80 years ago the Red Army liberated the prisoners of Auschwitz

49
80 years ago the Red Army liberated the prisoners of Auschwitz

The liberation of the surviving prisoners of the Auschwitz concentration camp by Soviet soldiers. The famous sign-slogan "Arbeit macht frei" (Arbeit macht frei), meaning "Work sets you free" is visible above the camp gates.


From the history of the concentration camp


Not far from the Polish town of Oswiecim there was a concentration camp of the same name. The Germans called it Auschwitz, considering the Polish toponym inappropriate. It was founded in May 1940 by order of Hitler, and was built by the Jewish community of the city of Oswiecim, whose representatives were forcibly herded to the deadly construction site.



In the autumn of 1941, the first Soviet prisoners of war appeared in Auschwitz. They were the ones who were driven to build a new part of the concentration camp, which was named Auschwitz II - Birkenau. 12 thousand Soviet prisoners of war were sent here. In a short period of time, 140 of them survived.

It was to Birkenau that up to 90% of all prisoners were brought after construction was completed. Moreover, about three-quarters of them were immediately sent to the gas chambers, of which there were four.

The corpses were taken out of the gas chamber, their teeth were pulled out, their heads were shaved. And then they were sent to the crematorium. Sometimes, living children were thrown into the oven.


Glasses of those killed in Auschwitz

"From midnight to six in the morning, those condemned to death were sent to the gas chambers. From six in the morning until one in the afternoon there was 'work', then a ten-minute break. The 'work' continued until 11 in the evening. And then it started all over again,"
— recalled concentration camp survivor Israel Alberto.


By 1943, four crematoria had been built by the prisoners. About 8 people were burned in them per day. In comparison, the gas chambers, due to their lower capacity, worked around the clock with a three-hour break.

Later, the prisoners built a third block, called Auschwitz III. A kennel was set up there: almost 300 German shepherds lived in conditions that the camp's prisoners could only envy.


Jewish women and children in a pine grove on the grounds of the Auschwitz concentration camp, between crematoria 3 and 4, waiting for their turn to be sent to the gas chambers. Sometimes, when the gas chambers were particularly full, the wait was 6-8 hours. 1944

It was even worse for those who fell into the hands of Dr. Josef Mengele, who received the nickname "Angel of Death" because of his inhumane experiments. His experiments on prisoners were very different. Nazi researchers and doctors studied the effects of chemicals and the latest drugs on the human body, prisoners were deliberately infected with malaria, hepatitis and other dangerous diseases. Surgical experiments were also conducted.

Mengele did not shy away from experiments on children, the most harmless of which was castration. It is interesting that he died only in 1979 in Latin America, without having been held accountable for his crimes. He, like many other Nazis, escaped the punishment he deserved.

Escaping from the concentration camp was extremely difficult. During the entire existence of the Auschwitz complex, there were only 300 successful escape attempts.

The Germans did not keep any special records of the number of victims. Thus, the camp commandant from 1940 to 1943, Rudolf Höss, wrote that "I never knew the total number of those killed and had no way of establishing this figure." Therefore, the exact number of people exterminated in the concentration camp is unknown. The Nazis managed to destroy most of the documents. R. Höss in his testimony at the Nuremberg Tribunal estimated the number of people killed in the camp at 2,5 million. Modern historians estimate the number of people exterminated in Auschwitz at 1,1-1,6 million. Most of those killed were Jews, but there were also Poles, Russians and Gypsies among the prisoners.


Soviet soldiers communicate with children liberated from Auschwitz

Exemption


The death factory operated throughout the years of the Great Patriotic War. Only by the end of October 1944, when it became clear that the arrival of the Red Army was just around the corner, Heinrich Himmler, who was the ideological founder of Auschwitz, ordered the destruction of crematoria and gas chambers, and the transfer of prisoners to territories still in German hands.

From concentration camps in the east of the Third Reich, including Auschwitz, there were real "death marches". Unable to withstand the enormous distances, suffering from exhaustion, many prisoners died during these marches. Those who could not walk or tried to escape were finished off by the Nazis.

On January 12, 1945, the Vistula-Oder Operation began, during which the Red Army forces liberated most of Poland including Warsaw (To Berlin!; 80 years ago the Red Army liberated Warsaw).

On January 17, the last camp roll call was held: there were still 67 prisoners left in the Auschwitz camps who were ordered to be removed. On the 18th, 60 people were driven on a "death march" - in the cold, without food or winter clothing. Then the prisoners were put on a train heading to the Mauthausen concentration camp, many froze to death along the way.


