Robbery
The remains of the personal belongings of the deportees were taken away from them upon arrival and collected and stored in special rooms or barracks. When deportees were murdered, their gold teeth and hair were removed and also stored in such barracks.
In Auschwitz there were two such storage areas, called “Canada”. For the mass transports of Hungarian Jews, “Canada II” in Birkenau required 1000 additional inmates to handle the luggage taken from the deportees.
After the arrival of the transports the spoils taken from the deportees were transported by lorry to the storerooms. For the most part Jewish women worked there, registering, sorting and examining the valuables. Gold and precious metals came to the Reichsbank; clothing and shoes were primarily designated for the German population or further utilised in other storage places. The SS men of the camp kept perishable goods for themselves.
The work in “Canada” offered inmates the rare occasion to secretly procure food and clothing and to smuggle goods into the camp to be bartered. The name “Canada” was coined by the inmates and stood for the material riches in the storerooms.