From early 1942, when the mass gassing of Jews began, prisoners would bring belongings with them in the belief they were being resettled. The Germans allowed them to carry up to . They brought food, alcohol, household items, utensils, clothing, prams, medication, valuables, and professional tools, with their names, addresses and dates of birth on the luggage, all of which ended up in
Kanada. When they arrived at the camp, prisoners had to strip naked, either to be shaved and given camp clothes or to be gassed. From around 1942, the belongings of murdered Jews, Poles, French citizens, the Roma and Soviet citizens and POWs were regarded as the property of Germany, which meant the camp made no attempt to pass it to the next of kin. The goods were sorted and packaged by the
Kanada Kommando, appointed from among registered prisoners who had been admitted to the camp as workers. The goods were then used in the camp itself or sent elsewhere, including to Germany. The first warehouses,
Kanada I, were originally in block 26 of Auschwitz I, the main camp in the complex, but were expanded in December 1943 to
Kanada II, 30 wooden buildings near the gas chambers in the BIIg section of
Auschwitz II-Birkenau, the extermination camp. There were also two barracks for the
Kanada Kommando and one for the
SS who worked there. At the beginning of 1944 two Italian young women also worked in
Kanada. They arrived with a transport from north Italy. On 22 July 1944, 210 male prisoners worked in
Kanada I and 590 in
Kanada II; on 2 October that year, 250 female prisoners worked in
Kanada I and 815 in
Kanada II. Later 1,500–2,000 worked in
Kanada II. ==Liberation==