right and a wrong answers: was it ethically moral for the Nazis to attempt to eliminate ethnic Jewry, and was it ethical for Oskar Schindler to resist this attempt? The lesson here is that there are moral absolutes despite one’s political or religious background. The lesson becomes even more effective when the follow up question: were Goeth and Schindler moral men is asked.