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The Holocaust did not begin with mass killings. It began with the rhetoric of hate. 
In the first year of Auschwitz's (@AuschwitzMuseum) existence most of the prisoners’ rooms had no beds or any other furniture. The inmates slept on paillasses laid out on the floor, which at reveille they had to stack up in the corner, and lay them out again in the evening.
The overcrowding meant that inmates could only sleep on one side, arranged in three rows. Three-tier bunks started being gradually introduced in February 1941.
The prisoners received three meals a day. In the mornings all they were given was half a litre of ‘coffee’ (a watery ersatz grain beverage) or ‘tea’ (a herbal beverage).
The noon meal was about a litre of ‘soup’, usually comprising some potato, rutabaga as well as small quantities of kasha (groats), rye flour and Avo food extract.
For supper the prisoners received about 300g of black bread and 25g of sausage, black pudding or margarine; or a tablespoon of marmalade or some cheese. The nutritional value of these meals (with inadequate animal protein, fat, vitamins and minerals) was very low.