A Soviet military doctor examines liberated prisoners of the Auschwitz concentration camp

On January 27, units of the 100th Rifle Division of Major General Fyodor Krasavin liberated Auschwitz. On the same day, another branch of Auschwitz, Jaworzno, was liberated by fighters of the 286th Rifle Division of Major General Mikhail Grishin. On January 28, units of the 107th Rifle Division of Colonel Vasily Petrenko liberated Birkenau.

Unfortunately, only about 7 prisoners were still alive at that time. Another figure is given: 2814 people.

The Germans were so afraid of the approaching Red Army that on the eve of the Soviet troops' entry into Auschwitz, they blew up the crematoria and left the camp without touching the sick prisoners or even destroying the food warehouses.

"The first Soviet tank, who broke the gates, the barely alive prisoners kissed the armor”,
— recalled one of the Auschwitz prisoners.

Thanks to the quick actions of the Red Army, the Nazis did not have time to remove and kill all the prisoners of the concentration camp and cover up the traces of their crimes. Before the eyes of the soldiers-liberators were the terrible traces of Hitler's destruction machine: crematoria and gas chambers, torture instruments, tons of human hair and ground bones, the belongings of the murdered, etc.


Doctors of the Soviet Medical Commission interview liberated prisoners of the Auschwitz concentration camp

Memory


A museum was created on the camp grounds in 1947, which is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Since 2006, the day of the liberation of Auschwitz has been celebrated by the UN as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Now history The Second World War as a whole has been rewritten in the interests of the West. The role of Soviet Russia (USSR) is diminished, the feat of Soviet soldiers is forgotten. The Red Army is being denigrated.

Western leaders are blatantly lying, counting on the fact that Western ordinary people simply do not know history. It is enough to recall the speech of the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen at a similar ceremony in January 2024. She stated that the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz was allegedly liberated by allied American-British troops, and not by Soviet soldiers. This is an outright lie and revisionism.

Commemorative events in January 2025 to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim by the Red Army will take place without representatives of Russia.


A group of children liberated from the Auschwitz concentration camp. February 1945.
49 comments
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  1. +5
    27 January 2025 05: 30
    Quote: Samsonov Alexander
    She claimed that the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz was allegedly liberated by allied American-British forces, not Soviet soldiers
    And a certain Suvorov-Rezun writes in his shit book that Stalin is to blame for unleashing the Great Patriotic War. And what's most interesting is that his books have been translated into Russian, and journalists from Russia interview him and sympathetically nod their heads as if to say: oh, what a scoundrel this Stalin is, who unleashed the war and destroyed millions of lives!
    1. Fat
      +9
      27 January 2025 09: 28
      Rezun (Suvorov) originally wrote in Russian and began to publish it under Gorbachev, only later they began to translate it into other languages. Rezun was a favorite of the liberal press... And now those Russian journalists who interview the revisionist are obviously mainly foreigners and foreign agents, others are not very interested in him request
      1. +4
        27 January 2025 10: 47
        Quote: Thick
        Only later did they start translating it into other languages
        His very first book was published either in English or German. Who would have read it in Russian when the borders were closed at the time and publishing houses were completely controlled by the state?
        Quote: Thick
        And now those Russian journalists who interview the revisionist are obviously predominantly foreigners
        Dima Zakharov (remember this "journalist"?) and Dymarsky are drooling when they interview him
        1. Fat
          +6
          27 January 2025 11: 56
          Quote: Dutchman Michel
          Dima Zakharov (remember this "journalist"?) and Dymarsky are drooling when they interview him

          Both of these journalists are foreign agents.
          I admit, I was wrong. Rezun's first book "The Liberator" was published in 1981... In Russian at the beginning of glasnost-perestroika in 1986. A number of Suvorov's works were never published in Russian... Well, enough about this traitor-turncoat, it's a thing of the past, I think people know the real value of Rezun's works
          1. +1
            27 January 2025 16: 02
            Quote: Thick
            Well, enough about this traitor-turncoat, it's a thing of the past, I think people know the real value of Rezunov's creations

            But for some time his “creations” were also popular on Channel One.
            1. Fat
              +1
              27 January 2025 16: 36
              But for some time his “creations” were also popular on Channel One.
              You obviously know better when central TV launched such discussions. I don't remember anything like that. request
              1. +1
                27 January 2025 16: 37
                Quote: Thick
                I don't remember anything like that.

