title: Abiotic determinants of the historical buildings biodeterioration in the former Auschwitz II-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp.
abstract: The paper presents the results of a study conducted at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Oświęcim on the occurrence of biodeterioration. Visual assessment of the buildings revealed signs of deterioration of the buildings in the form of dampness, bulging and crumbling plaster, and wood fiber splitting. The external surfaces, and especially the concrete strips and ground immediately adjoining the buildings, were colonized by bryophytes, lichens, and algae. These organisms developed most intensively close to the ground on the northern sides of the buildings. Inside the buildings, molds and bacteria were not found to develop actively, while algae and wood-decaying fungi occurred locally. The factors conducive to biological corrosion in the studied buildings were excessive dampness of structural partitions close to the ground and a relative air humidity of above 70%, which was connected to ineffective moisture insulation. The influence of temperature was smaller, as it mostly affected the quantitative composition of the microorganisms and the qualitative composition of the algae. Also the impact of light was not very strong, but it was conducive to algae growth.
authors.affiliation: Lodz University of Technology, Institute of Fermentation Technology and Microbiology, Lodz, Poland.
authors.forename: Małgorzata
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Piotrowska
authors.affiliation: Lodz University of Technology, Institute of Fermentation Technology and Microbiology, Lodz, Poland.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Otlewska
authors.affiliation: Lodz University of Technology, Institute of Fermentation Technology and Microbiology, Lodz, Poland.
authors.forename: Katarzyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rajkowska
authors.affiliation: Lodz University of Technology, Institute of Fermentation Technology and Microbiology, Lodz, Poland.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Koziróg
authors.affiliation: University of Lodz, Department of Algology and Mycology, Lodz, Poland.
authors.forename: Mariusz
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hachułka
authors.affiliation: University of Lodz, Department of Algology and Mycology, Lodz, Poland.
authors.forename: Paulina
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nowicka-Krawczyk
authors.affiliation: University of Lodz, Department of Geobotany and Plant Ecology, Lodz, Poland.
authors.forename: Grzegorz J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Wolski
authors.affiliation: Lodz University of Technology, Institute of Fermentation Technology and Microbiology, Lodz, Poland.
authors.forename: Beata
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gutarowska
authors.affiliation: Lodz University of Technology, Institute of Fermentation Technology and Microbiology, Lodz, Poland.
authors.forename: Alina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kunicka-Styczyńska
authors.affiliation: Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, Oświęcim, Poland.
authors.forename: Agnieszka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zydzik-Białek
mesh_terms: D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000032:analysis*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D003209:Concentration Camps; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005658:Fungi / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006813:Humidity; D009144:Museums; D011330:Prisons; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D014934:Wood / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S