![Major death marches and evacuations, 1944-1945 [LCID: gge72100]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/8f63a32e-543e-40fe-b690-44b030bfc971.gif "Major death marches and evacuations, 1944-1945 [LCID: gge72100]")
In January 1945, the Third Reich stood on the verge of military defeat. As Allied forces approached Nazi camps, the SS organized death marches of concentration camp inmates, in part to keep large numbers of concentration camp prisoners from falling into Allied hands. The term "death march" was probably coined by concentration camp prisoners. It referred to forced marches of concentration camp prisoners over long distances under heavy guard and extremely harsh conditions. During death marches, SS guards brutally mistreated the prisoners and killed many. The largest death marches were launched from Auschwitz and Stutthof.
Item View![Major death marches from Auschwitz, January 1945 [LCID: auc72080]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/04d8c8d8-53fe-4d04-b3fb-438c2fab113b.gif "Major death marches from Auschwitz, January 1945 [LCID: auc72080]")
On January 17, 1945, the SS began evacuating the Auschwitz camp complex. The SS forced tens of thousands of prisoners, mostly Jews, on death marches. Prisoners from Auschwitz, Auschwitz-Birkenau, and Monowitz were forced to march either northwest for 55 kilometers (approximately 30 miles) to Gliwice (Gleiwitz) or due west for 63 kilometers (approximately 35 miles) to Wodzisław Śląski (Loslau). Once they arrived in Gliwice and Wodzisław Śląski, most prisoners were put on unheated freight trains and transported to other concentration camps in Germany. There were also death marches from Auschwitz subcamps. During the marches, SS guards shot anyone who fell behind or could not continue. Prisoners suffered from the cold weather, starvation, and exposure.
Item View![Evacuations and death march from Stutthof [LCID: stu72040]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/c2e185e4-579e-4f14-8271-8b18edf6690a.gif "Evacuations and death march from Stutthof [LCID: stu72040]")
![Major death marches from Buchenwald, April 1945 [LCID: buc72060]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/77829cfc-b8be-4993-beb9-9e633e0393e0.gif "Major death marches from Buchenwald, April 1945 [LCID: buc72060]")
![Death marches from Gross-Rosen, January 1945 [LCID: grr72060]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/16f1a13d-9e2b-4c30-8460-edfddd85a54a.gif "Death marches from Gross-Rosen, January 1945 [LCID: grr72060]")
![Death march from Dachau to Tegernsee, March 1945 [LCID: dac72050]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/c7b259fa-b487-4ea0-9622-def816b7e3ab.gif "Death march from Dachau to Tegernsee, March 1945 [LCID: dac72050]")
![Death march from Budapest, 1944 [LCID: bud72070]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/498c3e15-1b60-46ad-be8d-785b36ef76b1.gif "Death march from Budapest, 1944 [LCID: bud72070]")
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