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Auschwitz

The Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp was the main site for the extermination of Jews by the Nazis during the Holocaust. It was liberated on January 27, 1945.

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All Content on this topic

Inside Europe Teaser

Inside Europe 24.01.2020

French police under fire amid allegations of brutality - Can the EU make a difference in the Libyan conflict? - Make or break talks on Spain's Catalan crisis - Holocaust Memorial Day: a special report from the Auschwitz Nazi death camp - Personal reflections on the Holocaust - Unexploded World War II bombs made safe in two German cities - The sexual mores of the Parisian intellectual elite.
PoliticsJanuary 24, 202054:59 min
Children freed from Auschwitz Concentration Camp by Soviet soldiers

Germans want to uphold culture of remembrance

A survey comissioned by DW reveals that Germans want to keep memories of the horrors of National Socialism alive.
PoliticsJanuary 24, 2020
Sheikh Mohammed al-Eissa, the secretary-general of the Muslim World League walks inside former Nazi-German concentration and extermination camp KL Auschwitz II-Birkenau ahead of the 75th Anniversary of Auschwitz Liberation

Muslim leaders make 'historic' visit to Auschwitz

Muslim and Jewish leaders have offered memorial prayers together at the former Nazi German death camp Auschwitz.
SocietyJanuary 23, 2020
Marcel Fürstenau

Steinmeier's humble Auschwitz commemoration

Marcel Fürstenau
At Yad Vashem, the German president addressed his country's guilt and responsibility. And he found the right words.
PoliticsJanuary 23, 2020
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Auschwitz survivor Dita Kraus

Holocaust survivor Dita Kraus spoke to DW at her home in Israel.
HistoryJanuary 23, 202002:36 min
Ovens built by Topf & Sons pictured at Auschwitz-Birkenau

The German company that enabled the Holocaust

Topf & Sons helped make the Holocaust possible by building incinerators for Nazi concentration camps.
HistoryJanuary 23, 2020
Israel is hosting world leaders and Holocaust survivors to mark 75 years since the liberation of Auschwitz

Israelis want action not words on anti-Semitism

Amid rising anti-Semitism in Europe and the US, Israelis hope the World Holocaust Forum wouldn't just be symbolic.
PoliticsJanuary 23, 2020
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier delivers speech at the World Holocaust Forum

Germany not 'immune to evil,' says Steinmeier

"I wish I could say that we Germans learned a lesson from our history once and for all, but I cannot," Steinmeier said.
PoliticsJanuary 23, 2020
Tagebuch der Sheindi Miller-Ehrenwald im DHM Berlin

Deported to Auschwitz: Sheindi Ehrenwald's diary

Sheindi Ehrenwald was deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp and kept a hidden diary, which is now made public.
CultureJanuary 23, 2020
Tagebuch der Sheindi Miller-Ehrenwald im DHM Berlin

The diary of an Auschwitz survivor

Sheindi Miller-Ehrenwald was 14 when she was deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp. She kept a diary there.
CultureJanuary 23, 20205 images
DW Fokus Polen

Jewish life 75 years after Auschwitz

A New York rabbi is rebuilding Jewish communities in Poland, 75 years after the Holocaust.
SocietyJanuary 22, 202005:04 min
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier (l) alongside Holocaust survivor Giselle Cycowicz in Jerusalem

Germany's Steinmeier meets Holocaust survivors in Jerusalem

President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has met with Holocaust survivors ahead of the World Holocaust Forum.
PoliticsJanuary 22, 2020
Josef Mengele, Nazi, at Auschwitz-Birkenau

Josef Mengele scarred victims and his hometown

The Nazi "angel of death," Josef Mengele, would outlive many of his victims and die a free man at a relatively old age.
HistoryJanuary 22, 2020
Naftali Fürst holds up a photo taken of him at a concentration camp

Holocaust survivor: 'I think it can happen again'

Naftali Fürst survived Auschwitz and Buchenwald. Today the 88-year-old says it's his duty to tell his story.
PoliticsJanuary 21, 2020
Junge Juden und Muslime begegnen sich in Auschwitz

Muslim world leaders at Auschwitz: A 'strong signal'

