On January 27, 1945, Soviet troops entered Auschwitz, Poland, freeing the survivors of the network of concentration camps – and ultimately revealing to the world the depth of the horrors being perpetrated there.
Auschwitz was actually a group of camps, designated I, II and III. There were also 40 small “satellite” camps. It was at Auschwitz II, Birkenau, created in October 1941, that the SS created a complex and monstrously orchestrated killing ground: 300 barracks; four “public baths” in which prisoners were gassed; cellars for corpses; and incineration furnaces. Thousands of prisoners were also used for medical experiments supervised and performed by the camp doctor, Josef Mengele, “Angel of Death”.
Listen to the HISTORY This Week podcast: Episode 4: January 27, 1945 Surviving Auschwitz
The Red Army had penetrated deeper into Poland since mid-January. After liberating Warsaw and Krakow, Soviet troops moved towards Auschwitz. In anticipation of the arrival of the Soviets, SS officers began a series of killings in the camps, shooting sick prisoners and detonating crematoria in a desperate attempt to destroy evidence of their crimes. When the Red Army finally broke through, Soviet soldiers encountered 648 dead bodies and over 7,000 starving camp survivors. There were also six warehouses filled with hundreds of thousands of women’s dresses, men’s suits, and shoes that the Germans had no time to burn.
READ MORE:
The shocking liberation of Auschwitz: the Soviets ‘knew nothing’ of their approach
Auschwitz survivors remember heartbreaking and heroic moments from death camps
Horrors of Auschwitz: figures from the deadliest concentration camp of WWII
This Auschwitz midwife gave birth to 3,000 babies in unfathomable conditions
Jewish men forced to help run Auschwitz
How the Nazis tried to cover up their crimes in Auschwitz
