Auschwitz concentration camp

His Auschwitz scene was therefore filmed outside the near-symmetrical entrance, with scenery added to make it look like the real thing. From Argentina to Malaysia to The United States, broadcasters around the world capitalized on the big event (see Live 8 broadcasters). However, permission was denied to Steven Spielberg for Schindler's List. ABC drew criticism when they broadcast The Who's performance of "Who Are You?" when they did not censor the lyric "who the fuck are you?" when they aired a highlights special in the evening of 2 July 2005 after Live 8 had ended. The Polish film directors Andrzej Munk and Andrzej Wajda were both given permission to film in Auschwitz for the films Pasażerka and Krajobraz Po Bitwie respectively. The following weekend, MTV broadcast six hours of a commercial-free special devoted to Live 8 in response to the heavy criticism. Most media outlets now show awareness of the offence this may cause, and try to avoid using such expressions (or issue an apology after using them, see for example the recent note in The Guardian). In fact, very few of Live 8's songs were played in full by MTV and almost none of them were broadcast live, leading some to conclude that MTV may have covered the event but they did not broadcast it.

Recently the Polish media and the foreign ministry of Poland have voiced objections to the use of the expression "Polish death camp" in relation to Auschwitz, as they feel that phrase might misleadingly suggest that Poles (rather than Germans) perpetrated the Holocaust. Criticism was also aimed at MTV for focusing too much on ill-informed VJs and not enough on the music. In short, all of the denier's blustering about the 'Four Million Variant' is a specious attempt to envelope the reader into their web of deceit, and it can be discarded after the most rudimentary examination of published histories."[2]. Criticism was also drawn from viewers of MTV (and possibly other networks), in which the broadcaster cut to commercials while bands were still performing, specifically Pink Floyd and The Who. If they can't keep their numbers straight, their reasoning goes, how can we say that their evidence for the Holocaust is credible? One must wonder which historians they speak of, as most have been remarkably consistent in their estimates of a million or so dead. In the United States, MTV censored swear words from the performances it broadcast, except for the word "bullshit" as part of the lyrics to Pink Floyd's "Money". They hope to discredit historians by making them seem inconsistent. When Green Day's performance in Berlin was broadcast to the other venues, it was aired uncensored.

Holocaust deniers have attempted to use this change as propaganda, in the words of Nizkor: "Deniers often use the 'Four Million Variant' as a stepping stone to leap from an apparent contradiction to the idea that the Holocaust was a hoax, again perpetrated by a conspiracy. Several artists got their performances cut to one or two songs, including Bon Jovi and Dido. After the collapse of the Communist government, the plaque was removed and the official death toll given as 1.1 million. Although the concerts in London and Philadelphia had the biggest stars lining up, both concerts are currently not available in their original, full version. This number was never taken seriously by Western historians, and was never used in any of the calculations of the death toll at Auschwitz (which have generally remained consistently around 1-1.5 million for the last sixty years) or for the total deaths in the Holocaust as a whole. Midge Ure's "I find it amazing, that Bob can do his fantastic thing and then fucking turn this on for me" also remains from the Edinburgh concert. For many years, a memorial plaque placed at the camp by the Soviet authorities and the Polish communist government stated that 4 million people had been murdered at Auschwitz. Robbie Williams' "Hyde Park, you look fucking beautiful tonight" remains.

"27 January 2005, the sixtieth anniversary of the liberation of Nazi Germany's death camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau, where a combined total of up to 1.5 million Jews, Roma, Poles, Russians and prisoners of various other nationalities, and homosexuals, were murdered, is not only a major occasion for European citizens to remember and condemn the enormous horror and tragedy of the Holocaust, but also for addressing the disturbing rise in anti-semitism, and especially anti‑semitic incidents, in Europe, and for learning anew the wider lessons about the dangers of victimising people on the basis of race, ethnic origin, religion, social classification, politics or sexual orientation.". In the official DVD release of the concerts, Madonna's cursing was not included and only half of Snoop Dogg's performance was made available. The European Parliament marked the anniversary of the camp's liberation in 2005 with a minute of silence and the passage of this resolution:. Robbie Williams and Razorlight also swore during their performances, but Williams' was after the watershed. In 1996, Germany made 27 January, the day of the liberation of Auschwitz, the official day for the commemoration of the victims of 'National Socialism'. The BBC apologised [17] for an instance when Madonna asked the audience "are you fucking ready, London?", and for Snoop Dogg's perfomance which contained the use of swear words without censorship. See Auschwitz cross for more details. Despite the show being broadcast before the watershed in many countries, there was no attempt at censorship.

