The prisoners’ hospital in Auschwitz I contained blocks 19, 20, 21 and 28. Block 21 was the surgical ward led by Dr. Tadeusz Orzeszko in 1944.
The work of prisoner doctors was supervised by SS doctors who had a small office in Block 21. The ground floor of the block gave place for a pre-operative room leading to the operating theatre. Severely ill and post-operative patients’ were placed on the first floor.
The operating theatre was small and modest, it was fairly well-equipped and prisonar surgeons were able to carry out major surgeries too.
On January 18, 1945 the SS burned all medical records from Block 21.
The photograph above was taken after the liberation of the camp. It shows the first floor of Block 21 where Polish Red Cross nurses took care of patients.
The photograph was taken by Stanisław Mucha in February or March 1945. Source: Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.