The Sketchbook from Auschwitz.

A unique work preserved in the collections of the Auschwitz Memorial has been published by the Museum in its entirety for the first time. It is the only set of drawings made in the camp depicting the extermination of Jews deported by German Nazis to Auschwitz. The unknown author documented in his drawings also murdering of prisoners who were sick or had been worked to exhaustion.

The 22 pages were stuffed inside a bottle concealed in the foundations of one of the barracks of the Birkenau camp, not far from the place where gas chambers and crematoria IV and V were located. A former prisoner Józef Odi, who was then acting as a watchman on the grounds of the Memorial, found it at the site in 1947.

The drawings which depict the extermination are mixed with different drawings presenting Auschwitz as a concentration camp. The two functions, the extermination center and the concentration camp, appear in the Sketchbook simultaneously, as it happened in the reality. Yet, the topic of extermination was singled out by the author himself. This shows that he was aware of the unprecedented nature of the events he witnessed.

The Sketchbook from Auschwitz. German Nazis performing the selection among the deported Jews"You can clearly see that the author was determined in presenting the largest number of details. Badges of functionary prisoners, number plates of the trucks, train cars on the ramp as well as block numbers are carefully depicted. The author of the Sketchbook hoped that someone would find his work so that it would became a witness of extermination", says Agnieszka Sieradzka, art historian from the Museum's Collections Department and the author of the study.

The Polish-English publication was provided with an introduction explaining the circumstances of creation of the Sketchbook. Each of the drawings is accompanied by a historical explanation and survivors' accounts.

The book is available at the on-line bookstore of the Auschwitz Memorial. Auschwitz-Birkenau - The Sketchbook from Auschwitz http://ow.ly/8AuZd

Alice Dancing Under The Gallows

Alice Herz-Sommer "I never hate. Hatred only brings hatred."

Alice Herz-Sommer is 106 years old and she is the world’s oldest Holocaust survivor. A concert pianist and lifelong musician, she lives everyday to the fullest, imparting her optimism and wisdom on all those around her.

"Alice Dancing Under The Gallows" is a new documentary short that will take you on an emotional and inspirational journey reliving the life of this amazing woman. Follow her story on facebook

On a recent trip to Europe, a family of three generations, (a Holocaust survivor, his daughter and his grandchildren) dance to Gloria Gaynor's pop song - 'I Will Survive' at concentration camps and memorials throughout Europe.

This dance is a tribute to the tenacity of the human spirit and a celebration of life. It is an affirmation that man can triumph over the darkest of circumstance. A testament that the human will to survive is what helps us move on and strive to find beauty and peace in life.

My intention is to present a fresh perspective to younger generations who have often become numbed and desensitized to the horrors of the Holocaust. I hope this will allow historical memory to live on, so that the lessons of the past will be forever remembered, and that people will wake--up to the atrocities that are still happening throughout the world today.
Both my mother & father, as well as being my inspiration, have also been my support throughout this project. At times, when I have felt challenged by its appropriateness, they have reminded me that 'they came from the ashes, now they dance'.

Towards the end of the clip there is old video footage of the parents and their friends (all Holocaust survivors), together with the filmer, as a young girl. They are all dancing freely in a forest outside Melbourne in the early 60's.

This footage illustrates how both dancing, and their  parents' attitude to life, have been woven into their  own life. "Growing up, I was always present while my parents danced. As an adult, it seemed a natural process to merge the two influences that have shaped my life - that of my parents' story and that of dance - hence the project, Dancing Auschwitz."

HOW THESE FUNDS WILL BE USED TO HELP HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS

There are over 5,000 frail and lonely Holocaust survivors living throughout New York City.

iVolunteer is a dynamic visitation program that sends volunteers to the homes of Holocaust survivors, providing them with companionship and much-needed assistance. Our volunteers are carefully matched with survivors who live nearby and share common interests.

Through weekly visits, our volunteers build rewarding and enduring friendships with survivors. They are given the privilege of hearing extraordinary stories, and the intergenerational bonds that inevitably form ensure the experience of the Holocaust will not be forgotten Teen iVolunteer is a new program started by iVolunteer which will match teens with Holocaust survivors, for weekly visits for eight consecutive weeks. Each week the volunteer will have a specific project to complete, based in what he/she learned during that week’s visit. Every year all the projects will be displayed publicly, with all the teens and survivors present. iVolunteer’s new and exciting initiative is an experience of learning and through innovative ways, to awaken in youth a love and passion for giving back to the community.

iVolunteer helps survivors living in NYC Please help us help them. In New York City, as many 5,000 are alone and look forward to visits from young people who help them schlep groceries, read them iVolunteer with Holocaust survivorstories, and make them feel loved and remembered. When they find emergencies, volunteers are trained to let the right people know, so that the affected survivor can get the professional help they need from mainstream agencies.

