Concentration camp in Auschwitz, 2014 (photo)

A view of the main entrance gate with the writing 'Arbeit macht frei' (lit. work sets (you) free) at the main camp of Auschwitz concentration camp in Oswiecim, Poland, 12 December 2014. Tens of thousands of prisoners and P.o.Ws were marched through this gate from May 1940 onwards until the liberation of Auschwitz by Soviet troops on 27 January 1945. Around 400000 prisoners were registered, the majority, however, who were selected on the ramp and sent to the gas chambers, remained unregistered. Reputable statistics say, that around 1.5 million people from all over Europe were either murdered in the camps or died of starvation and diseases. After its liberation the camp was turned into a memorial site and museum in 1947. The camp has been since 2007 a listed UNESCO heritage site, official titled as 'Auschwitz-Birkenau - German national socialist concentration and extermination camp'.