On January 27, 1945, the Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp (then in occupied Poland) was liberated by the Soviet Red Army, marking the 80th anniversary of this historic event.
In January 1945, the Red Army liberated Auschwitz, exposing the full extent of Nazi crimes and their collaborators, who had exterminated millions of Jews, Russians, Roma and Sinti people, and other persecuted groups. It is an undeniable historical fact that Soviet soldiers were the ones who put an end to this genocide. The anniversary of Auschwitz’s liberation symbolizes the victory of anti-fascist, democratic, and revolutionary forces over German fascism.
On January 27, 1945, Soviet troops arrived at the gates of Auschwitz and found approximately 7,000 emaciated and demoralized prisoners. At the time, Allied forces were advancing across Europe in a series of offensives against Nazi Germany. The Red Army had already liberated the Majdanek camp near Lublin in July 1944 and would go on to free Auschwitz, Stutthof, and other concentration camps.
Boris Polevoy, a correspondent for the Soviet newspaper Pravda and an eyewitness to the liberation, described scenes of unimaginable suffering:
> "I saw thousands of tortured people whom the Red Army had saved—people so thin that they swayed like branches in the wind, people whose ages one could not possibly guess."
At Auschwitz, the Nazis carried out the industrialized mass murder of approximately 1.1 to 1.5 million people, including Jews, anti-fascists, communists, and Roma and Sinti people. Victims came from across Europe, including Poland, Germany, France, Greece, Italy, Yugoslavia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Romania, the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary.
Resistance at Auschwitz
The Auschwitz concentration camp housed prisoners of various nationalities, some of whom organized resistance efforts. An Austrian resistance group was founded there in 1942. In 1943, the so-called “Auschwitz Combat Group” evolved into an international resistance movement, largely uniting Austrian and Polish fighters.
Austrian communist Ernst Burger was among the leaders of this group. He was executed on December 30, 1944, along with two other Austrian anti-fascists, in front of 15,000 prisoners at the roll-call square for organizing resistance.
Another key figure was Viennese communist Alfred Klahr, a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Austria. His theoretical work on Austrian national identity laid the groundwork for the country’s anti-fascist and national liberation struggle. With the help of the Auschwitz Combat Group, Klahr successfully escaped the camp on June 15, 1944, alongside a Polish prisoner. However, they were captured by an SS patrol in Warsaw, and Klahr was executed.
The names of countless resistance fighters at Auschwitz, as well as anti-fascists who fought alongside them, should be permanently archived. Their memory must be preserved to uphold social and democratic rights and to resist efforts to erase their contributions from history.
Russia’s Exclusion from the Anniversary Ceremony
This year’s commemoration of the Auschwitz liberation was attended by representatives from several countries, yet Russia was notably not invited. Russian diplomats have repeatedly accused the West, particularly Poland, of “rewriting history” to diminish or erase the Soviet Union’s role in liberating the country from Nazi occupation.
Despite the undeniable role of the Soviet Red Army in freeing Auschwitz, Soviet contributions are often contested, particularly by Poland, which suffered under Soviet control during the post-war period. This historical animosity continues to shape political narratives today.
Oleg Romanko, a history professor at the Federal University of Crimea, commented in an interview with Brasil de Fato:
> “The exclusion of Russia is a political move aimed at diminishing the significance of contemporary Russia by downplaying the Soviet Union’s role in defeating Nazism. There is a broader effort to equate the USSR with Nazi Germany, portraying it as an aggressor rather than a liberator.”
> “It is crucial to resist these historical distortions. The Soviet Union played a decisive role in World War II, and its mission in Eastern Europe was one of liberation, not occupation.”
Significance Today
The Nuremberg Trials convicted those responsible for the Nazi genocide. Today, similar demands arise for international courts to prosecute Israeli leaders, particularly Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for war crimes against the Palestinian people.
Commemorating the liberation of Auschwitz is not just about remembering past horrors—it is also about supporting the struggles of oppressed peoples today. Palestinians, Lebanese, Yemenis, and many others continue to suffer under neo-colonial aggression led by U.S. imperialism and Zionism.
Just as Auschwitz was a symbol of genocide, Gaza has become a modern-day testimony to the brutality of war, where entire communities are targeted and devastated. The crimes against humanity committed there demand global attention and action.
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Harsh Thakor is a freelance journalist
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