Part 4

On the Run (1944 - 1945)

In the summer of 1944, a massive Soviet Army offensive in the eastern front resulted in the first Nazi concentration camp being overrun. The evacuation of Auschwitz was ordered on December 21, 1944. The instructions were to evacuate all POWs, forced laborers, and concentration cam inmates and transfer them to locations in Germany where they could be dispersed for labor assignments. The evacuation of Auschwitz camps began on January 18, 1945 with some 56,000 prisoners marching due west.  During the death marches, the SS guards were under orders to kill prisoners who fell behind. Many were simply shot where they fell. In addition, the weather in eastern Europe during that winter was particularly brutal. Thousands of prisoners died of starvation and exposure.