Block 11

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title: "Block 11" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["auschwitz-concentration-camp"] description: "Building in Auschwitz I (main camp); central camp torture and execution facility" topic_path: "general/auschwitz-concentration-camp" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Block_11" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Building in Auschwitz I (main camp); central camp torture and execution facility ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox"]

Field	Value
above	Block 11
Auschwitz concentration camp
image1	[[File:Auschwitz - Blok Smierci and The Execution Wall Sk06 C P.jpg
caption1	Block 11, with the "death wall" to the left
image2	[[File:Auschwitz I, april 2014, photo 14.jpg
caption2	View of Block 11 (left) as seen from the site of the reconstructed death wall
image3	[[File:Auschwitz I death block 11 04.jpg
caption3	Corridor of Block 11
::

|above=Block 11 Auschwitz concentration camp |image1=[[File:Auschwitz - Blok Smierci and The Execution Wall Sk06 C P.jpg|220px]] |caption1=Block 11, with the "death wall" to the left |image2=[[File:Auschwitz I, april 2014, photo 14.jpg|220px|alt=Auschwitz I]] |caption2=View of Block 11 (left) as seen from the site of the reconstructed death wall |image3=[[File:Auschwitz I death block 11 04.jpg|220px|alt=Block 11]] |caption3=Corridor of Block 11 Block 11 was the name of a brick building in Auschwitz I, the Stammlager or main camp of the Auschwitz concentration camp network. This block was used for executions and torture. Between Block 10 and Block 11 stood the "Death Wall" (reconstructed after the war) where thousands of prisoners were lined up for execution by firing squad.

The block contained special torture chambers in which various punishments were applied to prisoners. Some could include being locked in a dark chamber for several days or being forced to stand in one of four standing cells called "Stehzelle" in German. Punishment in these special compartments (one square metre each, with a hole 5 cm × 5 cm for breathing), consisted of confining four prisoners, who were forced by the lack of space to remain standing all night for up to twenty nights, while still being forced to work during the day.

It was at Block 11 that the first attempts to kill people with Zyklon B were implemented in September 1941.

Interrogations

Prisoner interrogations involving extreme torture were also conducted within Block 11, often with use of the "Boger Swing" device, (Boger-Schaukel) invented by Wilhelm Boger, an SS officer who served within Auschwitz's Political Department.

References

References

1. [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/block11.html Block No. 11.] Jewish Virtual Library
2. link. (2020-04-13 Auschwitz.org)
3. Jacek Lachendro. (2013). "Blok 11 . Kary i egzekucje (Block 11. Punishments and executions)". Państwowe Muzeum Auschwitz-Birkenau w Oświęcimiu.
4. "Paul Leo Seidel, of Munich, former inmate of the Auschwitz Extermination Camp, displays a model of the 'Boger Swing.'". Pinterest photo archive.
5. "Wilhelm Boger: Auschwitz - Political Department". Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team.

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