Following an agreement between the Polish Catholic Church and the Polish government, the smaller crosses were removed in 1999 but the large papal one remains. The Daily Mail commented on the event for running two hours late, with a frontpage headline reading 'Live L8'. In 1998, after further calls to remove the cross, some 300 smaller crosses were erected by local activists near the large one, leading to further protests and heated exchanges. The "Hey Jude" finale ended up finishing at around midnight after George Michael dueted with Paul McCartney. The Catholic Church told the Carmelites to move by 1989, but they stayed on until 1993, leaving the large cross behind. The early ending would have meant fans missing out on bands including The Who and Pink Floyd. Some Catholics have pointed out that the people killed in Auschwitz I were mainly Polish Catholics. This panic was due to the chance of London being gridlocked if people missed their train.

This led to protests by Jewish groups, who said that mostly Jews were killed at Auschwitz and demanded that religious symbols be kept away from the site. She then held a meeting and it was decided that the show would go on. One year later the Carmelites erected the 8 metre (26 ft) tall cross from the 1979 mass near their site, just outside block 11 and barely visible from within the camp. Backstage crew had to run into the Golden Circle to find the minister for outdoor events. After some Jewish groups called for the removal of the convent, representatives of the Catholic Church agreed in 1987. There was a large panic backstage, as revealed on the BBC 1 documentary. Carmelite nuns opened a convent near Auschwitz I in 1984. The show ran much later after Bob Geldof performed and many of the acts decided to give speeches.

A short while later, a Star of David appeared at the site, leading to a proliferation of religious symbols there; eventually they were removed. Due to the need to send them a few weeks early, the tickets had the original 8pm finishing time printed on them. After the pope had announced that Edith Stein would be beatified, some Catholics erected a cross near bunker 2 of Auschwitz II where she had been gassed. The show was originaly scheduled to end at around 8:00pm, but due to new artists being added, the planned finishing time was extended to 9:30pm. In 1979, the newly elected Polish Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass on the grounds of Auschwitz II to some 500,000 people. One of Quo's reasons for wanting to appear stemmed from their inability to remember the first gig due to drink and drugs. The Auschwitz concentration camp is part of the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. Quo's response was that there wasn't a lot of drugs, there were "fucking shed-loads".

Auschwitz II and the remains of the gas chambers there are also open to the public. There was also the rumour that the reason space on the show wasn't made was partially down to Geldof's anger at Quo's reference to there being "a lot of drugs" at Live Aid in 1985. However, in most cases the departure from the historical truth is minor, and is clearly labelled. Quo had reportedly asked for "four fucking minutes". Today, the Auschwitz I museum site combines elements from several periods into a single complex: for example the gas chamber at Auschwitz I (which did not exist by the war's end) was restored and the fence was moved (because of building being done after the war but before the establishment of the museum). Naming their petition "No Quo, No Show", it became an unsuccessful success. The Polish government then decided to restore Auschwitz I and turn it into a museum honouring the victims of nazism; Auschwitz II, where buildings were prone to decay, was preserved but not restored. The Daily Mirror's petition was backed by thousands though eventually nothing came about.

The Buna Werke were taken over by the Polish government and became the foundation for the chemical industry of the region. This was not granted, sparking a fury amongst Quo fans who had seen the band open Live Aid explosively (with the aptly titled "Rockin' All Over The World") 20 years ago. After the war, the camp served as a prison of the NKVD through most of 1945 and then remained in a state of disrepair for several years. Originally offered a 6pm slot, the Quo had long since organized commitments in Ireland, therefore they requested an earlier slot. This number has met with "significant, though not complete" agreement among scholars.^ . In the weeks leading up to the extravaganza, The Daily Mirror began a petition, garnering support for British rock legends Status Quo. A larger study started around the same time by Franciszek Piper used time tables of train arrivals combined with deportation records to calculate 1.1 million Jewish deaths and 140,000-150,000 Polish victims, along with 23,000 Roma. None of the items appeared to have been fairly-traded, sweatshop-free or environmentally friendly.

