On January 27, 1945, Soviet troops entered Auschwitz, Poland,
freeing the survivors of the network of concentration camps—
and finally revealing to the world the depth of the horrors
perpetrated there.
Auschwitz was really a group of camps, designated I, II, and III.
There were also 40 smaller “satellite” camps. It was at Auschwitz
II, at Birkenau, established in October 1941, that the SS created a complex, monstrously orchestrated killing ground: 300 prison
barracks; four “bathhouses” in which prisoners were gassed;
corpse cellars; and cremating ovens. Thousands of prisoners
were also used for medical experiments overseen and performed
by the camp doctor, Josef Mengele (below) the “Angel of Death.”
Josef Rudolf Mengele
(16 March 1911 – 7 February 1979)