Our Holocaust survivors are our last witness to a history that is a warning about how people can treat each other. In their lifetimes they have suffered. Our goal at iVolunteer is to treat them with the respect and dignity they deserve in their waning days. Today, the survivors are facing their own challenges--aging, poverty and disease. Many are disconnected from their families because of distance and the inability to use today's technologies. This is why they are so in need of a visitor now.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO THIS HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR ORGANIZATION -

VIP PERKS
$10 or more = Card with iVolunteer Pen
You'll get a thank you letter from a volunteer that visits a Holocaust survivor weekly.

$100 or more = Autographed Book
A book written by one of our dear survivors describing their miraculous survival, autographed by them with an iVolunteer pen.

$500 or more = Tour of Museum of Heritage
Enjoy a tour of the Museum of Heritage in NY and lunch in Battery Park following the tour.

People must remember the Holocaust as a insult to humanity. The lives lost were not only great in number, but offered so much to mankind. How the world would have been different if the millions of souls destroyed could have lived.

Doctors have always been thought of as the saviors of mankind, the healers, and caretakers of our utter existence. Even ancient civilizations revered the medicine men as having special power to protect life. The trust of a physician is sacred. This is why the practice of medicine by the doctors of the Third Reich is egregious, outrageous, and shocking. The Nazi doctors violated the trust placed in them by humanity. The most painful truth is for the most part the doctors escaped their crimes against Humanity and lived a life, unlike their victims.

The Experiments

* Freezing / Hypothermia
* Genetics
* Infectious Diseases
* Interrogation and Torture
* Killing / Genocide
* High Altitude
* Pharmacological
* Sterilization
* Surgery
* Traumatic Injuries

Freezing / Hypothermia

The freezing / hypothermia experiments were conducted for the Nazi high command. The experiments were conducted on men to simulate the conditions the armies suffered on the Eastern Front. The German forces were ill prepared for the bitter cold. Thousands of German soldiers died of freezing or were debilitated by cold injuries.

The experiments were conducted under the supervision of Dr. Sigmund Rascher at Birkenau, Dachau and Auschwitz . Dr. Rascher reported directly to Himmler. Dr. Rascher publicized the results of his freezing experiments at the 1942 medical conference entitled "Medical Problems Arising from Sea and Winter".

The freezing experiments were divided into two parts. First, to establish how long it would take to lower the body temperature to death and second how to best resuscitate the frozen victim.

The two main methods used to freeze the victim were to put the person in a icy vat of water or to put the victim outside naked in sub-zero temperatures.

The icy vat method proved to be the fastest way to drop the body temperature. The selections were made of young healthly Jews or Russians. They were usually stripped naked and prepared for the experiment. A insulated probe which measured the drop in the body temperature was inserted into the rectum. The probe was held in place by a expandable metal ring which was adjusted to open inside the rectum to hold the probe firmly in place. The victim was then placed in the vat of cold water and started to freeze. It was learned that most victims lost consciousness and died when the body temperature dropped to 25 C.

Two Russian men were seen by a prisoner doctor in the cold vat. They were very strong men and had said a comment to the SS doctor performing the experiment. The prisoner doctor was shocked at how long the Russian men could take the cold without loosing consciousness. He asked the directing doctor to take them out of the tank. He did not allow this and increased the temperature slightly to prolong their pain. They died after a long painful stay in the tank.

The second way to freeze a victim was to strap them to a stretcher and place them outside naked. The extreme winters of Auschwitz made a natural place for this experiment.

The resuscitation or warming experiments were just as cruel and painful as the freezing experiments.

Sun Lamp

The victims were placed under sun lamps which were so hot they would burn the skin. One young homosexual victim was repeatedly cooled to unconsciousness then revived with lamps until he was pouring sweat. He died one evening after several test sessions.

Internal Irrigation

The frozen victim would have water heated to a near blistering temperature forcefully irrigated into the stomach, bladder, and intestines. All victims appeared to have died from the treatment.

