Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos

Auschwitz: Quick Facts

Written and fact-checked by
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

The Information Architects maintain a master list of the topics included in the corpus of  Encyclopædia Britannica, and create and manage the relationships between them.
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last updated

News •

Antisemitism in Europe: Concerns grow over rising hate • Nov. 11, 2026, 3:43 PM ET (Deutsche Welle)
A forgotten chapter of Auschwitz: Alice Brauner on making 'Block 10' • Nov. 5, 2026, 12:05 AM ET (Euronews)
Police investigating antisemitic Nazi chants from Hajduk Split fans • Oct. 16, 2026, 10:22 AM ET (BBC)

Facts

Also Known As Birkenau • Oświęcim • Auschwitz-Birkenau
Date 1940 - 1945

Did You Know?

  • In 1944, prisoners at Auschwitz revolted, using smuggled gunpowder to set the crematorium on fire.
  • Polish officer Witold Pilecki was voluntarily imprisoned at Auschwitz to gather intel.
  • The number of deaths at Auschwitz exceeds the combined American and British death toll in World War II.

Photos and Videos

Auschwitz: entrance gates
Auschwitz
Interior of the crematorium at Auschwitz I concentration camp in Oswiecim, Poland, showing brick ovens and metal carts under dim lighting.
Railway tracks lead to the brick entrance building and guard tower of Auschwitz Birkenau concentration camp near Oswiecim, Poland.
Auschwitz II
Barbed wire fences and a brick building at Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Poland, seen through a snowy ground and overcast sky.
corpses of Auschwitz victims
Auschwitz III memorial, Père-Lachaise Cemetery, Paris
Rows of empty wooden bunk beds line both sides of a long, narrow barracks building at Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland.
IG Farben factory
The horror of Auschwitz: A journey through history
Auschwitz trials in West Germany explained
See All Videos and Images →

Related Topics and References

Topics
Dig Deeper: More Articles That Discuss This Topic

Related Places

Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum
Oświęcim
Poland
Poland
Poland
country, Europe

Key People

Rudolf Vrba
Rudolf Vrba
Slovak-Jewish biochemist
Anne Frank
Anne Frank
German diarist
Elie Wiesel
Elie Wiesel
American author
Edith Stein
Edith Stein
German nun
St. Maksymilian Maria Kolbe
St. Maksymilian Maria Kolbe
Polish martyr
default image
Viktor Frankl
Austrian psychiatrist and psychotherapist
Josef Mengele
Josef Mengele
German physician
default image
Erich Salomon
German photographer
default image
Primo Levi
Italian writer and chemist
default image
Tadeusz Borowski
Polish author
default image
Rudolf Franz Höss
German Nazi commandant
default image
Josef Kramer
Nazi commander

Related Quizzes

Adolf Hitler participating in a Nazi parade in Munich, Germany, circa 1930s.
Nazi Germany Quiz