Why was Auschwitz II also called Birkenau?

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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”).

Auschwitz II was called Birkenau because it was located outside the nearby village of Brzezinka, Poland. The name Birkenau is the Germanized form of the village's name.1