Photograph of Yisrael and Zelig Jacob on the ramp at the Auschwitz-Birkenau killing center in May 1944. The Nazis murdered the brothers in a gas chamber shortly after this photo was taken.
Yisrael and Zelig were two of the approximately 430,000 Jews that Nazi German authorities and their Hungarian collaborators deported to Auschwitz from Hungary in 1944. This photograph is one of many taken on May 26, 1944. That day, SS photographers documented the arrival, selection, and registration of transports of Jews at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Some of the photographs taken that day were collected in an album. Its original purpose, creator, and owner are unknown. After the war, the album was found by Holocaust survivor, Lili Jacob. It is commonly called the "Lili Jacob Album" or the "Auschwitz Album." Upon looking through the album, Lili Jacob recognized herself, her younger brothers Yisrael and Zelig, other family members, and members of her community in some of the photographs.
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