Zigmond Adler was three years old when Germany occupied Belgium in May 1940. Zigmond, whose mother was deceased, went to live with his aunt and uncle after the Germans deported his father. With the help of Catholic friends, Zigmond and his relatives hid under false identities. After two years, they were caught by the Gestapo. Zigmond was sent to the Mechelen transit camp, and then to Auschwitz, where he was gassed. He was seven years old.
These maps add geographic context to Zigmond's experiences.
![Low Countries, 1933 [LCID: ben19010]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/71c17452-fad9-4730-90ad-34b692354e3f.gif "Low Countries, 1933 [LCID: ben19010]")
![Nazi camps in the Low Countries, Mechelen indicated [LCID: mec72060]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/f3dc13f5-9539-487c-a0d5-16e14be3795d.gif "Nazi camps in the Low Countries, Mechelen indicated [LCID: mec72060]")
![Mechelen environs, 1942 [LCID: mec42030]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/4e06ad7e-a077-44f6-adb3-43811201fa6b.gif "Mechelen environs, 1942 [LCID: mec42030]")
![Mechelen transit camp, 1942 [LCID: mec22040]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/eecfcb27-4e01-4a50-a9bb-7fe159b1f6b0.gif "Mechelen transit camp, 1942 [LCID: mec22040]")
![Major deportations from the Low Countries, 1942-1944 [LCID: ben78040]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/8f166571-c4a5-44c8-9001-150fc2c6294e.gif "Major deportations from the Low Countries, 1942-1944 [LCID: ben78040]")
![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]")
The Auschwitz-Birkenau killing center (indicated here) played a key role in the “Final Solution,” the Nazi plan to kill the Jews of Europe. The Nazis murdered approximately one million Jews at Auschwitz, most in the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
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.
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