When was Auschwitz liberated and by whom?

Answer 1

Liberation of Auschwitz, Birkenau and Monowitz (Auschwitz I, II and III)

The camps on the main site were liberated on 27 January 1945 by Soviet (Russian) forces - Auschwitz III (Monowitz) in the late morning, Auschwitz II (Birkenau) and Auschwitz I (Stammlager - Main Camp) about 2 hours later. (They found about 7,500 inmates alive, including about 200 children. Most of them were desperately ill and in need of immediate medical care).

Ahead of the Soviet advance most of the other surviving inmates were marched westwards on a Death March in the bitter cold and many perished on this forced march.

In many countries 27 January is Holocaust Memorial Day.

Parts of Auschwitz I and II have been preseved as a museum.

See Related Links

See the Related Link for "BBC News, 28 January 2005" to the right for a report on the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

Answer 2

When Soviet troops liberated Auschwitz on January 27, 1945, they found only the few thousand pitiful survivors who had been left behind as well as 836,525 items of women clothing, 348,820 items of men clothing, 43,525 pairs of shoes and vast numbers of toothbrushes, glasses and other personal effects. They found also 460 artificial limbs and seven tons of human hair shaved from Jews before they were murdered. The human hairs were used by the company "Alex Zink" (located in Bavaria) for confection of cloth. This company was paying the Nazi's 50 pfennig per kilo of human hair.

Of those who received numbers at Auschwitz-Birkenau, only 65,000 survived. It is estimated that only about 200,000 people who passed through the Auschwitz camps survived.

Answer 3

The main site was liberated on 27 January 1945 by the Soviet Army.