The remains of a “flower pot” arranged with the brick of the southern wall of barrack B-123.
Pic. M. Mazurkiewicz
History of buildings
The historic residential barracks 7 and 8 located in section BIb were among the first barracks to be built on the premises of the Birkenau camp. The function of the barracks repeatedly changed during the operation of the KL Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp. Shortly after commissioning, they served as residential barracks and were then transformed into hospital barracks. After subsequent organizational changes, it returned to its function as residential barracks for women. It is one of few barracks connected by a common courtyard. Sick prisoners were housed here upon overcrowding of the hospital buildings. The appearance of the barracks was presented in the works of an unknown prisoner, the author of the so-called Sketchbook from Auschwitz.
Archaeological research
Today, the barracks are surrounded by grass or bare ground. During the period of its operation, however, the area of the camp looked utterly different. Memories of former prisoners, as well as historical documents, show that the area of the camp was transformed in various ways. The land was levelled; drainage systems were created; roads were built or provisionally paved. Preliminary historical and archaeological surveys conducted before the research, in combination with observation of the first earthworks carried out as part of the conservation of the barracks, revealed a considerable number of archaeological objects in the area of the planned conservation works. With that in mind, a decision was taken to conduct archaeological rescue investigations preceding the conservation and construction works.