Hot Bath

The victim was placed in warm water and the temperature was slowly increased. This method proved to be the best. Many victims died do to shock if they were warmed up to quickly.

Warming by Body Heat

Heinrich Himmler sugested to Dr. Rascher that he try to use women to warm the frozen men. He suggested that the victim and a women copulate. This perverted experiment occured with some success. However it was not as successful as the Warm Bath.

Genetic Experiments

The Nordic or Aryan Race was the most important goal of the Nazis. It was the largest part of the over all plan. The blonde hair, blue eye, super men were to be the only race. The Blacks, Hispanics, Jews, Gypsies, Homosexuals and anyone else that did not meet the race requirements were to by cleansed from society through genocide. Hitler and the German High command made a list rules for the fellow Nazis to follow. The new rules required all SS before marriage must submit to general testing to insure racial purity. The rules for marriage were unbelievably complex. Thousands of marriages were denied. If the laws for marriage were broken it could mean the death penalty.

Dr. Sigmund Rascher and his wife learned what not following the marriage laws would hold for their lives. Mrs. Rascher was sterile. They were not illegally married; they adopted two children. They were later investigated by the Gestapo and executed for the crime. In this case, after his medical experimentation, it seems fitting that this killer was caught up by his own party.

Early in power the National Science groups were pushed into research of the race and experiments commenced. First the party needed propaganda to prove all other races were inferior. Measurements of heads, eyes, nose, blood were required. The vast majority of the early experiments were a propaganda sham. It was determined Gypsies had different blood and were inclined to criminal behavior. The same type of findings were made of all races other than the Nazis.

After the camps were started, vast genetic experiments were undertaken. The range of the testing was broad and specialized. The two major groups of experiments were first to refine the master race and second to determine the cause of defects.

Dr. Josef Mengele research on twins and Gypsies exemplifies the quest for the genetic studies. Dr. Mengele was known as the "Angel of Death". He would be at every selection when the new trains would arrive at Auschwitz. After the victims were unloaded off the trains and stripped naked and divided into men, women, and children, he would sort through the thousands of people. Most went straight to the gas chambers and others to hard labor in the camps. The twins, dwarfs, and unique physical specimens were selected to be assigned to the experimental blocks. In many ways the majority who where killed in the gas chambers were much better off than the survivors that had no idea what horrors awaited them.

Experiments on Twins

The twins were examined from head to toe. Measurements of every inch were taken. Dr. Mengele demanded specific and careful exams. If any detail was missed the staff, usually a prisoner doctor, would be punished. The twins were allowed to keep their hair for the first several days of the examination. After all the living data was taken the twins would be killed by a single injection of chloroform in the heart. Care was taken to insure the twins died at the same time. The twins were then dissected with the organs being sent to research centers.

Prisoner doctors tell of the fate of two Hungarian twins who arrived at Auschwitz late in 1943. Dr. Mengele was at the camp selection. The train arrived in the very early morning. Three sets of twins were found. They were taken to the experimental block. Dr. Mengele ordered the two Hungarian twins be placed in the examination room. The two Hungarian twins young men age 18 were described as "extremely athletic and handsome." They had much body hair and were allowed to keep it for the first few weeks. The twins were showered and returned nude to the examination room. The examination started at the head . All parts of their heads were examined. The head examination took almost days. They were then completely X-rayed . The next part of the examination consisted of tubes being forced through their noses and into their lungs. They were then ventilated with a gas which caused them to cough so severely they had to be restrained. The sputum from the lungs was collected for examination.

The twins were then photographed for several days . The purpose of the photographs were to show hair patterns. They were each forced to stand, bend, and kneel in many positions to accomplish the photographs. For example, they were required to stand with their arms lifted for many hours so the under arm hair could be photographed.

After the photographs were finished they were awoken very early in the morning. They were taken into a room with tables and a hot water vat. The water in the vat was very hot. They were made to sit in the water until they were ready to pass out from the heat. They were then strapped to a table where their hair was plucked out trying to save the hair root. They were put back into the hot vat several times. After enough hair was collected, they were totally shaven of every hair on their body. The twins were then again extensively photographed without hair.

The twins then received several two liter enemas which caused them much pain and discomfort. The boys on different days were strapped over a bench table and their rectums were hyper descended after which they received an extensive lower gastric intestinal examination. This extensive procedure was performed without any anesthesia. The young men were crying so loud that Doctor Mengele ordered they be gagged. The next day they received a painful and humiliating urological examination. In this examination tissue samples were taken from the kidneys, prostate, and testicles. Several semen samples were forcefully taken over two days.

