January 27 will mark the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz where at least 1.1 million people, mostly Jews, were murdered by the Nazis.
Set up in 1940 by occupying Nazi forces near the town of Oswiecim in southern Poland, Auschwitz became the centrepiece in Adolf Hitler's "final solution" plan to exterminate the Jews.
Sam Pivnik, 88, poses at his home in London. When he was 14 Sam was marched to Auschwitz by the Nazis, along with his father and mother, sisters Chana and Handel and younger brothers Meir, Wolf and Josef, who were all murdered in the gas chambersChristopher Furlong/Getty ImagesJadwiga Bogucka (maiden name Regulska), 89, who was registered with camp number 86356, poses for a portrait in Warsaw and shows a picture of herself taken in 1944. During the Warsaw Uprising in August 1944, when Bogucka was 19, she and her mother were sent from their home to a camp in Pruszkow and then moved on 12 August 1944 by train to Auschwitz-Birkenau. They were liberated by the Red Army on 27 January 1945.Kacper Pempel/ReutersImre Varsanyi, 86, poses for a portrait in Budapest with a photo of fellow survivors. He was 14 years old when he and his family were sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau. He was the only member of his family to survive. He says he would not talk about Auschwitz for 60 years after the war because he felt ashamed of having survivedLaszlo Balogh/ReutersStefan Sot, 83, camp number 192705, holds a picture of himself taken during the war as he poses for a portrait in Warsaw. In August 1944, when he was 13 years old, he was sent from his home in Warsaw to a camp in Pruszkow prior to being sent by train to Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. He was later moved to a labour sub-camp, where he worked in a kitchen for SS officers.Kacper Pempel/ReutersEdith Baneth, 88, poses at her home in London. She was a prisoner in Theresienstadt, Auschwitz, Neuengamme and Bergen-Belsen concentration campsChristopher Furlong/Getty Images
Men, women and children, mostly Jewish, but also Gypsies, Russians, Poles and gays from all over Nazi-occupied Europe were transported to Auschwitz in overcrowded cattle trains. Many died of hunger and suffocation during the journey which usually lasted days.
When they arrived at the camp, they faced a selection process. SS doctors decided which prisoners were suitable for labour and which should be killed immediately.
The elderly and women with children were killed in the camp's gas chambers using the pesticide Zyklon B .
Those who survived the selection process were stripped of their clothes, belongings and identity, and had a number tattooed on their arm. They were issued with striped uniforms and marched to rows of accommodations blocks to begin their lives in the camp.
Alexander Riseman, 88, poses at his home in London. When Alexander was a child, he was sent to Auschwitz from his home in Poland with his family, and eventually liberated by the RussiansChristopher Furlong/Getty ImagesAlexander Riseman (third from left with the arrow above him) sits on a train two days before the end of the war, after being liberated from AuschwitzFrom the collection of Alexander RisemanElzbieta Sobczynska (maiden name Gremblicka), 80, poses for a portrait in Warsaw with her father's watch, which was kept by her brother while they were in the camp. During the Warsaw Uprising, when Sobczynska was 10, she was sent with her mother and brother from their home to a camp in Pruszkow and then moved by train to Auschwitz-Birkenau. There they were separated into blocks for woman, girls and boys.Kacper Pempel/ReutersDanuta Bogdaniuk-Bogucka (maiden name Kaminska), 80, poses for a portrait in Warsaw. She was 10 years old when she was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau with her mother, and was part of Josef Mengele's experiments. After the war she met her mother again and they discovered they had both been at Ravensbruck camp at the same time, but they had not realised this.Kacper Pempel/ReutersBogdan Bartnikowski, 82, who was registered with camp number 192731, holds a family photograph as he poses for a portrait in Warsaw. He was 12 years old during the Warsaw Uprising, when he and his mother were sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau. They were moved between camps several timesKacper Pempel/ReutersJanos Forgacs, 87, poses for a portrait in Budapest with his liberation document. He recalls that he was in a group transported to a camp in a cattle wagon, with the windows sealed with barbed wire. A military officer told them to hand over their belongings, telling them they would not need them anymoreLaszlo Balogh/Reuters
In January 1945, as Soviet troops closed in the camp, most of Auschwitz's inmates were sent on a death march.
Auschwitz was liberated by the Soviet Red Army on 27 January 1945. About 200,000 inmates survived, of whom about 300 are still alive today.
Auschwitz death camp survivor Eva Fahidi, 90, poses for a portrait in Budapest with a picture of her family, who were all killed in the concentration camp during World War Two. Fahidi was 18 in 1944 when she and her family were moved from Debrecen to Auschwitz-BirkenauLaszlo Balogh/ReutersSusan Pollock, 84, poses at her home in London. She was transported from her home in Hungary to Auschwitz where her mother was immediately taken from her and sent to the gas chambers. Susan was subject to hard slave labour until she was forced to walk to Belsen in the bitterly cold winter and later liberated by British forcesChristopher Furlong/Getty ImagesSusan Kluger, 89, poses at her home in London. Eva was sent from Auschwitz to Bergen-Belsen where she was eventually liberated by the British in 1945Christopher Furlong/Getty ImagesLajos Erdelyi, 87, holds a drawing made by a campmate as he poses for a portrait in Budapest. He was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau in May 1944 and was later moved to another camp. When he was freed he weighed under 30kg, but tried to walk home. He collapsed, and was taken to a hospital by a farmerLaszlo Balogh/ReutersJosef Perl, aged 84, poses at his home in London. He was imprisoned in Auschwitz, Dachau, Bergen-Belsen, Gross-Rosen, Balkenhain, Hirschberg and Buchenwald camps. He has spent 20 years of his life educating people of the horrors and the lessons to be learned from the HolocaustChristopher Furlong/Getty Images
