Construction segment
(German: Bauabschnitt)
Term used by German architects who designed Birkenau to describe main segments of the camp, divided into smaller sectors. Until the spring of 1944, when construction works were halted, three out of the four construction segments were completed. They comprised nine camps.
Segment BI. In March 1942, men were housed in the first sector of the segment (camp BI b) and in August, women were housed in its second sector (BI a). From July 1943, the entire segment BI became women's camp.
Segment BII. The second construction segment, consisting of seven sectors-camps, started becoming operational from March 1943:
1. March – so-called family camp for Roma (Zigeunerlager, BII e),
2. May – transit camp for Jewish women from Hungary (BII c),
3. and 4. July – men's camp (BII d) and hospital camp (BII f),
5. August – quarantine camp for men (BII a),
6. September – so-called family camp for Jews transported from the ghetto in Theresienstadt (BII b),
7. December – a complex of storage barracks for property plundered from Jews murdered in the gas chambers (BII g, so called Kanada).
Segment BIII, so called Meksyk. In mid-May 1944, women from the transports of Jews from Hungary were housed there (Sonderaktion “Ungarn”).