Seventy-five years after the concentration camp's liberation, Muslim and Jewish leaders are coming together in unity.
ReligionJanuary 19, 2020
Oswiecim: Auschwitz-Birkenau

Poland protests Holocaust commemoration snub

Russia, Poland and Israel are engaged in a diplomatic spat surrounding the 75th anniversary of the end of the Holocaust.
HistoryJanuary 12, 2020
Ines Pohl

Opinion: Merkel finds the right words at Auschwitz

Ines Pohl
With anti-Semitism on the rise in Germany, Merkel's visit to Auschwitz was a sad necessity, writes DW's Ines Pohl.
PoliticsDecember 6, 2019
Merkel and Morawiecki place candles at the International Monument Auschwitz II-Birkenau during their visit at the former German Nazi death camp

Merkel expresses shame over barbaric crimes

The third sitting chancellor to visit Auschwitz, Angela Merkel underscored her country's enduring responsibilities.
PoliticsDecember 6, 2019
Angela Merkel und Mateusz Morawiecki Auschwitz-Birkenau

Angela Merkel in Auschwitz: 'I am filled with deep shame'

Merkel paid her first visit as chancellor to the site of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.
HistoryDecember 6, 20195 images
olish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and German Chancellor Angela Merkel attend a wreath-laying ceremony at the Auschwitz-Birkenau

Merkel makes first Auschwitz trip as chancellor

While Auschwitz-Birkenau is "a place that commands silence," the setting also demands earnest words.
HistoryDecember 5, 2019
A view of the entrance to the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz

Amazon under fire for Auschwitz 'ornaments'

The Auschwitz Memorial has criticized the online retailer for selling Christmas ornaments with images of the Nazi camp.
HistoryDecember 1, 2019
The former Nazi concentration camp in Auschwitz

Angela Merkel to visit Auschwitz: report

For the first time during her chancellorship, Angela Merkel will visit the former Nazi death camps in Auschwitz.
PoliticsNovember 21, 2019
Liliana Segre

Italian senator faces 200 anti-Semitic threats daily

Milan police have been assigned to guard Holocaust survivor and Italian senator Liliana Segre amid mass threats.
PoliticsNovember 7, 2019
View of the Auschwitz death camp gates

Holocaust survivor meets 400 descendants

In what is being seen a symbolic triumph over the Holocaust, a survivor has celebrated with her 400 descendants.
HistoryAugust 8, 2019
Scene at Auschwitz

75 years ago: Auschwitz murder of Sinti, Roma

On August 2, 1944, more than 4,000 Roma and Sinti people were gassed to death in Auschwitz.
HistoryAugust 2, 2019
NS-Zeit Ausschwitz l Erinnerung an Primo Levi

Remembering Holocaust writer Primo Levi

He survived Auschwitz by chance, and went on to write invaluable accounts of life in the Nazi concentration camps.
CultureJuly 31, 2019
Kazimierz Albin

Last survivor of first Auschwitz convoy dies

Kazimierz Albin has passed away at the age of 96. He fled the Auschwitz death camp in 1943.
HistoryJuly 23, 2019
Architect Daniel Libeskind looks at a model of a planned Holocaust Memorial in Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Dutch Holocaust memorial to go ahead after pushback

A Holocaust memorial is set to be built in Amsterdam after a court dismissed complaints from local residents.
SocietyJuly 10, 2019
Eva Kor

Tributes paid to Holocaust survivor Eva Kor

Eva Kor passed away while on her annual trip to Auschwitz to educate about the horrors of the World War II genocide.
SocietyJuly 5, 2019
people walking along train tracks wrapped in Israeli flags in Ausschwitz

Why the memory of the Holocaust become a 'monster'

Author Yishai Sarid speaks about Auschwitz and the pornography of evil.
CultureJune 24, 2019
CasaPound neo-fascist rally in 2018

Auschwitz museum boycotts Turin book fair

The Holocaust memorial is the latest group to pull out of the fair over the presence of fascist publisher Altaforte.
CultureMay 7, 2019
Advertisement in Israel for "Eva's Stories"

The Holocaust and Instagram?

