Execution Wall

This is the wall where prisoners were brought and summarily executed.  The windows on the barrack building directly next to it were boarded up to try to hide the sounds and sights of the murders.  It is likely that it was still obvious to everyone when killings took place.
This could also be a place where the nightly roll call was held.  The Nazis required a roll call every night to make sure every single prisoner that had left to do manual labor in the morning had returned that night, dead or alive.  This meant that if at some point during the up to seven kilometer walk to the work site, during the 10+ hour shift of work, or during the up to seven kilometer walk back to camp, if a fellow prisoner died, the other prisoners from his or her barracks should carry the corpse for roll call.  The longest recorded roll call lasted 19 hours as they searched for a prisoner who had escaped.  Typically, if a prisoner escaped, other prisoners from that barrack would be shot and killed on the spot. This deterred many from trying to escape during the labor work shifts.

I should also mention that in the second photo you can see our tour guide.  Guided tours are now required during the summer months from 10am-3pm.  You can tour alone before and after those hours, however I thought our guide was supremely knowledgable and considerate of what it was we were seeing.  He spoke in very measured tones and always gave us time to reflect on what we were experiencing.  Auschwitz would not have been the same without his experienced guidance.