How did the prisoners at Auschwitz escape?

Answer 1

Summary: physically leaving the camp was not too hard, compared to modern prisons. It was just some barbed wire and a few guards. The difficulty was in staying free. After escaping, you would need help from the resistance and other trustees.

There was no legal or factual way out. There were normal prisons in wartime Germany, which like any other prison you could leave once you had served your time. The camps were a one way prison.

There were however a few ways out. Usually, camp guards were vastly outnumbered by prisoners, and though paradoxically it was safer to be inside and 'hide' in the crowd, escape was not altogether that difficult. The problem was staying out. People managed to cut through or dig under the wires, sneak out in the trunks of trucks and cars or wear costumes and disguises. Others bribed their way out or simply ran for it. All these methods had varying (low) degrees of success. Most survivors simply survived inside until the war was over.

Once escape was detected, there would be punitive actions against the remaining prisoners, another deterrent for would-be escapees.

By far the most difficult aspect was to stay free once outside. After escaping, people found themselves alone and hungry in the middle of occupied territory, hunted down by everyone. Local residents in nearby towns were rewarded with money and food when they turned in escapees.

Look up "Witold Pilecki" on Wikipedia. He is the only man in history to have volunteered to go to a concentration camp. He found it harder to get in than to get out.

Another good reference is 'the way back', a movie about escaping a Siberian concentration camp.

In at least one incredible instance, resistance people managed to smuggle a camera in and out to take pictures.

Answer 2

Many prisoners tried to escape from the concentration camps, but most of them were killed off under the command of the Nazis.

So usually, they had to survive there until the Allied forces took over the concentration camp locations and freed their comrades.

Answer 3

There were a few documented escapes from Auschwitz, some dressed as Germans and drove out through the front gate. The most famous escape happened when two men hid in a wood pile in during construction work outside of the camp's perimeter fence.