In 1983, French scholar George Wellers was one of the first to use Nazi data on deportations to estimate the number killed at Auschwitz, arriving at 1.613 million dead, including 1.44 million Jews and 146,000 Poles. While they received no monetary compensation, some were given gift bags containing lavish gifts and designer goodies - including Gibson guitars and Hugo Boss suits - valued at approximately $3000 (see "Fancy gifts at odds with cause?" The Philadelphia Inquirer). Though this number, and a higher total of 4 million, was used by Soviet and Polish authorities, it was never taken seriously by Western scholars, who generally supported numbers of around 1-2 million. More criticism has been leveled at some of the performers based on what they took home for participating in the Philadelphia concert. Early efforts to count the number of dead relied on the testimony of witnesses, especially Nazi Rudolf Hoess, who gave the number of dead at 2.5-3 million. Indeed, public figures and media have since called on the artists and their record labels to donate the profits of increased sales that followed appearance at the event (see "...Live 8 profits plea" BBC article, for example). Since the Nazis attempted to destroy the evidence of the mass murder at Auschwitz, the exact number of victims is impossible to fix with certainty. Live 8, it is important to note, is not a charity event.

Soviet POWs were accused of collaborating with the Germans and were either executed or sent to gulags in the Soviet Union. Damon Albarn also suggested that the performers' record labels should pay "a tariff" as the accompanying publicity would increase future record sales and hence their profits. 'Liberation' was not necessarily the end of the ordeal for many prisoners. Counter-critics, however, point out that these celebrities are still not rich enough to be able to cancel the debts of nations. Those too weak or sick to walk were left behind; about 7,500 prisoners were liberated by the 322nd Infantry unit of the Red Army on January 27, 1945. Many believed that it was hypocrisy that many of the performing artists had tens (if not hundreds) of millions of dollars of "spare cash" lying in their bank accounts whilst wanting to "Make Poverty History". On January 17, 1945 Nazi personnel started to evacuate the facility; most of the prisoners were marched West. For example, some fans and music critics feel that some of the lineups, such as that in Barrie, are not only largely ethnically homogeneous but not likely to connect with, or speak to, younger fans ("Live 8 organizer dismisses criticism..." Globe and Mail article).

The gas chambers of Birkenau were blown up by the Germans in November 1944 in an attempt to hide their crimes from the advancing Soviet troops. Geldof is criticised for using Africa as "a catwalk" which is more about reviving the careers of ageing rock stars than about helping the poor in Africa. The debate over what could have been done, or what should have been attempted even if success was unlikely, has continued heatedly ever since. [16]. One bomb accidentally fell into the camp and killed some prisoners. Indeed, Geldof appears not to be interested in Africa's strengths, only in an Africa on its knees. Later several nearby military targets were bombed. I am coming, reluctantly, to the conclusion that Live 8 is as much to do with Geldof showing off his ability to push around presidents and prime ministers as with pointing out the potential of Africa.

At one point Winston Churchill ordered that such a plan be prepared, but he was told that bombing the camp would most likely kill prisoners without disrupting the killing operation, and that bombing the railway lines was not technically feasible. However, some criticisms are directed at Geldof himself and the motives for Live 8:. Starting with a plea from the Slovakian rabbi Weissmandl in May 1944, there was a growing campaign to convince the Allies to bomb Auschwitz or the railway lines leading to it. Some of these criticisms are not specific to Live 8 but representative of a particular point of view concerning western attitudes towards Africa. (In fact, it was not until the 1970s that these photographs of Auschwitz were looked at carefully.). As with many charity events before it, Live 8 has come in for some criticism in the media. Detailed air reconnaissance photographs of the camp were taken accidentally during 1944 by aircraft seeking to photograph nearby military-industrial targets, but no effort was made to analyse them. [15].

This changed with receipt of the very detailed report of two escaped prisoners, Rudolf Vrba and Alfred Wetzler, which finally convinced most Allied leaders of the truth about Auschwitz in the middle of 1944. They still believe us to be like children that they must save, as if we don't realize ourselves what the source of our problems is. Some information regarding Auschwitz reached the Allies during 1941-1944, such as the reports of Witold Pilecki and Jerzy Tabeau, but the claims of mass killings were generally dismissed as exaggerated. Who here [in Africa] wants a concert against poverty when an African is born, lives and dies without ever being able to vote freely? But the truth is that it was not for us, for Africa, that the musicians at Live 8 were singing; it was to amuse the crowds and to clear their own consciences, and whether they realized it or not, to reinforce dictatorships. Female subcamps were constructed at Budy , Plawy, Zabrze, Gleiwitz I, II, III, Rajsko and at Lichtenwerden. A Cameroonian op-ed appearing in the New York Times stated:. The largest subcamps were built at Trzebinia, Bleechammer and Althammer. The concert was also been criticized by African intellectuals for not addressing issues such as corruption and governance.

