The History of Auschwitz

As explained in Auschwitz Birkenau: Memorial and Museum, a book I purchased at Auschwitz.

Candles and flowers in memorial for those who lost their
lives here, at the Death Wall in Auschwitz. Many were
lined up and shot, here.

"The world has come to know Auschwitz as a symbol of state terrorism, genocide, and the Holocaust. The Nazis opened it in 1940 on the outskirts of the city of Oswiecim, which, like much of Poland, came under German occupation during World War II. The Germans changed the name of the city to "Auschwitz", and this also became the name of the camp.

The camp expanded over the following years until it compromised three main parts: Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II-Birkenau, and Auschwitz II-Monowitz, as well as more than 40 sub-camps. Initially, Poles were imprisoned in the camp and died there. Later, they were joined by the Soviet prisoners of war, Roma (Gypsies), and prisoners of other nationalities. Beginning in 1942, the camp became the scene of the largest mass murder in human history, committed against the Jews of Europe as part of the Nazi plans for the total extermination of that people. The majority of the Jews deported to Auschwitz - men, women, and children - were sent directly after arrival to their deaths in the Birkenau gas chambers.

Nazis managed to destroy the crematorium and gas chambers
at Birkenau, and this is all that remains. The crematorium at
Auschwitz I is a reconstruction, but we saw the "real deal"
at Majdanek, several days later. 

It is estimated that at least 1,100,000 Jews were sent to the camp from Nazi-occupied Europe. Nearly 150,000 Poles, some 23,000 Roma from several European countries, over 15,000 Soviet prisoners of war, and over ten thousand prisoners from other countries were also sent to Auschwitz. The majority of them perished there.

In an effort to remove the evidence of their crimes, the SS began dismantling or demolishing the gas chambers and crematoria, along with other buildings, at the end of the war. They also burned the records. They evacuated prisoners capable of marching to the depths of the Reich. Red Army soldiers liberated those who remained in the camp (around 7,000) in January 1945."

"Hope is the last to die" - Halia Birenbaum (Title of her book).