An Instagram story about 13-year-old Eva Heymann is trying to bring Holocaust remembrance to a social media generation.
Digital WorldMay 2, 2019
Participants mark Holocaust Remembrance Day at the gates of the Auschwitz death camp in what is now Oswiecim, Poland

World marks Holocaust Remembrance Day

The March of the Living took place in Poland, where participants gathered at the Auschwitz death camp.
HistoryMay 2, 2019
Erna de Vries

Keeping the memories of Holocaust survivors alive

A group of activists are keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive by sharing the stories of the last survivors.
HistoryApril 18, 2019
A train carriage outside the Auschwitz-Birkenau site

Man tries to steal part of Auschwitz train track

A 37-year-old US man faces up to a decade in prison for allegedly trying to steal an item of cultural importance.
CrimeMarch 31, 2019
Train tracks leading to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp

Auschwitz asks visitors not to balance on train tracks

"There are better places to learn how to walk on a balance beam," the Auschwitz Museum wrote on Twitter.
SocietyMarch 21, 2019
Deutschland AfD & Religion | Mann mit Kippa und deutscher Flagge

Berlin passes plan to combat anti-Semitism

The German capital has put together a comprehensive approach to fight anti-Semitic hatred at a local level.
PoliticsMarch 13, 2019
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The melodies of Auschwitz

Esther Bejarano's talent for music helped her to survive the horrors of Auschwitz.
January 30, 201903:04 min
German rappers Kollegah and Farid Bang visit Auschwitz with Thomas Heubner, vice-president of the International Auschwitz Committee

'Auschwitz did not begin in Auschwitz'

The danger of forgetting the Holocaust is ever-present, says International Auschwitz Committee's Christoph Heubner.
HistoryJanuary 27, 2019
Armin Laschet at a ceremony in Auschwitz

German remembrance culture 'crumbling': Maas

Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has warned Germany's Holocaust memory is under "pressure from the extreme right."
PoliticsJanuary 27, 2019
Deutschland Gedenkstätte Buchenwald

Holocaust: Places of memory and mourning

Jewish leaders warn that International Holocaust Remembrance Day must serve to combat historical ignorance.
TravelJanuary 27, 2019
Ines Pohl

Germany's Holocaust obligation continues

Ines Pohl
Everyone living in Germany must take on the responsibility to ensure past horrors are never repeated, says Ines Pohl.
HistoryJanuary 27, 2019
Entrance to the Auschwitz extermination camp

Christoph Heubner: 'We are always in danger'

"Auschwitz didn’t begin in Auschwitz, but everywhere where people are ostracized and hunted," says Christoph Heubner, Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, in The Interview on DW. "The best insurance against hatred between peoples, Fascism and Nazism is remembering and an active confrontation with history."
January 27, 201912:05 min
film still from Who will write our history, a man standing at a table, rolling a document

How Warsaw Ghetto diarists fought Nazi lies

The documentary "Who Will Write Our History" tells the story of the creators of a secret archive in the Warsaw Ghetto.
CultureJanuary 25, 2019
George Brady Holocaust survivor

Holocaust survivor George Brady dies

The Canadian of Czech origin survived the Theresienstadt and Auschwitz concentration camps during World War II.
SocietyJanuary 12, 2019
Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp

Auschwitz sees record visitors in 2018

More than 2.1 million people visited the former concentration and extermination camp in southern Poland last year.
Human RightsJanuary 4, 2019
Anne Frank House in Amsterdam

Anne Frank House remodeled for younger public

The museum draws more than a million visitors a year but, more and more, they lack the context of Anne Frank's story.
CultureNovember 22, 2018
Chelsea supporters at Wembley Stadium

Chelsea mulls Auschwitz lesson for racist fans

The move comes after the London club banned a number of fans last year for anti-Jewish chanting.
SportsOctober 11, 2018
Rapper Kollegah

Anti-Semitic lyrics: German rapper pledges 'more respect'

After visiting Auschwitz, German rapper Kollegah says: "I will never use words like those again."
MusicOctober 5, 2018
Adolf Hitler consecrating new flags by touching them with the so-called Blood Banner

Former SS guard to stand trial for Nazi crimes

Prosecutors say the former SS guard at the Stutthof Nazi concentration camp knew about hundreds of killings.
CrimeSeptember 22, 2018