                Well, that was back in the distant 90s.
                1. Fat
                  +1
                  27 January 2025 16: 49
                  I read "Icebreaker" in 1994, but I never finished "Aquarium", that was the end of my acquaintance with Suvorov's works, sometimes I came across "new releases" in bookstores... And as for discussions on TV, there was a complete zero.
                  1. 0
                    27 January 2025 16: 54
                    I haven't read anything he wrote, but his statements almost became mainstream in the early 90s and were promoted on TV in every possible way, as they helped to discredit the "terrible Soviet Union".
            2. Rtu
              -1
              2 February 2025 01: 08
              Until recently, Channel One was generally a refuge for enemies. Even now, it is difficult to suspect it of patriotism.
    2. +3
      27 January 2025 12: 19
      I haven't heard from this scribbler for a long time, I thought he had died, but no, he's still alive, the bastard.
  2. +7
    27 January 2025 06: 11
    He, like many other Nazis, escaped the punishment he deserved.

    All reasonable people say this:
    Not a single Nazi should be left alive and not even a trace of their presence on earth should remain... So that they do not plot revenge and do not make their own plans to rule the world.
    1. +8
      27 January 2025 08: 38
      "As soon as somewhere instead of the word "hello" they say "heil" to someone personally - know that they are waiting for us there, from there we will begin our great revival!" (film "17 Moments of Spring")

      already started, in full growth
    2. +6
      27 January 2025 09: 03
      Not a single Nazi should be left alive.
      And who gave the Nazis and fascists the opportunity to come to power? In "democratic" France, in the 30s they said, it's better to have fascists than the Popular Front. In Great Britain, they almost brought Mosley, the English Fuhrer, to power, but they came to their senses in time and realized that under his dictatorship, there would be no place for the English elite. In Finland, in the late 20s, they also fed the fascists, they even marched on Helsinki, demanding that the government pursue extreme right-wing policies. But then they made a mistake, they kidnapped the former president, and instead of ransom, they began to demand a tightening of policy, which was very disliked by those who financed the fascists (the kidnapping of the former president was too much), and when the Finnish fascists already wanted to seize power by force and began another march, both the police and the army opposed them. And before that, the police did not interfere when they were killing leftists who survived the white terror of 1918... So what about the bourgeoisie, for whom the Nazis and fascists are almost relatives...
    3. 0
      27 January 2025 20: 50
      "Rat trails" through Italy, Spain were prepared by the Vatican even before the collapse of the 3rd Reich. The main nerve of WWII was in Switzerland, where oligarch magnates, representatives of the Foreign Ministry and various intelligence services created the reorganization of the World. By the way, this is reflected well in 17 moments. And isn't modern Davos a successor to those Events?
  3. +5
    27 January 2025 09: 15
    On January 27, 1945, soldiers of the separate assault battalion of the 106th Rifle Corps of the 60th Army open the gates of Auschwitz. The officer in the photo is Major Anatoly Shapiro, the commander of the assault battalion, a Jew by nationality.
  4. +6
    27 January 2025 10: 34
    Since 2006, the day of the liberation of Auschwitz has been celebrated by the UN as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

    And the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims Russian Holocaust does not exist..
    But this Holocaust did happen. About 8 million civilians - children, women - died - they were shot, poisoned, buried alive, burned, hanged.

    And- there was none no one at least our court decision on the genocide of the people almost 80 years after the Great Patriotic War.

    Only recently have Russian courts begun to issue rulings on genocide in WWII.

    A lot of time has been lost irretrievably.....
    1. man
      +3
      27 January 2025 15: 16
      And there is no International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Russian Holocaust.
      But this Holocaust did happen. About 8 million civilians - children, women - died - they were shot, poisoned, buried alive, burned, hanged.

      Demographer and sociologist Leonid Rybakovsky in his book “Human Losses of the USSR in the Great Patriotic War” separately calculates civilian casualties using the ethnodemographic method. This method includes three components: 1. The death of civilians in combat zones (bombing, shelling, punitive operations, etc.). 2. The failure to return of some of the Ostarbeiters and other populations who voluntarily or under duress served the occupiers; 3. An increase in mortality rates above the normal level from hunger and other deprivations. According to Rybakovsky, the Russians lost 6,9 million civilians in this way, the Ukrainians - 6,5 million, and the Belarusians - 1,7 million.
      https://news.rambler.ru/other/38071448-kakie-narody-sssr-ponesli-samye-tyazhelye-poteri-v-velikuyu-otechestvennuyu/
      As a percentage of the total number, the largest Civil Belarusians lost...
      1. -1
        27 January 2025 15: 32
        Quote: mann
        According to Rybakovsky, the Russians lost 6,9 million civilians in this way, the Ukrainians - 6,5 million, and the Belarusians - 1,7 million.

