On 27 January 1945, Soviet troops liberated the largest Nazi-run death and concentration camp complex, Auschwitz, which included Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II (Birkenau) and Auschwitz III (Monowitz), in German-occupied Poland. The SS personnel had already evacuated most of the surviving Auschwitz prisoners on what came to be known as ‘death marches’ westward, in advance of Soviet troops. The guards, too, abandoned the camp after murdering prisoners, destroying parts of the camp and sub-camps, and looting some of the warehouses. About 7,000 people, including hundreds of young children under the age of 15, remained behind in the camp to witness the Red Army’s arrival.

Most of the survivors in the camp were extremely ill due to the brutal conditions they had endured. Many had undergone medical experimentation, including Jewish twins. The Red Army discovered hundreds of corpses as well as vast amounts of personal belongings that had been stolen from the prisoners, as well several tons of human hair shorn from victims.

Liberating forces attempted to help the survivors, with the assistance of the Polish Red Cross, by organising medical care and field hospitals. The surviving children, most of whom were Jewish, left in February and March 1945, for charitable organisations and children’s homes. Only a few reunited with their parents.

Approximately 1.1 million people had been deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, including 1 million Jews and over 20,000 Roma and Sinti people. Although the camp was opened by Soviet troops in January, ‘liberation’ for those who survived cannot be encapsulated in a single moment. Survivors faced a long struggle for physical and emotional rehabilitation; the search for lost family, friends, and homes; and confrontation with overwhelming loss.