Auschwitz - The Nazis and the Final Solution

Over one million were killed in a camp that ended up as a byword for the mass murder of Jews. However, Auschwitz was originally intended for a very different purpose. Built to imprison and terrorise anyone who resisted the Nazi occupation of Poland, Auschwitz was expanded and eventually became an integral part of the Nazis' 'Final Solution'.

By 1942, Auschwitz was established as a place to murder thousands of people, but the horrific regime demanded yet more be killed. The Nazis involve the Jewish Ghetto leadership in Lodz in selecting who will be sent to be murdered and the camp commandant finds that mass murder has its complications.

France was the first western country to deport resident Jews to Auschwitz and nearby Treblinka. This led to the biggest killing year in the history of the Nazis' 'Final Solution', prompting people like German officer Albert Battel to risk their lives to save the lives of the detainees.

By 1943, life was good for many of the SS. Eyewitness accounts recall how those in power at Auschwitz lined their pockets with wealth stolen from Jewish inmates, and how brothels were opened in the camps. Meanwhile, Mengele uses the inmates at Auschwitz to carry out horrific pseudo-scientific experiments.

1944 was the most frenzied period of killing in the history of Auschwitz as the German occupation of Hungary leads to the deportation of Jews living there, overseen by Adolf Eichmann. The Western Allies debate whether to bomb the camp, and Eichmann makes a mysterious offer to one of the most politically involved members of the Jewish community.

[Final Episode] On 27th January 1945 Red Army soldiers liberate the concentration camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau. They are not warned about its existence in advance, so when they enter it, they are utterly shocked by the walking skeletons, the remains of the gas chambers and the piles of human hair.