        In Ukraine, a lot of Russians and Jews died, and it is incorrect to classify them as Ukrainians.
        And on VO there was an article about, approximately, aboutabout 8 million dead Russians civilians
        1. man
          +1
          27 January 2025 15: 48
          Quote: Petrovich
          Quote: mann
          According to Rybakovsky, the Russians lost 6,9 million civilians in this way, the Ukrainians - 6,5 million, and the Belarusians - 1,7 million.

          In Ukraine, a lot of Russians and Jews died, and it is incorrect to classify them as Ukrainians.
          And on VO there was an article about, approximately, aboutabout 8 million dead Russians civilians

          Frankly speaking, the figure of 6,9 million also seemed strange to me. request .
          But in any case, the Belarusians are ahead of everyone in terms of civilian losses from the total number, even if you subtract the dead Belarusian Jews and increase the Russian civilian losses... Partisan land...
        2. man
          +1
          27 January 2025 15: 59
          Quote: Petrovich
          Quote: mann
          According to Rybakovsky, the Russians lost 6,9 million civilians in this way, the Ukrainians - 6,5 million, and the Belarusians - 1,7 million.

          In Ukraine, a lot of Russians and Jews died, and it is incorrect to classify them as Ukrainians.
          And on VO there was an article about, approximately, aboutabout 8 million dead Russians civilians

          It seems that this is not very important, but I think that we need to be extremely careful in such calculations, especially in relation to the people, who are the only ones who have our backs...
        3. 0
          27 January 2025 16: 06
          In Ukraine, a lot of Russians and Jews died, and it is incorrect to classify them as Ukrainians.

          And how did you determine that Rybakovsky classified civilian Russians and Jews as civilian Ukrainians?
  5. +7
    27 January 2025 11: 03
    Germans (von der Leyen), Poles, Anglo-Saxons - they all benefit from history being rewritten. Each in their own way. And the Jews are keeping quiet, they were asked to swallow the truth and not to scatter snot. The Jews are silent. But they should be the first to shout that history is being rewritten. They can be rewritten too, saying that there was no Holocaust. Of course, the most disgusting in this history are the Germans and Poles. They will burn in hell!
    1. man
      +3
      27 January 2025 15: 35
      Quote: Glagol1
      Germans (von der Leyen), Poles, Anglo-Saxons - they all benefit from history being rewritten. Each in their own way. And the Jews are keeping quiet, they were asked to swallow the truth and not to scatter snot. The Jews are silent. But they should be the first to shout that history is being rewritten.

      Let's be objective, Israel protested against last year's fascist orgy in the Canadian parliament and confirmed its participation in the Victory Day anniversary celebration in Moscow this year.
      1. 0
        27 January 2025 16: 06
        Quote: mann
        Israel protested last year's fascist orgy in the Canadian parliament and confirmed its participation in this year's Victory Day celebrations in Moscow.

        But at the same time, Israel supplies weapons to the Kyiv Nazis.
        1. man
          +1
          27 January 2025 16: 15
          Quote: guest
          Quote: mann
          Israel protested last year's fascist orgy in the Canadian parliament and confirmed its participation in this year's Victory Day celebrations in Moscow.

          But at the same time, Israel supplies weapons to the Kyiv Nazis.

          Yes, unfortunately... But... if we close our eyes to the positive things that other nations and countries do and only shout about the bad, nothing good will come of it. We are not angels either, let's be objective. Injustice irritates people...
          1. 0
            27 January 2025 16: 17
            Quote: mann
            if we turn a blind eye to the positive things that other peoples and countries do

            And what positive things do they do for us?
            1. man
              +1
              27 January 2025 16: 23
              Quote: guest
              Quote: mann
              if we turn a blind eye to the positive things that other peoples and countries do

              And what positive things do they do for us?

              I've already listed them. Not enough? What did you expect when their fellow countryman is the president of our enemy. Imagine what our reaction would be if Trump were Russian and started fighting with Canada smile
              1. +1
                27 January 2025 16: 25
                Quote: mann
                I have already listed them. Is it not enough?

                Well, they don’t do this for us; in some places, our opinions simply coincide with theirs.
                1. man
                  +1
                  27 January 2025 16: 32
                  Quote: guest
                  Quote: mann
                  I have already listed them. Is it not enough?

                  Well, they don’t do this for us; in some places, our opinions simply coincide with theirs.

