The Auschwitz-Birkenau camp was the largest Nazi concentration camp for mass destruction.
It was located in the south of Poland. 50 km west of Krakow and 286 km from Warsaw.
It got its name from the nearby town of Osveta (in German Auschwitz).
After the German occupation of Poland in September 1939, Osweta merged with Germany and the name was changed to Auschwitz
The Auschwitz concentration camp deported 1.3 million people from various parts of Europe.
Most of the casualties were killed as they arrived at the Auschwitz II gas chambers using the B gas cyclone.
The others died of systematic starvation, forced labor, shooting and medical experiments. Among the victims were 19,000 Roma who were killed in July 1944.
Camp commander Rudolf Hess told a trial in Nienberg that up to 2.5 million people were killed in Auschwitz.
UNESCO declared this camp in 1979 a World Heritage Site under the name "Auschwitz-Birkenau - German Nazi death camp"
Otherwise the camp was liberated by the 322nd Red Army Division on January 27, 1945. The camp found 348,820 male suits and 836,255 females belonging to the victims,
Auschwitz Liberation Day January 27 is also proclaimed as "International Holocaust Remembrance Day"
