n.
or Auschwitz-Birkenau
Nazi Germany's largest concentration camp and extermination camp, located in southern Poland (modern O 015B; wie 0327; cim).
It consisted of three camps (prison, extermination, and forced labour), established in 1940, 1941 (Birkenau), and 1942. Able-bodied Jewish prisoners were sent to a slave-labour camp, while the aged, the weak, and children and their mothers were killed. Some prisoners were also subjected to medical experiments, conducted by Josef Mengele . The camp was gradually abandoned in 194445 as Soviet troops advanced. The total number who died at Auschwitz is estimated at between 1.1 million and 1.5 million, 90% of which were Jews; also among the dead were some 19,000 Roma (Gypsies), who were killed in July 1944, and some 83,000 Poles. Much of the camp was later converted into a museum and memorial. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979. See also Holocaust .