"Kanada"

The name Kanada is a nickname for the section named " Effekenkammern / Storerooms of Moveables". The name was given because Canada is commonly known as the "Land of Plenty". Kanada began as one small bunker to house the goods brought to Auschwitz by the prisoners, the bunker was soon too small for the amount of property to be stored. Kanada was a large section in Birkenau. There were quite a lot of storerooms in Kanada (as seen on the map), they were always full. The property technically belonged to the Reich, but Kanada was obviously the most corrupt section of the camp. SS members were known to take items from storage for their own wealth and use, this was highly illegal and SS officers of all ranks were punished harshly if discovered. Of course there were exceptions, Höss was believed to have supplied the food for a Christmas party from the Kanada storerooms, and his wife frequently visited Kandada.

Suitcases stacked in a Kanada Storeroom
from Anatomy of Auschwitz pg. 352

Picture of Kanada at
University of Michigan

Kadada was a particularly good kommando to be assigned to. The prisoners who worked there were capable of "organizing", or stealing, things to help them survive. If in Kanada it would be possible to organize extra food, medical supplies, clothes, even things like jewelry to bribe the SS for better treatment. The SS were of course aware of this advantage and were usually extra strict with the prisoners working at Kanada. If a prisoner was simply suspected of stealing they would be shot on the spot, they were also implemented searches, usually multiple times a day. As can be imagined the women working there were searched in ways particularly painful.

Kanada is just another example how the Nazis used the misfortune they put upon others as a way to profit. the money made from the shipment of goods to Germany, shipments to other camps, used in Auschwitz itself, and money in its pure form confiscated and sent back to the main German Bank. Even the Human hair shaved off of the prisoners was taken and made into thinks such as rope, cloth, pillows, etc... The profit off other's suffering is a sign of the complete travesty and moral lacking of the Nazi regime.

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This Page by Michele Frazer. Last edited 12/05/02