In regular intervals, doctors from Auschwitz II would visit the work camps and select the weak and sick for the gas chambers of Birkenau. Incidentally, artist 50 Cent cancelled his appearance due to a clash with his acting commitment for the upcoming film Get Rich Or Die Tryin'. It was associated with the synthetic rubber and liquid fuel plant Buna-Werke owned by IG Farben. [14]. The largest work camp was Auschwitz III Monowitz, starting operations in May 1942. Bob Geldof has been accused of compounding the original error by announcing an entirely African line-up ("Africa Calling") at a concert to be held at the Eden Project in Cornwall on the same day as the main Live 8 concerts. The surrounding satellite work camps were closely connected to German industry and were associated with arms factories, foundries and mines. Bob Geldof originally said that this was because he had aimed for the biggest-selling, most popular artists to ensure a large television audience; but critics noted that even if this was acceptable as the sole criterion for inclusion, some of the minor white artists signed up were substantially less well-known than some major African artists.

Many of the inmates enslaved here survived less than a year due to their harsh with duck head living conditions. However, Youssou N'Dour and Dave Matthews of Dave Matthews Band, remained the only African-born artists signed to perform at the main concerts. The prisoners then attempted a mass escape, but nearly all of the 250 were killed soon after. A Live 8 spokesman said that a number of black performers had been approached to participate and that the event would feature a "large urban element", and pointed to the number of artists of African descent like Ms Dynamite. Female prisoners had smuggled in explosives from a weapons factory, and crematorium IV was partly destroyed by an explosion. Live 8 will make a difference – it's already created a debate that we're all involved in. On October 7, 1944, the Jewish Sonderkommandos (those prisoners kept separate from the main camp and involved in the operation of the gas chambers and crematoria) staged an uprising. In some way that's been addressed and that's really good..

On 10 October, eight hundred Roma children were systematically killed at Birkenau. I have said certain things in relation to the density of African performers.. They were gassed in July 1944. He told a reporter on 21 June:. Many Roma had been imprisoned in a special section of the camp, mostly in family units. Albarn is now reportedly happy about Live 8 now that they have addressed his criticism. ^[1]. [13] Stevie Wonder, Black Eyed Peas, Alicia Keys, Destiny's Child, Jay-Z and Kanye West also turned up at Philadelphia to perform while Will Smith, Don Cheadle, Black Ice, Kami, and Chris Tucker made appearances as presenters.

When the crematoria could not keep up, bodies were burned in open pits. So why is the bill so damn Anglo-Saxon?". Between May and July 1944, about 438,000 Jews from Hungary were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and the most were killed there. "More than ever, black culture is an integral part of society. The largest group of Jews deported to Auschwitz came from Hungary after Germany took control of its former ally in March 1944. Damon Albarn re-iterated this criticism, saying that "This country [the UK] is incredibly diverse," he said. Jews from many countries were sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau to be killed: 300,000 from Poland, 69,000 from France, 60,000 from the Netherlands, 55,000 from Greece, 46,000 from Moravia, 25,000 from Belgium, as well as tens of thousands of Jews from other countries. London-based group Black Information Link described the list of performers at the Hyde Park event as "hideously white" [12], noting that Mariah Carey, Ms Dynamite and Snoop Dogg are the only non-white performers scheduled to perform at the event.

An oven room, where selected camp prisoners called Sonderkommandos took out the dead bodies and burned them, was part of the same building. These artists did not sing the same songs but still performed at both events:. Gas chambers in crematoria IV and V were above ground and Zyklon B was poured through the special windows in the walls. Songs are listed with their Live Aid performers, with the artists who sang the songs at Live 8 (if different) in brackets:. Once the victims were sealed shut in the chamber, the toxic agent Zyklon B was discharged from openings in the ceiling. These songs were sang at both Live Aid and Live 8 (although some not by their original artists). The victims were ordered to strip naked and leave their belongings in the undressing room in a location that they could subsequently remember, before being led to the adjacent gas chamber. Geldof was immediately criticised by Lothian and Borders Police chief constable Ian Dickenson for encouraging such a large crowd to assemble in Edinburgh with such little notice and no consultation with local authorities about how to accommodate so many people.

To avoid mass panic, the victims were told that they were going there for showering; to reinforce this impression, shower heads were fitted in the gas chamber, though never connected to a water supply. On June 1, Bob Geldof called for a million people to descend upon Edinburgh in a "Long Walk to Justice", on July 6, the first day of the G8 summit at Gleneagles, in a separate protest to the one held on the 2nd [11]. Two of the crematoria (Krema II and Krema III) each had an underground undressing room and the underground gas chamber, capable of holding thousands of people. I also want to pay tribute to the organizers of the march who have achieved their objectives through meticulous planning and cooperation. Those selected for extermination were sent to any of four massive gas chamber/crematorium complexes, all at the edge of the camp. I want to pay tribute to the crowd of 225,000 who came and cooperated with the police to make this a successful and memorable occasion. Items such as banknotes, coins, jewellery, precious metals and diamonds were removed from "Canada" and shipped off to the Reichsbank. They raised applause from the marchers by stopping to bow before Starbucks and McDonald's while chanting "Two, four, six, eight, we really must accumulate." .

