Auschwitz-Birkenau

Location:

Oświęcim, Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany

Original use:

Army barracks

Operational:

May 1940 – January 1945

Operated by:

German Schutzstaffel (SS); the NKVD (after WWII)

Commandants:

SS Obersturmbannführer Rudolf Höess
(May 1940 - November 1943)

SS Obersturmbannführer Arthur Liebenschel
(November 1943 - May 1944)

SS Sturmbannführer Friedrich Hartjenstein
(November 1943 - May 1944)

SS Hauptsturmführer Josef Kremer
(May 1944 - November 1944)

SS Sturmbannführer Richard Baer
(May 1944 - January 1945)

Estimated deaths:

1,100,000; mainly Jews, Poles, Roma and Soviet

Liberated:

January 27, 1945 by Soviet troops