Born to a Jewish family in Preveza, Rena Gani was endangered by the German occupation of Greece. In March 1944, the Nazis deported the Jews of Preveza to Auschwitz. Rena was later sent to the Ravensbrück camp and was liberated during a death march in May 1945.
These maps add geographic context to Rena's experience.
![Greece, 1933 [LCID: gre19010]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/0e07f2c7-fd8e-43b1-8630-60b62b380dde.gif "Greece, 1933 [LCID: gre19010]")
![Occupation of Greece, 1941 [LCID: gre76060]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/301a4ddd-53ca-4273-ae3f-8b42ef8fe2e8.gif "Occupation of Greece, 1941 [LCID: gre76060]")
![Occupation of Greece, 1943 [LCID: gre76070]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/db5bfdc2-8f63-4e0e-a2c6-b864130ca4af.gif "Occupation of Greece, 1943 [LCID: gre76070]")
![Europe 1943-1944, Auschwitz indicated [LCID: auc62040]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/e904823f-a280-4f5b-8914-03e1df871164.gif "Europe 1943-1944, Auschwitz indicated [LCID: auc62040]")
![Major deportations to Auschwitz, 1941-1944 [LCID: auc78060]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/c9ec53c0-5a86-46de-872f-2489ebc9feda.gif "Major deportations to Auschwitz, 1941-1944 [LCID: auc78060]")
Auschwitz was a Nazi concentration camp complex located in German-occupied Poland. Unlike other Nazi concentration camps, it also included a killing center where the Nazis murdered Jews in gas chambers. In total, the Nazis deported 1.1 million Jewish people to Auschwitz from all over Europe. Most were murdered in the gas chambers upon arrival. In total, the Nazis murdered about one million Jews in Auschwitz.
Item View![Auschwitz environs, summer 1944 [LCID: auc42030]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/341a5fd2-ed4d-4067-b988-f7b0fe940fdb.gif "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.
Item View![Auschwitz II (Birkenau) camp, summer 1944 [LCID: auc22023]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/3d7ef175-0194-4d2e-b4d2-7e9535404954.gif "Auschwitz II (Birkenau) camp, summer 1944 [LCID: auc22023]")
In October 1941, the Nazi authorities at Auschwitz began building a second camp located in the Polish village of Brzezinka (called Birkenau in German). Beginning in March 1942, Auschwitz-Birkenau functioned as both a concentration camp and a killing center, where the Nazis murdered Jews in gas chambers. From November 1943 to November 1944, Auschwitz-Birkenau was designated as a separate camp and officially referred to as Auschwitz II.
Item View![Major Nazi camps in Europe, Ravensbrueck indicated [LCID: rav72070]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/db5618a8-2320-4eb3-806f-5f3840c7780b.gif "Major Nazi camps in Europe, Ravensbrueck indicated [LCID: rav72070]")
![Ravensbrueck environs, January 1945 [LCID: rav42030]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/783fc7a1-3a06-4d40-beaa-84b76b630d91.gif "Ravensbrueck environs, January 1945 [LCID: rav42030]")
![Ravensbrueck concentration camp, 1945 [LCID: rav22044]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/aa067089-7590-417e-9857-1206f36b3210.gif "Ravensbrueck concentration camp, 1945 [LCID: rav22044]")
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