In another section known as "Canada" (so named because Germans believed that Canada was a land of vast riches), the belongings of the arriving victims were sorted and stored, to be transferred to the German government. A group at the head of the procession through the city were dressed in business suits. One section of the camp was reserved for female prisoners. Marchers were addressed by celebrities, political and religious leaders who supported the reduction of world poverty. Those arriving prisoners who survived the initial selection would go on to spend some time in quarantine quarters and eventually work on the camp's maintenance or expansion or be sent to one of the surrounding satellite work camps. The marchers had been asked to wear white to make a symbolic ring of white through the city, matching the Make Poverty History white wrist band. Young children were taken from their mothers and placed with older women to be gassed, along with the sick, weak and old. An estimated total of 225,000 people took part, making it the largest ever protest in the Scottish capital.

At other times, the Nazis would perform "selections", often administered by Josef Mengele, to the end of choosing whom to kill right away and whom to imprison as labour force or use for medical experiments. This protest had been organised by the Make Poverty History group and local authorities as part of a series of events in Edinburgh commemorating the G8 conference, and had been planned for months before the announcement of Live 8. At times, the whole transport would be sent to its death immediately. On July 2, the same day as the Live 8 concerts, a rally and protest march was held in central Edinburgh, near the Gleneagles venue for the G8 conference later that week. From 1944 railway tracks extended into the camp itself; before that, arriving prisoners were marched from the Auschwitz railway station to the camp. [10]. Most people arrived at the camp by rail, often after horrifying trips in cattle cars lasting several days. In fact, the 35,000 free tickets for the Canadian show were all distributed in just 20 minutes on 23 June 2005, Ticketmaster reported.

Large-scale extermination started in Spring 1942. Similar scalper situations arose for the Edinburgh and Canadian shows, and eBay halted sales of those tickets as well. For this purpose, the camp was equipped with four crematoria with gas chambers; each gas chamber was designed to hold up to 2,500 people at one time. Others have argued, though, that selling the tickets would not have done any harm to the people Live 8 is supposed to be helping and it would have allowed those who missed the random selection a chance to go to the concert. The camp's main purpose, however, was not internment with forced labour (as Auschwitz I & III) but rather extermination. It was later announced that eBay, under pressure from the British government, the public, as well as Geldof himself, would withdraw all auctions of the tickets. The camp held up to 100,000 prisoners at one time. Many people, angered by others seemingly using Live 8 to make money, placed fake bids for millions of pounds for such auctions in an attempt to force the sellers to take them off sale.

Fields as well as the camp itself were surrounded with barbed, electrified wire (which was used by some of the inmates to commit suicide). They also promised to make a donation to Live 8 that would be "at least equal to any fees" they would be making for such sales. The camp was about 2.5 kilometres by 2 kilometres (1½ mi by 1¼ mi) large and was divided into several sections, each of which was separated into fields. Initially, eBay defended their decision to allow the auctions to go ahead, stating that there were no laws against their sale. The camp was designed, according to the Bauhaus concept of functionalism and construction started in 1941, as part of the Final Solution (Endlösung). This was heavily criticised by the organisers of the event, including Bob Geldof. The camp is located in Brzezinka (Birkenau), about 3 kilometres (1.8 mi) from Auschwitz I. Some lucky people who won tickets immediately placed them for sale on the Internet auction site eBay, with the intention of making a profit.

It was the site of the imprisonment of hundreds of thousands, and the killings of over one million people, mainly Jews. Funds raised beyond the £1.6m "will go to pay for the costs of Live 8, as it is a free event", according to the Live 8 website. Auschwitz II (Birkenau) is the camp that many people know simply as "Auschwitz". The £1.6m donation will act as a quid pro quo. It was staffed by women specifically selected for the purpose, and by some volunteers from the female prisoners most of whom were raped by the Nazis. This event was cancelled in 2005 to make way for Live 8. The camp brothel, established in the summer of 1943 on Himmler's order, was located in block 24 and was used to reward privileged prisoners. The Prince's Trust usually host the Party in the Park concert in Hyde Park in July.

