13
Definitions of Terms
Auschwitz
The Auschwitz concentration camp was the largest of its kind established by the Nazis. It included three main
camps, all of which included forced labor, and one of which also functioned as a killing center. The camps were
approximately 37 miles west of Krakow, near the prewar German-Polish border. Auschwitz had three purposes: to
imprison perceived enemies of the Nazi regime, to have a supply of forced laborers for construction, weapon
production, and other war-related projects, and to serve as a site to eliminate groups of the population whose death
was determined necessary to the security of Nazi Germany.
The first prisoners at Auschwitz included German prisoners transferred from
concentration camp
and Polish political prisoners. In total, approximately 1.1 million Jews were deported to Auschwitz, at least 960,000
of whom were killed, as well as 140,000-150,00
23,000 Roma and Sinti (Gypsies), 15,000
and 25,000 others (Soviet
civilians, Lithuanians, Czechs, French, Yugoslavs,
Germans, Austrians, and Italians). Additionally,
Auschwitz was the only camp to tattoo incoming
prisoners.
In January 1945, as Soviet forces approached the
Auschwitz concentration camp complex, the SS began
evacuating Auschwitz and its subcamps. SS units forced
nearly 60,000 prisoners t
west from the
Auschwitz camp system, away from the Soviets. At
least 15,000 prisoners died during the evacuation
marches. On January 27, 1945, the Soviet army entered
the complex of Auschwitz, Birkenau, and Monowitz
an
around 7,000 prisoners, most of whom
were ill and dying.
Concentration camp
A concentration camp is a guarded compound for the detention or imprisonment of foreigners, members of ethnic
minorities, political opponents, etc. This term especially refers to any of the camps established by the Nazis prior to
and during World War II for the confinement and persecution of prisoners.
Death camp
A death camp is a kind of concentration camp in which the inmates have been sent to be executed and the primary
purpose of the camp is murder.
Ethnic cleansing
A purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the
civilian population of another ethnic or religious group from certain geographic areas.
The gates of Auschwitz
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
