Escape from Auschwitz: Prisoner who managed to flee the Nazi death camp is seen alongside fellow inmates in newly-colourised images released to mark 75th anniversary of the prison's liberation

  • January 27 marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by troops from the Soviet Red Army 
  • Some 1.3m people - largely Polish Jews - were sent to the camp between 1942 and 1944, and 1.1m killed
  • Guards sometimes took pictures of prisoners , including Roma gypsy Vinzent Daniel - who staged a daring escape after just a month - and four-year-old Istvan Reiner, who was gassed alongside his grandmother
  • Before Soviet troops could liberate the camp in 1945, most prisoners were sent on death marches elsewhere  

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Haunting images of prisoners taken as the entered Auschwitz have laid bare the horrifying reality of the Nazi's 'final solution' on the 75th anniversary of the death camp's liberation by Soviet troops.

Among those pictured are Vinzent Daniel, a Roma gypsy who was sent to the camp in April 1942 after being arrested in Prague, then escaped a month later by running through a drained pond and into nearby woods.

Other prisoners recalled how he stripped off his striped jacket and cap as he ran, and was last seen wearing nothing but his underwear as he vanished into the trees. His ultimate fate is still unknown.

Another image shows four-year-old Istvan Reiner smiling and clutching a hole-punch as his photograph is taken on the way to Auschwitz, where he was sent to the gas chambers and killed alongside his grandmother. 

In total, 1.3million people - largely Polish Jews but also other minorities and political prisoners - were transported to Auschwitz between 1942 and late 1944, of which 1.1million died. The camp was liberated on January 27, 1945.

Artist Marina Amaral painstakingly colourised some of the portraits for her Faces of Auschwitz series, while fellow artist Tom Marshall also contributed to this collection.

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Vinzent Daniel was born on August 15, 1919, in the village of Smrčná in Czechoslovakia. After being arrested in Prague by the criminal police he was deported to Auschwitz on April 29, 1942. In the camp, he received number 33804 and was registered as a Czech, though he was of Roma origin

Vinzent Daniel
Vinzent Daniel

Starting in December 1942 and lasting until July 1944, around 23,000 Roma and Sinti gypsies were deported to Auschwitz under the orders of Heinrich Himmler. 2,000 of those were killed on arrival without being entered into camp records. Of the remaining 21,000, 19,000 of them died of disease, mistreatment by camp guards, or were killed in the gas chambers

Vinzent Daniel was assigned to a work crew at a chemical plant within Auschwitz, and spent around a month there before staging an escape attempt on May 27, 1942. Witnesses said he ran across a field and through a drain pond into a nearby forest. He stripped off his striped uniform as he ran, and was last seen heading into the trees in his underwear. His fate is unknown

Vinzent Daniel was assigned to a work crew at a chemical plant within Auschwitz, and spent around a month there before staging an escape attempt on May 27, 1942. Witnesses said he ran across a field and through a drain pond into a nearby forest. He stripped off his striped uniform as he ran, and was last seen heading into the trees in his underwear. His fate is unknown

Vinzent Daniel

Vinzent Daniel was born on August 15, 1919, in the village of Smrčná in Czechoslovakia. After being arrested in Prague by the criminal police he was deported to Auschwitz on April 29, 1942. In the camp, he received number 33804 and was registered as a Czech, even though in fact he was of Roma origin. 

In 1940, shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War, a conference was held in Berlin where it was decided that all Roma and Sinti gypsies were to be deported from Germany to occupied Poland where they were held in camps and ghettos intended for Jews.

The Nazis ruled that Roma were to be considered enemies of the Third Reich because they were 'racially alien, inferior and asocial'.

In 1942, Heinrich Himmler issued an order that all Roma should be sent to the concentration camps, with most sent to a specially-designed Roma camp at Auschwitz. In total, 23,000 Roma were transported to Auschwitz - of which 2,000 were murdered without entering the camp, and 19,000 more died of disease or in the gas chambers.

Vinzent Daniel was assigned to a work crew at a chemical plant within the camp. Around a month after his arrival there - on May 27, 1942 - he attempted to escape by sprinting across a field, through a drained pond, and into a nearby forest.

Witnesses said Vinzent stripped off his striped prison suit as he ran, and was last seen in his underwear running into the forest. To this day his fate remains unknown. 

Istvan Reiner
Istvan Reiner

Istvan Reiner, aged four, photographed in either 1943 or 1944, shortly before being deported to Auschwitz along with his mother Livia Reiner and his grandmother. Upon arrival at the camp he was separated from his mother and sent with his grandmother to the gas chambers, where he died. Livia was assigned forced labour, but survived the war and later emigrated to the United States

Istvan Reiner 

Istvan Reiner was born in Hungary to a Jewish father - Bela Reiner - and his wife Livia in 1940. Hungary allied with Nazi Germany in the early stages of the Second World War, and in an attempt to avoid persecution Bela converted to Protestantism. Istvan was never circumcised and was not a practicing Jew. 

Some time between 1943 and 1944, an Austrian officer with the German army was sent to live with the Reiner family in order to decide their fates. After his stay was over it was decided the family would be sent to the Miskolc ghetto.

Bela tried to have Istvan sent to Budapest to live with an aunt, but she refused - despite the boy technically being Christian, she did not want to risk being accused of hiding a Jewish child. 

