Zone of Interest (Auschwitz)

For other uses, see The Zone of Interest.

Map of the camp's interest zone from 1941

The term Zone of Interest (German: Interessengebiet) was a term used by the occupying Nazi forces to describe the area around the Auschwitz concentration camp complex reserved for the Schutzstaffel (SS), subject to the administration of the main camp. The zone was created on the land confiscated around the camp, as a 40-square-kilometer (4,000 ha; 15 sq mi; 9,900-acre) zone patrolled by the SS, Gestapo, and local police.^[1][2]

History

In 1941, camp authorities created the zone in order to:

• remove the Polish population from these areas and take over agricultural land from them;
• allegedly reeducate prisoners by using their agricultural work;
• obtain financial benefits for the SS from the sale of agricultural produce; and
• reduce contact between prisoners and local residents.

In addition, the zone was to implement a plan to create at least two model training villages in these areas for German farmers.^[3][2]

In fiction

The term was used by Martin Amis as the title for his novel The Zone of Interest (2014), centered around a fictionalized version of the camp commandant Rudolf Höss. It was used later by Jonathan Glazer for his 2023 film of the same name, loosely adapted from Amis' novel, and focusing on the banality of the Höss family's lives in the shadow of the epicenter of the Holocaust.^[4]

Bibliography

• Benz, Wolfgang; Distel, Barbara; Königseder, Angelika, eds. (2005). Der Ort des Terrors: Geschichte der nationalsozialistischen Konzentrationslager. München: C.H. Beck. ISBN 978-3-406-52960-3.
• Steinbacher, Sybille (2004). Auschwitz: Geschichte und Nachgeschichte. Beck'sche Reihe (Originalausg ed.). München: Beck. ISBN 978-3-406-50833-2.

External links

Maps of Auschwitz

References

1. Strzelecka, Irena; Setkiewicz, Piotr (2000). "The Construction, Expansion and Development of the Camp and its Branches". In Długoborski, Wacław; Piper, Franciszek (eds.). Auschwitz, 1940–1945. Central Issues in the History of the Camp. Vol. I: The Establishment and Organization of the Camp. Oświęcim: Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. pp. 72–73. ISBN 978-8385047872. OCLC 874340863.
2. "Map of the Auschwitz Interest Zone". The University of British Columbia: Auschwitz Academic Guide. 2021. Archived from the original on 2024-03-11. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
3. Węgrzyn, Łukasz (January 2015). "Granice nazistowskich obozów koncentracyjnych i zagłady na terenie okupowanej Polski". Studia z Geografii Politycznej i Historycznej. 4: 280. doi:10.18778/2300-0562.04.11. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-06-18.
4. O'Hagan, Sean (10 December 2023). "Jonathan Glazer on his holocaust film The Zone of Interest: 'This is not about the past, it's about now'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 20 December 2023. Retrieved 6 August 2024.