Auschwitz didn’t start off as a murder camp. The mass exterminations began later. This Australian camp is an exact analogue. Beware Aussies!
It was converted from a Polish Army barracks, and originally just used to house Polish political prisoners. Then the Nazi realized it was conveniently located near a major railroad center. At first the surrounding land was too "swampy" to expand, so they had to drain the land, before building the Death Camp portion.
That is correct. Concentration camps were originally set up for political prisoners!