Prisoners in the camp hospital who were not quick to recover were regularly killed by a lethal injection of phenol. The first £1.6m raised is to be given to the Prince's Trust, who in turn will donate to the Help A London Child charity. Josef Mengele experimented on twins in the same complex. Thus texters had a roughly one-in-28 chance of winning a pair of tickets. Dr. Over two million texts were sent during the competition, raising £3 million. Carl Clauberg conducted sterilization experiments on Jewish women in block 10 of Auschwitz I, with the aim of developing a simple injection method to be used on the Slavic people. Winners were drawn at random from those correctly answering the question.

Dr. Entry involved sending the answer to a multiple choice question via a text message costing £1.50. From April 1943 to May 1944, the gynecologist Prof. Although the concerts were free, 66,500 pairs of tickets for the Hyde Park concert were allocated from the 13 June 2005 to 15 June 2005, to winners of a mobile phone text message competition that began on Monday, 6 June 2005. The first women arrived in the camp on March 26, 1942. Millions of paper petitions and emails have already been submitted. This gas chamber operated from 1941 to 1942 and was then converted into an air-raid shelter. Named the "Live 8 List", this can be reached via the Live8 List page.

The tests deemed successful, a gas chamber and crematorium were constructed by converting a bunker. An enormous petition with (presently) over 38 million names is available to be signed on the Internet. The substance producing the highly-lethal cyanide gas was sold under the trade name Zyklon B, originally for use as a pesticide used to kill lice. The event coincided with the 2005 G8 summit at the Gleneagles Hotel, Perthshire, Scotland, and the idea behind it was to overwhelm the eight politicans attending with the amount of public support for the principles of the Make Poverty History campaign. The first experiment was on 3 September, 1941, and it killed 600 Soviet POWs. The Live 8 concert was not a fundraising event of any kind; rather, the organisers were hoping that it would spur people's political interest. In September 1941, the SS conducted poison gas tests in block 11, killing 850 Poles and Russians using cyanide. The Live Aid concert, held in 1985, was a massive fundraising effort which accumulated approximately £79 million, which was sent to the world's poorest countries in aid.

Others were executed by shooting, hanging or starving. We don't want your money, we want your voice. Some prisoners had to spend several days in tiny cells too small to sit down. It featured further performances from some of the artists from the other concerts, and was the closest of the eleven to the actual location of the G8 summit. Block 11 of Auschwitz I was the "prison within the prison", where violations of the numerous rules were punished. The final event was held in Edinburgh on 6 July 2005 and went by the name Edinburgh 50,000 - The Final Push. The harsh work requirements, combined with poor nutrition and hygiene, led to high death rates among the prisoners. The band's last show was at Earls Court in London on June 17, 1981.

All inmates had to work; except in the associated arms factories, Sundays were reserved for cleaning and showering and there were no work assignments. Included in the line-up were Pink Floyd playing for the first time together in over 24 years. The various classes of prisoners were distinguishable by special marks on their clothes; Jews were generally treated the worst. Guest presenters, ranging from sporting stars to comedians, also introduced acts. The SS selected some prisoners, often German criminals, as specially privileged supervisors of the other inmates (so-called: kapo). Special guests appeared throughout the concerts, with Kofi Annan, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and Bill Gates making a speech at the London show and Nelson Mandela appearing in the South African venue. Contrary to what is depicted in several films, the majority of the Jews were imprisoned in the Auschwitz II camp, and did not pass under this sign. Some of these were also shown to other venues.

The camp's prisoners who left the camp during the day for construction or farm labour were made to march through the gate at the sounds of an orchestra. Bob Geldof was at the event in Hyde Park, London and made numerous appearances on stage, including a performance of "I Don't Like Mondays". The entrance to Auschwitz I was (and still is) marked with the cynical sign "Arbeit macht frei", "Work (shall) make (you) free" (or "work liberates"). This was to represent the death of a child every three seconds, due to poverty. At any time, the camp held between 13,000 and 16,000 inmates; in 1942 the number reached 20,000. During the opening of the Philadelphia concert, Will Smith led the combined audiences of London, Philadelphia, Berlin, Rome, Paris and Barrie (outside Toronto) in a synchronised finger click. Jews were sent to the camp as well, beginning with the very first shipment (from Tarnów). The first to begin was held at the Makuhari Messe in Japan, with Rize being the first of all the Live 8 performers.

Common German criminals, "anti-social elements" and 48 German homosexuals were also imprisoned there. There were ten concerts held on 2 July 2005, most of them simultaneously. The camp was initially used for interning Polish intellectuals and resistance movement members, then also for Soviet Prisoners of War. . A group of 728 Polish political prisoners from Tarnów became the first residents of Auschwitz on June 14th that year. It was released almost a year to the day after the release of the DVD of Live Aid on November 8, 2004. It was founded on May 20, 1940, on the basis of an old Polish brick army barracks. An official Live 8 DVD set was released on 7 November 2005 internationally, 8 November 2005 in the United States.

