The development of Auschwitz

  • Construction Begins

    A concentration camp near Oswiecim in Poland is constructed by the SS, Hitler's Secret Police.
  • Prisoners Enter

    30 "criminals" arrived at Auschwitz from a concentration camp in Germany, Sachsenhausen.
  • Vistation from the Reichsfuehrer SS/Chief of German Police

    Heinrich Himmler inspected Auschwitz, and ordered expansion of Auschwitz facilities. He was concerned for prisoner capacity, so he wantd to help Auschwitz I out by building of a camp near Birkenau, which is come to be known as Auschwitz II-Birkenau.
  • First Gas Chambers

    First Gas Chambers
    Auschwitz I SS officers test out Zyklon B gas by killing 600 Soviet POW and 250 other weak prisoners. Zyklon B was the generic name for crystalline hydrogen cyanide gas.
  • Period: to

    Jews Deported

    SS and Police authorities deport more than 585,000 Jews to Auschwitz.
  • End of Auschwitz

    End of Auschwitz
    Soviet troops enter the Auschwitz camp complex and liberate approximately 7,000 prisoners remaining in the camp. During the existence of Auschwitz, the SS camp authorities killed nearly one million Jews from across Europe.