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Why did the Nazis build extermination camps in German-occupied Poland?

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Auschwitz: entrance gates — Auschwitz The entrance gates to the Auschwitz concentration camp, near Kraków, Poland; the sign reads “Arbeit Macht Frei” (“Work Liberates”).

The Nazi regime established extermination camps in German-occupied Poland as a strategic shift in their policy of mass murder, moving away from the use of mobile killing units. Following the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, the Nazis found that using mobile units to execute victims was difficult to sustain and caused disquiet among local populations.1

To increase efficiency and reduce the number of personnel required, the Nazis created stationary killing centers where large numbers of victims could be murdered using poison gas. Poland was chosen for these sites partly due to its existing infrastructure; for example, Auschwitz was located at a major railway junction with 44 parallel tracks, which allowed for the efficient transport of victims from across Europe.12

The creation of these camps was a central component of the Holocaust, designed to facilitate the systematic annihilation of Jews, as well as other groups deemed "unwanted" by the Nazi regime. This industrialization of genocide represents a profound moral failure and a horrific crime against humanity.12