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"AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU." Auschwitz-Birkenau. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2016

All over the world, Auschwitz has become a symbol of terror, genocide, and the Holocaust. It was
established by Germans in 1940, in the suburbs of Oswiecim, a Polish city that was moved to the
Third Reich by the Nazis. The first transport of Poles reached Auschwitz from Tarnow prison on
June 14, 1940. Initially, Auschwitz was to be one more concentration camp of the type that the
Nazis had been setting up since the early 1930s. Its function throughout its existence began in
1942, it also became the largest of the death camps.

"Auschwitz (Oswiecim)." Tours & Tickets. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2016.

The Auschwitz concentration camp was established in April 1940 in the Polish army barracks on the
outskirts of Oswiecim. The camp was 'repurposed ' as a dedicated center for the extermination of
the Jews of Europe. For this purpose, the much larger camp at Birkenau also referred to as
Auschwitz II, was built 1.25miles west of the original site in 1941 and 1942, followed by another
one in miles to the west. It is now estimated that in total this death factory eliminated some 1.6
million people of 27 nationalities, including 1.1 million Jews, 150,000 Poles and 23,000 house
museum exhibitions.

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History.com Staff. "Auschwitz." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 01 Jan. 2009. Web. 31 Mar.
2016.

The History Channels information they have on Auschwitz is about the main parts of Auschwitz. For
example, it talks about the date it opened, the genesis of the death camps, it was the largest death
camp, the subdivisions, and the liberation. During World War II more than 1 million people lost
their lives at Auschwitz. In January 1945, with the Soviet army approaching, Nazi officials
ordered the camp abandoned and sent an estimated 60,000 prisoners on a forced march to other
locations. When the Soviets entered Auschwitz, they found thousands of emaciated detainees and
piles of corpses left behind.

Wiesel, Elie, and Marion Wiesel. Night. New York, NY: Hill and Wang, a Division of Farrar, Straus and
Giroux, 2006. Print.

Because Russian liberation forces are moving ever closer to the Nazi camp, SS troops evacuate Buna in
January 1945. The Wiesels and their fellow prisoners are forced to run through a snowy night in
bitter cold over a forty-two mile route to Gleiwitz. Elie binds his bleeding foot in strips of
blanket. Inmates who falter are shot. Elie prays for strength to save his father from death. At a
makeshift barracks, survivors pile together. Three days later, living on mouthfuls of snow, the
remaining inmates travel in open cattle cars on a ten-day train ride to Buchenwald in central
Germany. Finally, only the Wiesels and ten others cling to life.

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In wooden bunks, Elie tries to nurse his father back to health. Gradually, the dying man succumbs to
dysentery, malnutrition, and a vicious beating. Elie's mind slips into semi-delirium. When he
awakens, Chlomo is gone. Elie fears that he was sent to the ovens while he was still breathing.
Resistance breaks out in Buchenwald. In April, American forces liberate the camp. Elie is so
depleted by food poisoning that he stares at himself in a mirror and sees the reflection of a
corpse.