PHOTO
Soon after liberation, surviving children of the Auschwitz camp walk out
of the children’s barracks. Poland, after January 27, 1945.
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Auschwitz was the largest camp established by the Germans. A complex of camps, Auschwitz included a concentration, extermination, and forced-labor camp. It was located 37 miles west of Krakow (Cracow), near the prewar German-Polish border.
In mid-January 1945, as Soviet forces approached the Auschwitz camp complex, the SS began evacuating Auschwitz and its satellite camps. Nearly 60,000 prisoners were forced to march west from the Auschwitz camp system. Thousands had been killed in the camps in the days before these death marches began. Tens of thousands of prisoners, mostly Jews, were forced to march to the city of Wodzislaw in the western part of Upper Silesia. SS guards shot anyone who fell behind or could not continue. Prisoners also suffered from the cold weather, starvation, and exposure on these marches. More than 15,000 died during the death marches from Auschwitz. On January 27, 1945, the Soviet army entered Auschwitz and liberated more than 7,000 remaining prisoners, who were mostly ill and dying. It is estimated that at minimum 1.3 million people were deported to Auschwitz between 1940 and 1945; of these, at least 1.1 million were murdered.
ENCOUNTERING AUSCHWITZ
Historians and survivors discuss the significance of Auschwitz.
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MAP ANIMATION
Auschwitz camp.
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TESTIMONY
Ruth Webber talks about survival in Auschwitz.
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TESTIMONY
Fritzie Fritzshall describes death march from Auschwitz.
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TESTIMONY
Bart Stern describes how he survived to be liberated at Auschwitz.
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FILM
Footage taken after Soviet troops entered Auschwitz.
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FILM
Footage taken after the Soviet liberation of Auschwitz.
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FILM
Footage taken upon the liberation of Auschwitz.
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PUBLISHED IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM
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Eyewitness Auschwitz
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Anatomy of the Auschwitz Death Camp
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At the Mind’s Limits
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People in Auschwitz
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The Bombing of Auschwitz
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Triumph of Hope
RELATED LINKS
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Stories of Liberation
(USC Shoah Foundation Institute) -
International Holocaust Remembrance Day
(USHMM Special Focus) -
UN Special Session
(web link) -
January 2005 message from Pope John Paul II on the 60th anniversary
(web link, Vatican) -
Auschwitz
(Holocaust Encyclopedia article) -
From Liberation to the Pursuit of Justice
(USHMM Special Focus) -
Liberation of Nazi Camps
(Holocaust Encyclopedia article) -
Thomas Buergenthal ID Card
(Holocaust Encyclopedia) -
Auschwitz Revolt
(Miles Lerman Center for the Study of Jewish Resistance) -
Historical photos
(From the Photo Archives) -
Encyclopedia project
(Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies) -
Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum
(Web link) -
bbc.co.uk Press Pack, Auschwitz: The Nazis & the ‘Final Solution’
(Web link) -
pbs.org, Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State
(Web link)