Arrival at camp Auschwitz
On the platform at Auschwitz-Birkenau, the men and women are separated. The Nazi's doctors determine which prisoners will be killed immediately.
Separated from each other
The train comes to a sudden halt on the third night, In the middle of the night, around 2:00 AM. The doors of the train are then flung open. Men in striped clothing are screaming in German Aussteigen, schnell, schneller (Get out, hurry, hurry). The new arrivals have to leave their baggage behind on the train. The prisioners at Auschwitz are the ones responsible for getting people off the train. There are German soldiers, from the SS, parading up and down the platform with dogs. They have whips in their hands. Harsh spotlights glare down on the platform. The men must line up on one side, the women on the other side. This is the last time that Otto Frank sees his wife and daughters.
I shall remember the look in Margot's eyes all my life.
Otto Frank
Sent to the Right
SS-doctors evaluate the prisoners. Children, elderly and the sick are sent to one side, the rest of ther prisoners to the other side. Rosa de Winter-Levy recalls: "The officer looked at us with a harsh stare, said nothing, only pointed to the right… All those who went in the other direction, like older people, all the children with their mothers or someone else, we never saw them again, they were immediately taken to the gas chamber." The eight people who were arrested in the Secret Annex are all sent to the right.
Prisoner selections on the train platform at Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Nazi doctors decide which prisoners are to be murdered immediately.