After this three weeks of tortuous medical examinations they were taken two the dissection laboratory. Using two doctors, each twin was simultaneously given an injection in the heart, taking their lives. They were dissected and their organs were sent to the Institute of Biological Racial and Evolutionary Research Berlin.

Nazi Germany built a facility in 1942 known as A Death Factory for the purpose of exterminating the Jewish race.

Around 300 barracks were built on a 170-hectare site.

At its peak, 90,000 people were detained here at any one time to be killed.

Once people passed through this gate, the chimneys were their only way out.

The railway passing through Death Gate into the concentration camp brought Jews from all over Europe.

This Polish man was also placed here for his anti-Nazi activities. (Interview with a Polish survivor in Polish, subtitles) I remember seeing a Jewish mother and her child arriving from Slovakia. They were carrying heavy luggage and looked exhausted. The mother was leading her child by the hand. Some people were instructed to go to a building and the others were sent to the gas chamber. That was the first time I witnessed the genocide.

Jews were told that they were going to take a shower, they were stripped naked and led to a room.

What came out from the holes in the ceiling was not hot water but a gas containing a deadly pesticide.

Nearly 400 Jewish people were killed at a time. The victims suffered for up to 20 minutes before suffocating to death.

Their bodies were cremated in the incinerators in the adjoining room.

Sometimes the number of the bodies exceeded the maximum capacity and they had to be burnt in the fields.

A pile of hair from Jewish women sent to the Gas Chamber was placed in a storage room.

The Nazis sent the hair back to Germany to use as fabric. Children were separated from their parents and also sent to the Gas Chamber.

The number of people killed at the Auschwitz concentration camp was said to be over 1.4 million.

Those who managed to survive bore huge emotional scars from the horrifying experience.

(Polish former prisoner recalls his memory in German, subtitles)

.I can still hear the voice shouting,  Left! Left! Hats off!.....Heads right!

Anne Frank "Speaks" Holocaust Documentary

Voice,pictures taken by the web and music by J.S.Bach.Glenn Gould plays(Partita N.6). THIS VIDEO HAS BEEN SHOWN IN MANY SCHOOLS AROUND THE WORLD. IT WAS MADE BY UBUNTUBIRD AND IT'S THE ORIGINAL ONE.

This tribute is actually a 50 minute documentary which examines Primo Levi's life and experiences through the memories of his friends and colleagues, as well as the writer's own memoirs.

The photos were taken at the end of May or beginning of June 1944, either by Ernst Hofmann or by Bernhard Walter, two SS men whose task was to take ID photos and fingerprints of the inmates (not of the Jews who were sent directly to the gas chambers). The photos show the arrival of Hungarian Jews from Carpatho-Ruthenia. Many of them came from the Berehov Ghetto, which itself was a collecting point for Jews from several other small towns.

For more info visit
http://www1.yadvashem.org/exhibitions...

Auschwitz Concentration Camp Timeline 1940-1945

AUSCHWITZ CAMP OPENS
May 20, 1940
The Auschwitz I concentration camp opens with the arrival of 30 German prisoners. They are the first prisoners to receive serial numbers in the camp. German authorities will begin the deportation of Polish prisoners to Auschwitz in June 1940. Auschwitz I, the first camp opened in the Auschwitz complex, is located near the Polish town of Oswiecim. Construction began in early May using the existing Polish military barracks in the Oswiecim suburb of Zasole. The camp is about 37 miles west of Krakow, near the prewar German-Polish border in Eastern Upper Silesia, an area annexed to Germany in August 1939. Auschwitz I, primarily a concentration camp, functions as a detention facility for prisoners. The Auschwitz complex will expand over the next few years with the establishment of forced-labor camps throughout the region and an extermination camp near Birkenau (Brzezinka).

HIMMLER INSPECTS AUSCHWITZ
March 1, 1941
Heinrich Himmler, leader of the SS and chief of German police, inspects Auschwitz. Because nearby factories use prisoners for forced labor, Himmler is concerned about the prisoner capacity of the camp. On this visit, he orders both the expansion of Auschwitz I camp facilities to hold 30,000 prisoners and the building of a camp near Birkenau for an expected influx of 100,000 Soviet prisoners of war. Himmler also orders that the camp supply 10,000 prisoners for forced labor to construct an I.G. Farben factory complex at Dwory, about a mile away. Himmler will make additional visits to Auschwitz in 1942, when he will witness the killing of prisoners in the gas chambers.

