when was auschwitz liberated

Auschwitz was liberated on 27 January 1945 by soldiers of the Soviet Red Army (the 60th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front).

Key facts in brief

• Date of liberation: 27 January 1945.

• Liberating force: Units of the Soviet Red Army, specifically elements of the 60th Army, 1st Ukrainian Front.

• Location: Near the town of Oświęcim in German‑occupied Poland (today in southern Poland).

• Prisoners found: Around 7,000 people were still in Auschwitz, Birkenau and Monowitz, many too weak or ill to join the forced evacuations.

Brief historical context

In the weeks before liberation, the SS forced about 58,000 prisoners on “death marches” toward camps deeper inside Germany, killing many on the way. Those left behind were mostly the sickest and weakest, who faced starvation, disease and freezing conditions.

When Soviet troops entered the camp area in the afternoon of 27 January, they encountered emaciated survivors, abandoned barracks, and the remains of blown‑up gas chambers and crematoria that the Nazis had tried to destroy to hide evidence of mass murder.

Why this date matters today

27 January is now marked internationally as International Holocaust Remembrance Day, commemorating the liberation of Auschwitz and the wider genocide of approximately six million Jews and millions of other victims of Nazi persecution. Public discussions, memorial events, and online forum posts each year use the question “when was Auschwitz liberated” to reconnect this historical date with ongoing debates about antisemitism, extremism, and how societies remember mass atrocities.

TL;DR: Auschwitz was liberated on 27 January 1945 by the Soviet Red Army, and that date is now observed worldwide as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.