In mid‑January 1945, the Red Army broke through the German lines. As Soviet units approached Cracow, about 70 km from Oświęcim, the Auschwitz authorities began the evacuation of prisoners to concentration camps in the depths of the Third Reich. From January 17 to 21, the SS marched about 56,000 prisoners out of the Auschwitz complex. The prisoners were forced to cover scores of kilometers of evacuation routes to be then carried onwards by rail. The SS murdered those who came to the end of their strength and could not go on and shot at escapees. At least nine thousand  Auschwitz prisoners perished in total during the evacuation.

The Germans left several thousand prisoners, mainly the sick and exhausted ones, in the camps. They were liberated by the Soviets on January 27, 1945.

(Mini dictionary of terms from the history of Auschwitz)