In January 1945, the Germans ordered the evacuation of the Auschwitz concentration camp. Such actions were deportations, which were called death marches after the end of the Second World War. This term better reflects the aim of German policy towards prisoners and captives. The idea was that the march itself would result in the highest possible death rate for the prisoners. Many of them did not survive the forced evacuation. They died as a result of the tragic conditions: cold, hunger; extreme exhaustion and the cruelty of the SS men.
As the Soviet Union’s troops began to win on the eastern front against the German army and move ever faster towards the west, the occupying German army began to prepare for the evacuation of the camps from April 1944. The first to set off on the way of death were the prisoners of Majdanek.
The start of the evacuation of prisoners from Auschwitz took place on 17 January 1945. The evacuees included prisoners who were sick and exhausted by the tragic conditions there, as well as children. Some had up to 250 km to walk. The evacuees were guarded by SS soldiers.
The harsh conditions during the march, the fatigue and illness and the murders committed by the German guards made the evacuation a Death March. Mass atrocities were the order of the day. For example, on 22 January 1945, not far from the town of Rybnik, a train containing around 2,500 prisoners was stopped at the station at night. In the afternoon there was an order from the Germans: Get off! Some, however, were so exhausted by the transport that they could not leave the wagons. SS soldiers responded to such insubordination with shots, resulting in the deaths of around 300 people.
Along the route of the march, Poles and Czechs helped the prisoners. Some of them managed to save themselves from a terrible fate. Those who died during the forced march were buried along the way, such as a girl whose remains were discovered in 1965 in Pszczyna. The child was buried with a tin cup in her hand.
By 21 January 1945, the Germans had moved some 56,000 prisoners out of Auschwitz. Between 9,000 and 15,000 of them did not survive the Death March. The rest were placed in other camps, including Mauthausen and Buchenwald, where the Germans also prepared hell conditions for them.
About 7,000 prisoners remained in Auschwitz. Due to extreme exhaustion, they were unable to take part in the evacuation march. 10 days after the first evacuation, Soviet troops arrived at Auschwitz.