Eighty years ago, on January 27, 1945, Soviet troops liberated the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp, exposing the horrors of the Holocaust to the world. This day is now commemorated annually as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. This year marks the 80th anniversary of that liberation, a significant milestone as the number of survivors dwindles, making the preservation of their stories even more critical.Auschwitz was the deadliest of the Nazi extermination camps, where over a million people were murdered, the vast majority of whom were Jews. The camp was not only a site of mass murder, but also of forced labor, medical experimentation, and unimaginable suffering. The Nazis established a vast network of over 44,000 camps across Germany and occupied territories, serving various purposes including concentration, labor, transit and extermination. Auschwitz stands as a stark symbol of the Holocaust and the systematic persecution and murder of millions.
The Nazis, driven by their ideology of racial supremacy, targeted various groups, including Jews, Roma, Polish political prisoners, homosexuals, communists, Soviet prisoners of war, and disabled people. Each group faced different forms of persecution and brutality, with Jews being the primary target of extermination. Jewish prisoners endured the harshest conditions, including starvation, disease, forced labor, and constant abuse. The Roma people were also victims of genocide and were placed in a designated “Gypsy family camp” within Auschwitz. Polish intellectuals, clergy, educators, and resistance members were also sent to Auschwitz to suppress opposition to Nazism. Soviet prisoners of war were treated as “subhuman” and subjected to harsh labor. Other minorities, such as homosexual men and people with disabilities, were also targeted.
The liberation of Auschwitz by Soviet troops revealed the scale of Nazi crimes to the world. They found thousands of emaciated survivors, along with piles of corpses, gas chambers, crematoria, and warehouses full of the belongings of victims. However, many of the prisoners had already been forced on death marches west, and many died on the way due to exhaustion, starvation and exposure.
The 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz is a crucial moment to remember the victims of the Holocaust, learn from the past, and confront rising antisemitism and hate. As Holocaust survivors share their experiences, their testimonies serve as a powerful reminder of the dangers of intolerance and prejudice. The world must learn from the past to prevent such atrocities from happening again.
Click below to listen to the full Deep Dive.
Producer