SS TESTS GASSING FACILITIES
September 3, 1941
The first gassings of prisoners occur in Auschwitz I. The SS tests Zyklon B gas by killing 600 Soviet prisoners of war and 250 other ill or weak prisoners. Testing takes place in a makeshift gas chamber in Auschwitz I. Zyklon B was the commercial name for crystalline hydrogen cyanide gas, manufactured by I.G. Farben and normally used as an insecticide. The "success" of these experiments will lead to the adoption of Zyklon B as the killing agent for the yet-to-be-constructed Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp. Mass killings will begin at Auschwitz-Birkenau in the spring of 1942.

CONSTRUCTION OF AUSCHWITZ II
October 8, 1941
Construction of the Auschwitz-Birkenau (Auschwitz II) camp begins. Of the three camps established in the Auschwitz complex, Birkenau will have the largest prisoner population. The camp will include sections for women, men, Roma (Gypsies), and families deported from the Theresienstadt ghetto. Auschwitz-Birkenau will play a central role in the Nazi plan to kill the Jews of Europe. At the height of killing operations, deportation transports will arrive at Auschwitz-Birkenau daily from across Europe--including western and southern Europe.

GASSING OPERATIONS BEGIN
March 20, 1942
The SS puts the new gas chambers at Auschwitz into operation. The gas chambers are located in specially renovated farmhouses near the Birkenau section of the camp. The SS forces an entire transport of Polish Jews directly to the gas chambers without a selection (the separation of prisoners chosen for forced labor from those to be killed).

DEPORTATIONS FROM FRANCE
March 30, 1942
The first mass transport of Jews from France arrives at Auschwitz. There are about 1,000 people in this transport. Almost all the Jews in this transport are processed into the camp upon arrival. Transports from France will continue to arrive on a regular basis until August 1944. The majority of the 75,000 Jews deported from France will be killed in the gas chambers in Birkenau.

FORCED-LABOR CAMP OPENS
May 31, 1942
German authorities open the I.G. Farben labor camp at Monowitz (Auschwitz III). This camp is to provide forced laborers for the Buna synthetic rubber works (part of the German conglomerate I.G. Farben). I.G. Farben chose to establish installations at Auschwitz because of its available pool of forced laborers and also for its access to gravel pits and other resources located in the region. Prisoners selected for forced labor are registered in Auschwitz I before they are assigned to labor projects in Auschwitz III or any of the other forced-labor subcamps in the Auschwitz camp system. Over the next three years, an estimated 25,000 prisoners will die in the Monowitz labor camp.

TYPHUS EPIDEMIC
July 3, 1942
A typhus epidemic breaks out in Auschwitz-Birkenau. 184 male prisoners and an unknown number of female prisoners die in this epidemic.

DEPORTATIONS FROM THE NETHERLANDS
July 17, 1942
The first transports of Jews from the Netherlands arrive at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Out of two transports carrying close to 2,000 people, nearly 500 people are gassed or shot immediately. SS doctors select the remaining group, mostly men, for forced-labor projects in Auschwitz. Between July 1943 and September 1944, over 60,000 Jews will be deported from the Netherlands to Auschwitz. The majority will be gassed upon arrival in the camp.

DEPORTATIONS FROM BELGIUM
August 5, 1942
The first transport of close to 1,000 Jews from Belgium arrives in Auschwitz-Birkenau. After a selection, nearly 750 people are registered in the camp. The others are gassed or shot. Close to 25,000 Jews will be deported from Belgium, the majority to Auschwitz, by June 1944.
DEPORTATION OF ROMA (GYPSIES)

February 26, 1943
The first transport of Roma (Gypsies) from Germany and Austria arrives in Auschwitz. The SS places the arrivals in a section of Birkenau that becomes the Gypsy family camp. More Roma will arrive in transports throughout the spring of 1943 and will be sent to the same family camp. Approximately 23,000 Roma will be interned at Auschwitz during the camp's existence. Throughout 1944, thousands of Roma will be transported to other concentration camps, used for forced-labor projects, or killed in the gas chambers. Between 6,500 and 16,000 Roma will be killed at Auschwitz.