Auschwitz I served as the administrative center for the whole complex. However, it is important to note that Live 8, unlike Live Aid, wasn't intended to raise money, but awareness and political pressure. . Indeed, as some of the performers involved had been out of the public eye, some may have perceived the concert as a way of getting back "into the spotlight". A common punishment for escape attempts was death by starvation; the families of successful escapees were sometimes arrested and interned in Auschwitz and prominently displayed to deter others. Other critics say that millionaire rock stars would make greater contribution by donating parts of their personal fortunes. About 700 prisoners attempted to escape from the Auschwitz camps during the years of their operation, with about 300 attempts successful. eBay later removed the tickets, after some controversy.

Chief of the women's field was handled by Johanna Langefeld, Maria Mandel and last by Elisabeth Volkenrath. Some ticket holders placed their tickets on the auction site eBay, creating an uproar which included Geldof demanding that the company remove the auctions, even encouraging hackers to attack eBay. He was hanged in 1947 in front of the entrance to the crematorium of Auschwitz I. Names from the list also appeared on the giant televisions at each concert during the broadcast. Höß provided a detailed description of the camp's workings during his interrogations after the war and also in his autobiography. This is a list of names compiled from around the world of people who have voiced support of the Live 8 mission to "Make Poverty History" www.live8list.com. The commandants of the camp were the SS-Obersturmbannführers Rudolf Höß (sometimes transliterated in English as "Hoess") until Summer 1943, and later Arthur Liebehenschel and Richard Baer. Organizers of Live 8 presented the "Live 8 List" to the world leaders at the G8 summit.

Like all Nazi concentration camps, the Auschwitz camps were operated by Heinrich Himmler's SS. Many of the Live 8 backers were also involved in the largely forgotten NetAid concerts. The exact number of people killed in the camps is not known, but most modern estimates are around 1.1-1.5 million. These concerts are the start point for The Long Walk To Justice, the one way we can all make our voices heard in unison." [4]. See List of subcamps of Auschwitz for others. Geldof said "This is not Live Aid 2. The three main camps were:. However Geldof and co-organiser Midge Ure have since explicitly said they don't think of the event as the same as Live Aid.

The camps were a major element in the perpetration of the Holocaust, killing around 1.1-1.5 million people, of whom over 90% were Jews. [2] [3]) referred to the event as Live Aid 2. Beginning in 1940, Nazi Germany built several concentration camps and an extermination camp in the area, which at the time had been annexed by Nazi Germany. Prior to the official announcement of the event many news sources (see e.g. The name is derived from the German name for the nearby Polish town of Oświęcim (pronounced [oʃˈventʃiːm]), situated about 60 kilometres (37 mi) southwest of Kraków. Many former Live Aid acts offered their services to the cause. Auschwitz is the name loosely used to identify the largest Nazi extermination camp along with two main German concentration camps and 45-50 sub-camps. Live Aid and Band Aid organizer Bob Geldof announced the event on 31 May 2005.

Indiana University Press, 1998, pp 60-70. [1]. Anatomy of the Auschwitz Death Camp. More than 1,000 musicians performed at the concerts, which were broadcast on 182 television networks and 2,000 radio networks. ^ Yisrael Gutman, Michael Berenbaum, Raul Hilberg, Franciszek Piper, Yehuda Baur. On 7 July the G8 leaders pledged to double 2004 levels of aid to Africa from US$25 to US$50 billion by the year 2010. Auschwitz III (Monowitz), which served as a labor camp for the IG Farben company. Ten simultaneous concerts were held on 2 July and one on 6 July.

Auschwitz II (Birkenau), an extermination camp and the site of the deaths of roughly 1.1 million Jews, 75,000 Poles, and some 19,000 Roma. Running parallel with the UK's Make Poverty History campaign, the shows planned to pressure world leaders to drop the debt of the world's poorest nations, increase and improve aid, and negotiate fairer trade rules in the interest of poorer countries. Auschwitz I, the original concentration camp which served as the administrative centre for the whole complex, and was the site of the deaths of roughly 70,000 people, mostly Poles and Soviet Prisoners of War. They were timed to precede the G8 Conference and Summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire, Scotland from July 6-8, 2005; they also coincided with the 20th anniversary of Live Aid. Live 8 was a series of concerts that took place in July 2005, in the G8 nations and South Africa. U2.