                  For example, Germany even spat on our coinciding interests and benefits! request
                  1. +1
                    27 January 2025 16: 40
                    Quote: mann
                    Germany even spat on our common interests and benefits!

                    Where do our interests coincide with Germany?
                    1. man
                      0
                      27 January 2025 22: 50
                      Quote: guest
                      Quote: mann
                      Germany even spat on our common interests and benefits!

                      Where do our interests coincide with Germany?

                      "People's Treasure" smile
                      1. man
                        0
                        27 January 2025 22: 56
                        Sorry, national request
                      2. 0
                        27 January 2025 23: 49
                        Well, in Russia they think that they have such interests there, but even if such interests do exist there, they are secondary.
                      3. man
                        -1
                        27 January 2025 23: 57
                        Quote: guest
                        Well, in Russia they think that they have such interests there, but even if such interests do exist there, they are secondary.

                        Believe me, I know almost first-hand that after losing cheap Russian gas, the standard of living of Germans fell very sharply, the domino effect worked.
                      4. +1
                        28 January 2025 00: 18
                        Quote: mann
                        The standard of living of Germans has fallen very sharply

                        Well, actually, it started to fall there much earlier, about 10 years ago, the last time I was there myself and saw this decline.
                      5. man
                        +1
                        28 January 2025 08: 09
                        Quote: guest
                        Quote: mann
                        The standard of living of Germans has fallen very sharply

                        Well, actually, it started to fall there much earlier, about 10 years ago, the last time I was there myself and saw this decline.

                        I have no reason not to believe you, especially since it is logical, the first sanctions were imposed, and Germany had extensive trade with us.
                      6. +1
                        28 January 2025 13: 10
                        They then also started to bring in a huge number of “refugees” into the country.
                      7. man
                        +1
                        28 January 2025 14: 10
                        Quote: guest
                        They then also started to bring in a huge number of “refugees” into the country.

                        See how much we have in common smile
                      8. +1
                        28 January 2025 14: 18
                        Quote: mann
                        See how much we have in common

                        With Germany?
                      9. man
                        0
                        28 January 2025 14: 20
                        Quote: guest
                        Quote: mann
                        See how much we have in common

                        With Germany?

                        Well yes smile (joke)
                      10. 0
                        28 January 2025 14: 22
                        Well, the fact that we have some similar problems does not make these problems common.
                      11. man
                        0
                        28 January 2025 14: 23
                        Quote: guest
                        Well, the fact that we have some similar problems does not make these problems common.

                        I give up smile
      2. +1
        28 January 2025 19: 24
        Quote: mann
        Let's be objective, Israel protested last year's fascist orgy in the Canadian parliament

        Exactly. The Jews started shouting and being indignant when a Nazi veteran was brought into the Canadian parliament and they started applauding him standing. If it weren't for the Jews, there probably wouldn't have been any noise. They figured out who was really being applauded.
  6. +7
    27 January 2025 11: 29
    Commemorative events in January 2025 to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim by the Red Army will take place without representatives of Russia.
    Let Zeleboba be invited. A Jew giving a sieg heil in Auschwitz: what a spectacle it will be!
  7. +2
    27 January 2025 14: 18
    Commemorative events in January 2025 to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim by the Red Army will take place without representatives of Russia.

    "Whoever does not remember the past is doomed to relive it." George Santayana. They are trying to erase the role of the Russian soldier, who in the last war acted as the savior of the world from the fascist plague. And now this plague is sweeping across Europe again. And Ukraine, which was the first to forget that it was Russian, was the first to fall, finding itself in a new prison. It is difficult to say how it will all end, but it is quite obvious that the Russian soldier will again save the world. They think that they will break us by destroying the USSR - but this is a mistake. History will repeat itself. We will still have our say, despite all these Minsk, Istanbul and games with Trump.
  8. 0
    27 January 2025 21: 47
    Blood runs cold in veins! Truly, the Nazis are children of Satan. And how many prisoners. 12 thousand. Better to accept death in battle than to end up in such a camp of HELL. It is a pity that thousands of Nazis managed to escape...
  9. -1
    27 January 2025 21: 52
    How does a domestic murder of one person by another differ from the murder of another group of people by one gang of people?
    Is Rezun a traitor? Yes, he is a traitor.
    How did they learn about it in the USSR? Or did they only learn about it in Russia?
    Who read these vile books of the traitor Rezun? We, the commentators of VO, did not read them. Or did we?
  10. 0
    27 January 2025 22: 03
    As they say, representatives of the Jewish community are not invited either. So the meeting will be between the organizers and the service personnel of the concentration camps.