Yitzhak Balsam was just under 15 years old when Germany invaded Poland in September 1939. Like other Jewish men in Praszka, he was forced to build roads outside of town. Yitzhak was later deported to several camps, including Auschwitz, and was imprisoned with 60 men after attempting to escape from a death march. He was later sent to Mauthausen for forced labor and to the Gunskirchen camp to die. In May 1945, he was liberated.
These maps add geographic context to Yitzhak's experience.
![Poland, 1933 [LCID: pol19010]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/76d5ee55-e22a-47e6-b0a3-6a9addda8f24.gif "Poland, 1933 [LCID: pol19010]")
![German invasion of Poland, September 1939 [LCID: pol81270]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/6f64cd83-2013-4aa2-9574-2421cdbde257.gif "German invasion of Poland, September 1939 [LCID: pol81270]")
![Killing centers in occupied Poland, Auschwitz indicated [LCID: auc72090]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/e5cff139-fe9b-4da7-a7fd-58856674718d.gif "Killing centers in occupied Poland, Auschwitz indicated [LCID: auc72090]")
![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![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]")
![Major Nazi camps in Europe, Mauthausen indicated [LCID: mau72070]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/c74f6097-7576-440f-8a61-fd733727071d.gif "Major Nazi camps in Europe, Mauthausen indicated [LCID: mau72070]")
![Mauthausen environs, April 1945 [LCID: mau42030]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/8c60c10d-cc85-44a0-ab7b-9c5f88e3d54d.gif "Mauthausen environs, April 1945 [LCID: mau42030]")
A map of the Mauthausen concentration camp environs in April 1945.
Item View![Mauthausen concentration camp, April 1945 [LCID: mau22042]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/70436bda-a6c8-4d1f-ae6b-b4b35d6b3594.gif "Mauthausen concentration camp, April 1945 [LCID: mau22042]")
A map of the Mauthausen concentration camp in April 1945.
Item View![Major camps in Austria, Gunskirchen indicated [LCID: gun72020]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/5ea114bc-cd0a-4c52-a5d4-296066c0e540.gif "Major camps in Austria, Gunskirchen indicated [LCID: gun72020]")
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