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Auschwitz

Auschwitz played a central role in the “Final Solution,” the Nazi plan to murder the Jews of Europe. The Nazis deported Jews from nearly every European country to the Auschwitz-Birkenau killing center in German-occupied Poland. In all, more than 1.1 million people died at Auschwitz, including approximately one million Jews.

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Buchenwald environs, 1945

Buchenwald environs, 1945 [LCID: buc42030]

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Major camps in Greater Germany, Buchenwald indicated

Major camps in Greater Germany, Buchenwald indicated [LCID: buc72020]

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Major death marches from Auschwitz, January 1945

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. 

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Auschwitz environs, summer 1944

Auschwitz environs, summer 1944 [LCID: auc42030]

This map shows the Auschwitz camp complex in the summer of 1944.

The SS established Auschwitz in spring 1940 as a concentration camp for Polish political prisoners. It was located in German-occupied Poland on the outskirts of the town of Oświęcim. Over the next several years, the camp was expanded and transformed into a sprawling camp complex. In March 1942, the SS began operating a killing center at Auschwitz where they murdered Jewish people from all over Europe. 

By 1944, the Auschwitz camp complex included multiple camps that served different purposes. The largest of the Auschwitz camps included the Auschwitz main camp (Auschwitz I); Auschwitz-Birkenau (Auschwitz II), which included the killing center; and Auschwitz-Monowitz (Auschwitz III). There were also numerous smaller subcamps.

At Auschwitz, the Germans killed about 1.1 million people, including approximately 1,000,000 Jews; 70,000 Poles; 21,000 Roma and Sinti; and 15,000 Soviet prisoners of war.

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Deportations from Hungarian ghettos to Auschwitz

Deportations from Hungarian ghettos to Auschwitz [LCID: hun78120]

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Ghettos in occupied Hungary, 1944

Ghettos in occupied Hungary, 1944 [LCID: hun74020]

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Hungarian expansion

Hungarian expansion [LCID: hun71060]

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Romania, 1933

Romania, 1933 [LCID: rom19010]

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Buchenwald concentration camp, spring 1945

Buchenwald concentration camp, spring 1945 [LCID: buc22041]

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