Auschwitz: Facts & Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Dec 23, 2025

News •

Opera written in Nazi regime performed in Hebrew • Dec. 22, 2025, 12:28 AM ET (Jerusalem Post)

New Auschwitz exhibit reflects evolving world • Dec. 14, 2025, 12:03 AM ET (Taipei Times)

Doctor fired for telling obese patient Auschwitz would help • Dec. 9, 2025, 11:53 PM ET (Jerusalem Post)

Also Known As	Oświęcim • Auschwitz-Birkenau • Auschwitz-Birkenau. The Nazi German Concentration and Extermination Camp (1940–-1945) • Birkenau
Date	1940 - 1945

In 1944, prisoners at Auschwitz revolted, using smuggled gunpowder to set the crematorium on fire.
Polish officer Witold Pilecki was voluntarily imprisoned at Auschwitz to gather intel.
The number of deaths at Auschwitz exceeds the combined American and British death toll in World War II.