Death March from Auschwitz
Due to the approaching Soviet Army, 58,000 prisoners of Auschwitz were forced on marches to the concentration and labour camps in central Germany. These marches became known as death marches. Image courtesy of USHMM.
Due to the approaching Soviet Army, 58,000 prisoners of Auschwitz were forced on marches to the concentration and labour camps in central Germany. These marches became known as death marches. Image courtesy of USHMM.
Having learned that the SS planned to liquidate them, members of the Sonderkommando started an armed rebellion. They managed to blow up a crematorium with smuggled gunpowder, but ultimately, the revolt was crushed.
A group of German military officers attempted to assassinate Hitler using a bomb in a briefcase. Hitler survived and the conspirators were executed.
The Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy. The Battle of Normandy began, signalling the first phase of the liberation of Europe.
Following the German occupation of Hungary, the first deportations of Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz began. Within the following two months, approximately 440,000 Hungarian Jews were deported.
Alfred Wetzler and Rudolf Vrba escaped from Auschwitz. They wrote a detailed eyewitness report on the camp and the fate of the Jews. The document was translated and passed on to the West in May 1944.
Prisoners in Treblinka rose up against the SS. They attacked guards and set buildings on fire. Around 300 prisoners manage to escape, but only 100 were not recaptured. All remaining prisoners were murdered.
The final liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto began. The Jews, armed with pistols and rifles, resisted the Nazis. In response, the Nazis burned down the ghetto and murdered all of its inhabitants. The uprising became a symbol of Jewish resistance.
The German Army surrendered to Soviet forces at Stalingrad, Russia, after 90.000 German soldiers had been encircled for several months. This was a key turning point in World War Two.
A decree was passed stating that all German Sinti and Roma were to be deported to Auschwitz and destroyed.