Pink Floyd's David Gilmour (played with Bryan Ferry in 1985, and with Pink Floyd in 2005). Paul McCartney. Neil Young. Madonna.

George Michael. Elton John. DMC (performed as part of Run DMC at Live Aid). "Won't Get Fooled Again" - The Who.

"We Will Rock You" - Queen (Robbie Williams). "Vienna" - Ultravox (Midge Ure). "Tears Are Not Enough" - Bryan Adams. "Save A Prayer" - Duran Duran.

"Rat Trap" - Boomtown Rats (Bob Geldof). "I Don't Like Mondays" - Boomtown Rats (Bob Geldof). "Good Vibrations" - The Beach Boys (Brian Wilson). "Every Breath You Take" - Sting and Phil Collins (Sting).

"Driven To Tears" - Sting. 8 November 2005: Official Live 8 DVD released in North America. 7 November 2005: Official Live 8 DVD released internationally. 25 October 2005: Official Live 8 Africa Calling at the Eden Project DVD released.

8 July 2005: Live 8 organizer Bob Geldof thanks the G8 for meeting the Live 8 goal. Leaders pledge to increase aid to developing countries by US$50 billion overall by 2010, including an increase of US$25 billion in aid for Africa. 8 July 2005: The G8 summit ends. 6 July 2005: Edinburgh 50,000 - The Final Push concert in Edinburgh takes place.

3 July 2005: Sail 8 flops. Main concerts start. 2 July 2005: The march against poverty in Edinburgh starts and continues mostly peacefully, with an estimate of 200,000 people involved with the march. 2 July 2005: AOL Music begins broadcasting streams from each city live and on-demand at Aolmusic.com[9].

28 June 2005: ABC say they will broadcast a two-hour highlights event at 8pm ET on 2 July in prime time. Acts include Pet Shop Boys, The Red Elvises and Bravo. 27 June 2005: Live 8 Russia, in Moscow's Red Square, announced. Acts in Japan concert include Björk, Good Charlotte, while acts in Johannesburg concert include African stars such as 4Peace Ensemble and Oumou Sangare.

24 June 2005: Live 8 Japan and South Africa announced. 23 June 2005: All 35,000 tickets for Canadian show are taken within 20 minutes of being made available online [8]. Country Music Television and VH1 Classic will show highlights on July 3 in favor of their viewer's genres. 22 June 2005: In the United States, MTV, MTV2, mtvU, and VH1 all confirm that they will broadcast Live 8 starting at Noon ET.

Albarn's band Blur was originally a part of the Live 8 line-up, but withdrew after complaining of the event being too "Anglo-Saxon". Live 8 will make a difference - it's already created a debate that we're all involved in." [7]. In some way that's been addressed and that's really good.. He told a reporter: "I have said certain things in relation to the density of African performers..

21 June 2005: Damon Albarn, who recently criticised Live 8 for the lack of African artists, is now reportedly happy about Live 8 now that they have addressed his criticism. The event will be hosted by comedians Dan Aykroyd and Tom Green. Acts include Bryan Adams, Barenaked Ladies, and more. 21 June 2005: "Live 8 Canada" announced.

17 June 2005: The LIVE 8 List, a petition to the G8 leaders, is launched. 16 June 2005: Geldof announces three more concerts for 2 July, to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, Makuhari, Japan, and Toronto/Barrie, Canada. [6]. Senegalese musician Youssou N'Dour will host the event, which will also feature performances by African performers Maryam Mursal, Salif Keita and Thomas Mapfumo.

The event is to be held in Cornwall, southwest England, on 2 July. 15 June 2005: It is announced that Peter Gabriel will organize a sixth simultaneous Live 8 concert dubbed "Africa Calling" featuring all African artists, to counter criticisms that most performers announced to date are white. 14 June 2005: eBay announces that they will block the selling-on of tickets after Geldof calls on the public to rally against the internet auction site. 11 June 2005: G8 finance ministers agree to cancel the debt owed by 18 of the poorest countries.

7 June 2005: Midge Ure announces a concert to be held in Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, Scotland on 6 July as the climax to the proposed rally. 1.5 million text messages are received in the first day. 6 June 2005: Text lottery launched in the UK for tickets for the London concert. [5] He also supported Geldof's call for a peaceful protest rally in Scotland.

He estimates that this will save the organisers £500,000. 3 June 2005: British Chancellor Gordon Brown announces that VAT will be waived on the cost of the London concert. Geldof calls for a coinciding march on Edinburgh to protest poverty, "What's better - two days of work? Two days of geometry? Or participating in something you will remember all your life," he says. 31 May 2005: Official announcement of Live 8 concerts by Bob Geldof.