The Auschwitz camp complex was the largest of its kind established by the Nazi regime. Auschwitz consisted of three main camps, including a killing center. Individuals not sent directly to the gas chambers were sentenced to forced labor. More than 1.1 million people were murdered at Auschwitz, including approximately one million Jews.
Main entrance to the Auschwitz-Birkenau killing center. This photograph was taken some time after the liberation of the camp in January 1945. Poland, date uncertain.
Item View![View of Auschwitz-Birkenau under a blanket of snow immediately after the liberation. [LCID: 58406]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/70e4a693-9692-4141-8414-a8f11c0c9e15.jpg "View of Auschwitz-Birkenau under a blanket of snow immediately after the liberation. [LCID: 58406]")
View of Auschwitz-Birkenau under a blanket of snow immediately after the liberation. Auschwitz, Poland, January 1945.
Item View
View of a section of barbed-wire fence and barracks at the Auschwitz concentration camp in January 1945. This photo was taken by Stanisław Mucha, a Polish photographer, after the camp was liberated.
On January 27, 1945, Soviet forces liberated the Auschwitz main camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, and Auschwitz-Monowitz. They found approximately 7,000 prisoners who had been left behind when the SS abandoned the camps and evacuated the prisoners on death marches.
Item View
Soon after liberation, a Soviet physician examines Auschwitz camp survivors. Poland, February 18, 1945.
This photograph is a still image from Soviet film of the liberation of Auschwitz.
Item View
Hair of women prisoners, prepared for shipment to Germany, found at the liberation of Auschwitz. Poland, 1945.
Item View
Suitcases that belonged to people deported to the Auschwitz camp. This photograph was taken after Soviet forces liberated the camp. Auschwitz, Poland, after January 1945.
Item View
Soon after liberation, an emaciated child survivor is carried out of camp barracks by Soviet first-aid workers. Auschwitz, Poland, after January 27, 1945.
This photograph is a still image from Soviet film of the liberation of Auschwitz.
Item View
Soon after liberation, surviving children of the Auschwitz camp walk out of the children's barracks. Poland, after January 27, 1945.
Item View
Jewish women and children from Subcarpathian Rus who have been selected for death at Auschwitz-Birkenau, walk toward the gas chambers. May 1944.
Item View
A transport of Hungarian Jews lines up on the ramp for selection at the Auschwitz-Birkenau killing center in German-occupied Poland. May 1944.
In mid-May 1944, the Hungarian authorities, in coordination with the German Security Police, began to systematically deport the Hungarian Jews. SS Colonel Adolf Eichmann was chief of the team of "deportation experts" that worked with the Hungarian authorities. The Hungarian police carried out the roundups and forced the Jews onto the deportation trains.
In less than two months, nearly 440,000 Jews were deported from Hungary in more than 145 trains.
Item View![Identification pictures of a Jewish inmate of the Auschwitz camp. [LCID: 90350]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/9d0b7c23-5385-4ffa-a015-f4c3fdaaebb0.jpg "Identification pictures of a Jewish inmate of the Auschwitz camp. [LCID: 90350]")
Identification pictures of a Jewish inmate of the Auschwitz camp. Poland, between 1940 and 1945.
Item View![Identification pictures of a female inmate of the Auschwitz camp. [LCID: 90354]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/3a4e6972-13a1-4b5c-823c-8e8f63495b55.jpg "Identification pictures of a female inmate of the Auschwitz camp. [LCID: 90354]")
Identification pictures of a female inmate of the Auschwitz camp. Poland, between 1942 and 1945.
Item View
The Black Wall, between Block 10 (left) and Block 11 (right) in the Auschwitz concentration camp, where executions of inmates took place. Poland, date unknown.
Item View
Prisoners at forced labor in the Siemens factory. Auschwitz camp, Poland, 1940–44.
Item View
Barracks in the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. This photograph was taken after the liberation of the camp. Auschwitz-Birkenau, Poland, after January 29, 1945.
Item View
Aerial photograph showing the gas chambers and crematoria 2 and 3 at the Auschwitz-Birkenau (Auschwitz II) killing center. Auschwitz, Poland, August 25, 1944.
Item View
We would like to thank Crown Family Philanthropies, Abe and Ida Cooper Foundation, the Claims Conference, EVZ, and BMF for supporting the ongoing work to create content and resources for the Holocaust Encyclopedia. View the list of donor acknowledgement.
