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Born in Auschwitz -

The 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz will be an especially poignant occasion for 82-year-old Polish national Wladyslaw Osik. He was born in Auschwitz!

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A family nightmare -

Osik, seen here with daughter Anna and granddaughters Natalia (left) and Nicola (right), ended up in the camp after his parents were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau in December 1942 when his mother was seven weeks pregnant with him. As an infant, he managed to survive in the camp thanks to the help of other prisoners, and together with his mother lived to see the liberation on January 27, 1945. His father did not survive.

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Place of birth -

Osik, who was born in the camp on July 17, 1943, was eventually issued a birth certificate after the war. It indicates the Polish town of Oświęcim as his place of birth—the site of the infamous death camp.

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Warning from the past -

Eighty years after the liberation of Auschwitz, Holocaust survivors are voicing their fears about the current political climate and the rise of anti-Semitism, and are urging people to stand up against it. It's worth remembering what can happen when warnings like these are ignored. 

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The origins of Auschwitz -

Pictured: the Auschwitz II-Birkenau gatehouse, photographed in 1945. From 1942 until late 1944, freight trains delivered Jews from all over German-occupied Europe to its gas chambers.

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Deportations commence -

Deportations to Auschwitz I began in 1941. By the fall of that year, construction had commenced on the second part of the camp, Auschwitz II-Birkenau.

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Auschwitz II-Birkenau begins functioning -

On March 1, 1942, Auschwitz II-Birkenau began functioning. By the summer of that year, many thousands of Jewish deportees had arrived at both camps.

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Auschwitz III-Monowitz opens -

In October 1942, Auschwitz III-Monowitz, a sub-camp of the Auschwitz concentration camp, started receiving prisoners.

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Life or death -

After disembarking freight cars, deportees were ordered to form a queue for inspection. A Nazi doctor decided in a few seconds who lived and who died.

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"Work sets you free" -

Those fortunate enough to survive initial selection were put to work. The infamous slogan set above the entrance to Auschwitz and other Nazi concentration camps, Arbeit macht frei, translates into English as "Work sets you free."

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The killing continues -

In November 1944, the mass murder of Jews in the gas chambers was abruptly halted. On January 17, 1945, those prisoners still alive were evacuated by the SS, forced to leave on a death march. Approximately 9,000-15,000 prisoners in total died on marches like this out of Auschwitz's camps.

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Auschwitz liberated -

On January 27, units of Red Army soldiers arrived at Auschwitz, effectively liberating the camp.

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Shocking discovery -

The battle-hardened Soviets were shocked by what they found. About 7,000 prisoners had been left behind, most of whom were seriously ill due to the effects of their imprisonment.

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Barely alive -

The majority of these were middle-aged adults or young children, most less than 15 years old. Many inmates were described as living skeletons.

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Few survivors -

As the Soviets combed Auschwitz and Birkenau, they stumbled over hundreds of corpses. At Monowitz camp, about 800 prisoners had actually survived their ordeal.

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Medical help -

The Red Army, assisted by the Polish Red Cross, did their best to care for survivors by organizing medical care and food.

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Covering up their crimes -

Attempts were then made by the Red Army to document the camp. To destroy evidence of their crimes, the Nazis had blown up the gas chambers and most of the crematoria.

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Auschwitz and its aftermath -

Elsewhere, however, Red Army troops found 370,000 men's suits, 837,000 articles of women's clothing, and mountains of shoes and human hair.

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Inhumane conditions -

Evidence also survived of the cramped and squalid living conditions prisoners were forced to endure.

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Nearly half a million dead -

Of the 1.3 million deported sent to Auschwitz and who died there, barely 400,000 were registered and imprisoned in the compound. The other 900,000 were immediately gassed.

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The world remembers -

A little over two years after its liberation, a museum opened on the site of Auschwitz, ostensibly to serve as a memorial. It was inaugurated on June 14, 1947.

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Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum -

Officially called the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, the facility includes the main concentration camp at Auschwitz I and the remains of the concentration and extermination camp at Auschwitz II-Birkenau. From 1955 to 1990, the museum was directed by one of its founders and former inmate, Kazimierz Smoleń.

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A number not a name -

Exhibits include uniforms worn by inmates. Each of these striped garments was marked with a badge indicating the prisoner's category and an identification number—the same number that was tattooed on inmates' forearms. The photograph shows the uniform worn by Auschwitz survivor Leon Greenman, and the corresponding number on his arm.

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Poignant exhibits -

The suitcases confiscated from Jewish deportees as they arrived at the camp number some 3,800. Many of the suitcases are signed by their owners.

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The Death Wall -

Part of the museum's permanent exhibition is the Death Wall. Located in the yard at the side of the notorious Block 11 (a building that contained torture chambers), the wall is where condemned inmates were lined up and executed by firing squad. What you see today is actually a reconstruction of the original structure.

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Portraits of the dead -

Portraits of prisoners interred in Auschwitz are displayed in a special exhibition room at the museum.

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More people visiting Auschwitz -

Since it opened, over 25 million people have visited Auschwitz, today a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 2023 alone, over 1.67 million people visited the Auschwitz Memorial.

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Dwindling number of survivors -

Among the visitors are a dwindling number who personally experienced the horrors perpetrated upon them by the Nazis.

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Speaking of the past -

Around 200 survivors and their families attended the official ceremony to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the camp. In fact. several served as keynote speakers during the event.

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Never again -

On the anniversary of the liberation, world leaders, dignitaries, members of royalty, and survivors traditionally gather at the international monument for the victims of fascism to lay wreaths on memorial stones as an act of commemoration. 

Sources: (Auschwitz-Birkenau) (Reuters) (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum) 

See also: Lesser-known facts about World War II

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