DEPORTATIONS FROM SALONIKA
March 20, 1943
The first transport of Jews from the ghetto in Salonika, Greece, arrives in Auschwitz. Of 2,800 deportees, the SS registers about 600 men and women in the camp to work as forced laborers. The remaining men, women, and children are killed in the gas chambers. By June 1943 the Germans will have deported 46,000 Jews from Salonika--and another 7,000 from other Greek areas--to Auschwitz.

NEW GASSING FACILITIES CONSTRUCTED
March 22, 1943
The first of four new gas chambers and crematoria in Auschwitz-Birkenau is ready for use. The other three will be completed by June 1943. The new facilities each have three components: a disrobing area, a large gas chamber, and crematorium ovens. Each chamber has the capacity to gas about 2,000 people daily.

DEPORTATIONS FROM THERESIENSTADT
September 9, 1943
Over 5,000 Jewish prisoners from the Theresienstadt ghetto in the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia arrive in Auschwitz-Birkenau. A special family camp is set up for the Jews deported from Theresienstadt. The SS has maintained the Theresienstadt ghetto, since 1941, as a "model ghetto." Propaganda primarily for public consumption in the Reich sought to use Theresienstadt to dispel reports of deplorable conditions in ghettos and deportations to extermination camps. The propaganda ploy continues when deportations of Jews from Theresienstadt arrive in Auschwitz. The SS allows new arrivals from Theresienstadt to remain together in families. They are permitted to keep their civilian clothes and are not forced to have their hair shorn. Living conditions, however, are not better than those elsewhere in Birkenau. More than 1,000 of this first group will die within six months. More deportations, with another 5,000 Jews from Theresienstadt, will arrive in December 1943.
DEPORTATIONS FROM ITALY

October 23, 1943
The first train carrying Jews from Italy arrives in Auschwitz-Birkenau, with over 1,000 people. Only about 200 men and women are admitted to the camp. The rest are killed in the gas chambers or shot. Some 8,300 Jews will be deported from Italy to Auschwitz over the next year.

AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS OF AUSCHWITZ
April 4, 1944
An Allied aerial reconnaissance plane takes photographs of the I.G. Farben complex at Auschwitz. This is the first of many aerial reconnaissance missions resulting in photographs that show Auschwitz barracks and crematoria. Allied bombings of the I.G. Farben factory works and of some of the satellite camps will occur during the summer and fall of 1944, but there are no direct bombings of Auschwitz I, Auschwitz-Birkenau, or the gas chambers and crematoria.

WETZLER AND VRBA ESCAPE
April 7, 1944
Two Slovak Jews, Alfred Wetzler and Rudolf Vrba, escape from Auschwitz and flee to Slovakia. They make contact with representatives of the Jewish council in Zilina, Slovakia, and present a detailed report of their experiences in Auschwitz. Their report is sent to Allied governments, the Vatican, and the Polish and Slovak governments-in-exile. Although much is already known about the German killing of Europe's Jews, this report presents detailed information about how it is possible for the Germans to kill millions of people.

DEPORTATIONS FROM HUNGARY
May 16, 1944
Following the German occupation of Hungary, the first transports of Hungarian Jews begin arriving in Auschwitz-Birkenau. Nearly 440,000 Hungarian Jews will be deported from Hungary, most of them to Auschwitz, by July 1944. The majority of deportees will be taken directly to the gas chambers or shot. The transports of Hungarian Jews are the last of the large transports to Auschwitz.

PRISONER UPRISING
October 7, 1944
Members of the Jewish prisoner detachment (the Sonderkommando) that was forced to remove bodies from the gas chambers and operate the crematoria stage an uprising. They successfully blow up Crematorium IV and kill several guards. Women prisoners had smuggled gunpowder out of nearby factories to members of the Sonderkommando. The SS quickly suppresses the revolt and kills all the Sonderkommando members. On January 6, 1945, just weeks before Soviet forces liberate the camp, the SS will also hang four women who smuggled gunpowder into the camp.

GASSING OPERATIONS END
November 25, 1944
As Soviet and Allied forces continue to move into German-occupied territory, Heinrich Himmler orders the destruction of the Auschwitz-Birkenau gas chambers and crematoria. During this SS attempt to destroy the evidence of mass killings, prisoners will be forced to dismantle and dynamite the structures.

