The day for the average prisoner began at 3:00 am in the summer and an hour later in the winter. They began with roll call which usually lasted a few hours. The prisoners were ordered to line up in rows of 5 outside until 7:00 am when the SS would arrive. Until then, the prisoners were forced to do squats with their hands over their heads for an hour. If the prisoners had violated the rules in any way, such as a missing button or an improperly cleaned food bowl, they would be punished with either a beating or detention. After roll call took place, the workers walked to their place of work wearing striped camp outfits, no underwear, and un-fitting wooden shoes with no socks, while a prisoners orchestra was ordered to play cheerful music as they left. In the summer, the average day of work was 12 hours long and slightly less in the winter. No resting was permitted. One prisoner had to measure the amount of time a prisoner spent at the latrines. Sunday wasn't a work day however, the prisoner's couldn't just relax; they were ordered to clean the barracks and take their weekly showers. On Sunday, prisoners were allowed to write to their families but only in German language. The prisoners who did not speak German had to give some bread to German prisoners for help creating a letter.
The second roll call took place in the evening, and if there was an absent prisoner, the other prisoners had to stand in place until the missing prisoner and/or reason for absence was discovered. After roll call took place, the prisoners were allowed to go back to their blocks to receive their daily ration of bread and water. When the prisoners went to sleep, 800-1,000 people in total were stuffed into compartments in the barracks.
The second roll call took place in the evening, and if there was an absent prisoner, the other prisoners had to stand in place until the missing prisoner and/or reason for absence was discovered. After roll call took place, the prisoners were allowed to go back to their blocks to receive their daily ration of bread and water. When the prisoners went to sleep, 800-1,000 people in total were stuffed into compartments in the barracks.
BLOCK 11
Block 11, to the prisoners, was known as "The Death Block" or "The Prison Inside the Prison". Prisoners were sent here to receive beatings, torture, tests, and often execution. Medical testing and gas testing often took place in this block such as the testing of Zyklon B gas for mass killing. This test lasted from September 3, 1941 to September 5, 1941 in the basement of Block 11. During this test, 600 Soviet prisoners of war and 250 Polish patients were selected from the camp hospital, and brutally murdered. Also, in the basement of the building held the "Death Cells". These cells had no windows and a solid door, creating a space of trapped air. Prisoners were then placed in these cells and left until they used up all of the oxygen in the cell and eventually died. To quicken the speed of this process, SS officers would occasionally place a candle in the room as well to use up more oxygen at a time.