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.
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.
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View of Auschwitz-Birkenau under a blanket of snow immediately after the liberation. Auschwitz, Poland, January 1945.
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View of a section of the barbed-wire fence and barracks at Auschwitz at the time of the liberation of the camp. Auschwitz, Poland, January 1945.
On January 27, 1945, the Soviet army entered Auschwitz, Birkenau, and Monowitz and liberated more than six thousand prisoners, most of whom were ill and dying.
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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.
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Hair of women prisoners, prepared for shipment to Germany, found at the liberation of Auschwitz. Poland, 1945.
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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.
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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.
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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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Jewish women and children from Subcarpathian Rus who have been selected for death at Auschwitz-Birkenau, walk toward the gas chambers. May 1944.
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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.
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Identification pictures of a Jewish inmate of the Auschwitz camp. Poland, between 1940 and 1945.
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Identification pictures of a female inmate of the Auschwitz camp. Poland, between 1942 and 1945.
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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.
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Prisoners at forced labor in the Siemens factory. Auschwitz camp, Poland, 1940–44.
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Barracks in the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. This photograph was taken after the liberation of the camp. Auschwitz-Birkenau, Poland, after January 29, 1945.
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Aerial photograph showing the gas chambers and crematoria 2 and 3 at the Auschwitz-Birkenau (Auschwitz II) killing center. Auschwitz, Poland, August 25, 1944.
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![Women survivors huddled in a prisoner barracks shortly after Soviet forces liberated the Auschwitz camp. [LCID: 31450b]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/thumb/8fdec1b8-47fa-40f1-9a27-06e7262bad5e.jpg)