SS EVACUATES AUSCHWITZ
January 18, 1945
As Soviet forces approach from the east, the SS begins evacuating (to the west) the prisoners of the Auschwitz camp complex. Tens of thousands of prisoners, mostly Jews, are forced to march to the city of Wodzislaw in the western part of Upper Silesia. During the march, SS guards shoot anyone who cannot continue. In Wodzislaw, the prisoners will be put on unheated freight trains and deported to concentration camps in Germany, particularly to Flossenbürg, Sachsenhausen, Gross-Rosen, Buchenwald, and Dachau, and to Mauthausen in Austria. In all, nearly 60,000 prisoners are forced on death marches from the Auschwitz camp system. More than 15,000 die during the death marches. Thousands more were killed in the days before the evacuation.

SOVIET FORCES LIBERATE AUSCHWITZ
January 27, 1945
The Soviet army enters Auschwitz and liberates the few thousand prisoners remaining in the camp. At least 1.1 million Jews from across Europe were killed in Auschwitz during the camp's existence. Other victims included between 70,000 and 75,000 Poles, between 6,500 and 16,000 Roma (Gypsies), and 15,000 Soviet prisoners of war.

LIST OF TRANSPORTS FROM BERLIN TO THE EAST

No. Date Destination Number of Deportees
18 October 1941 Lodz 1,013,
2. 24 October 1941 Lodz 1,024,
3. 27 October 1941 Lodz 1,009,
4. 1 November 1941 Lodz 1,033,
5. 14 November 1941 Minsk,
6. 17 November 1941 Kovno 3,715,
7. 27 November 1941 Riga,
8. 13 January 1942 Riga 907,
9. 19 January 1942 Riga 579,
10. 25 January 1942 Riga 905,
11. 28 March 1942 Travniki (Lublin area) 972,
12. 2 April 1942 Travniki (Lublin area) 728,
13. 2 April 1942 Travniki (Lublin area) 642,
14. 14 April 1942 Travniki (Lublin area) 72,
15. 13 June 1942 East 748,
16. 26 June 1942 East 201,
17. 11 July 1942 Auschwitz 210,
18.15 August 1942 Riga 1,004,
19. 5 September 1942 Unknown 790,
20. 3 October 1942 Unknown 816,
21. 19 October 1942 Unknown 944,
22. 26 October 1942 Unknown 800,
23. 29 November 1942 Auschwitz 980,
24. 9 December 1942 Auschwitz 1,000,
25. 14 December 1942 Auschwitz 811,
26. 12 January 1943 Auschwitz 1,190,
27. 29 January 1943 Auschwitz 1,000,
28. 3 February 1943 Auschwitz 952,
29. 19 February 1943 Auschwitz 1,000,
30. 26 February 1943 Auschwitz 913,
31. 1 March 1943 Auschwitz 1,682,
32. 2 March 1943 Auschwitz 1,592,
33. 3 March 1943 Auschwitz 1,732,
34. 4 March 1943 Auschwitz 1,143,
35. 6 March 1943 Auschwitz 657,
36. 12 March 1943 Auschwitz 946,
37. 19 April 1943 Auschwitz 338,
38. 17 May 1943 Auschwitz 395,
39. 28 May 1943 Auschwitz 319,
40. 4 August 1943 Auschwitz 99,
41. 24 August 1943 Auschwitz 50,
42. 10 September 1943 Auschwitz 53,
43. 28 September 1943 Auschwitz 74,
44. 14 October 1943 Auschwitz 74,
45. 29 October 1943 Auschwitz 49,
46. 8 November 1943 Auschwitz 50,
47. 7 December 1943 Auschwitz 55,
48. 20 January 1944 Auschwitz 48,
49. 22 February 1944 Auschwitz 32,
50. 9 March 1944 Auschwitz 32,
51. 18 April 1944 Auschwitz 30,
52. 3 May 1944 Auschwitz 27,
53. 19 May 1944 Auschwitz 24,
54. 15 June 1944 Auschwitz 29,
55. 12 July 1944 Auschwitz 30,
56. 10 August 1944 Auschwitz 38,
57. 6 September 1944 Auschwitz 39,
58. 12 October 1944 Auschwitz 31,
59. 24 November 1944 Auschwitz 28,
60. 8 December 1944 Auschwitz 15,
61. 5 January 1945 Auschwitz 14,
62. 5 January 1945 Bergen-Belsen 6, 2 February 1945 Males ¯ Sachsenhausen 14, 2 February 1945 Females ¯ Ravensbruck 11,
63 Men ¯ planned for Sachsenhausen 11 Women ¯ planned for Ravensbruck 13

Total: Deportation from Berlin to the east 35,738