The Liberation of Auschwitz

1945 footage in DVD format

A full version of documentary footage connected with the liberation of Auschwitz Concentration Camp has appeared on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of liberation. The DVD contains all the footage shot by Soviet cameramen after the liberation of Auschwitz on January 27, 1945.

It shows the Auschwitz site immediately after the arrival of soldiers from the Red Army First Ukrainian Front, liberated prisoners, the corpses of victims, and Soviets collecting evidence of Nazi crimes. Some of this footage was used as evidence during the Nuremberg trial of Nazi war criminals.

The footage is interwoven with an interview with Aleksander Vorontzov, a Soviet cameraman who accompanied the Red Army and shot most of this material. A commentary describing the selection and extermination process, medical experiments, and the everyday life of prisoners in Auschwitz accompanies the original images.

Directed by Irmgard von zur Mühlen, this film was released in 1985 to mark the 40th anniversary of liberation. The commentary on the DVD takes into account the latest findings by researchers on the history of Auschwitz.

The DVD features narration in 12 languages, including Yiddish, Hebrew, and Judeo-Hispanic. It has been released jointly by CHRONOS-MEDIA GmbH in Berlin and the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.