The family avoided the ghetto for a time by offering to work as labourers on a nearby farm, two weeks later they were moved to the ghetto.

From there, Bela and his step-son Janos - from Livia's first marriage - were sent to the to the Jolsva labor camp on the Slovak border. Janos escaped during transport and survived the war by living with relatives. Bela also survived the camp.

Livia, Istvan and the boy's grandmother were all deported to Auschwitz. At some point along his journey, Istvan was given a prison uniform and a hole punch to play with before being photographed.

At Auschwitz, he was separated from his mother who was sent to a forced labour camp. Istvan was placed into the care of his grandmother, and both were sent to the gas chambers.

Livia also survived the war, and was liberated at either Bergen-Belsen or Mannheim. She later emigrated to the US.

Victim: Czesława Kwoka, 14, is pictured in Auschwitz shortly after being beaten up by a prison guard because she did not understand orders being barked at her in German
Detained: Czesława Kwoka and her mother had been deported from their homes and taken to Auschwitz as the Nazis wanted to make room for a German 'colony'
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'Political prisoner': Czesława Kwoka, 14, was deported from Zamość, southeastern Poland in December 1942, along with her mother, to make room for a German colony that the Nazis were building. The photographs, taken by a fellow inmate at Auschwitz show the teenager on the verge of tears, her bottom lip sporting a cut. Shortly before they were taken, she had been beaten up by a female prison guard because she did not understand what the guard was shouting in German. Miss Kwoka died in March 1943, just three months after arriving at Auschwitz, weeks after her mother Katarzyna

Young victim: The teenager was taken along with her mother, and her defiant stare into the camera after being assaulted by a guard is even more haunting in colour

Young life lost: The teenager, seen here looking off camera in her prisoner's uniform with a red 'P' triangle stitched onto the chest, died in the camp within three months

Young life lost: The teenager, seen here looking off camera in her prisoner's uniform with a red 'P' triangle stitched onto the chest, died in the camp within three months

Czesława Kwoka

Czesława Kwoka, 14, was deported from her home in Zamość, southeastern Poland in December 1942, along with her mother, to make room for a German colony, and branded 'political prisoners' - seen on her prisoner's uniform which has a red triangle with a 'P'.

The photographs show her on the verge of tears, her bottom lip sporting a cut, as shortly before the photos were taken, she had been beaten up by a female prison guard for not understanding orders being barked at her in German.

Miss Kwoka died in March 1943, just three months after arriving at Auschwitz, weeks after her mother Katarzyna. 

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Katarzyna Kwoka was born on 1 April 1896, in Wolka Zlojecka, Poland. She was the mother of Czeslawa Kwoka and they both arrived at Auschwitz on 13 December 1942. Katarzyna was given prisoner number 26946, and died on 18 February 1943 from unknown causes. She was a Catholic Pole.

Katarzyna Kwoka
Katarzyna Kwoka

Roman Catholics were reviled by the Nazis, who believed they could not be both loyal to the Fatherland and the Roman Catholic Church. Jesus's Semitic roots were also a cause of suspicion for the Nazi regime

Katarzyna and her daughter were sent to the camp in 1942 from their home in Zamość, southeastern Poland, to make way for a German colony. She died after just two months at the camp from unknown causes, three week before her daughter perished

Katarzyna and her daughter were sent to the camp in 1942 from their home in Zamość, southeastern Poland, to make way for a German colony. She died after just two months at the camp from unknown causes, three week before her daughter perished

Katarzyna Kwoka

Katarzyna Kwoka, 43, is the mother of Czesława and was deported from Zamość, southeastern Poland, at the same time as her in December 1943 and sent to Auschwitz designated 'political prisoners' - as shown by the red triangle on their jackets.

The pair were Roman Catholics, who were persecuted by the Nazis because of the belief that they could not be loyal to both the Fatherland and the Roman Catholic Church.

The both arrived at Auschwitz on December 13, around the time this photograph was taken. Katarzyna died three months later, followed by her daughter who died three weeks after that. 

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Iwan Rebałka was just 17 years old when he was sent to Auschwitz from his home in Syrowatka, in what was then known as Russland and is modern-day Ukraine. He was a member of the Greek Orthodox Church and was designated a Russian political prisoner by his Nazi captors - one of an estimated 1,500 such prisoners sent to the camp

Iwan Rebałka
Iwan Rebałka

Iwan was working as a milkman when he was arrested and sent to Auschwitz in August 1942. He died at the camp seven months later, with his cause of death officially listed as perinephric abscess, though this information was false

Iwan was killed by a phenol injection to the heart on March 1, 1943, along with 82 other boys aged between 13 and 17 by SS-Unterscharführer Scherpe. Phenol injection was the favoured method of execution introduced at Auschwitz by 'camp doctor' Josef Klehr, who in 1943 was head of the 'disinfection squad'

Iwan was killed by a phenol injection to the heart on March 1, 1943, along with 82 other boys aged between 13 and 17 by SS-Unterscharführer Scherpe. Phenol injection was the favoured method of execution introduced at Auschwitz by 'camp doctor' Josef Klehr, who in 1943 was head of the 'disinfection squad'

Iwan Rebałka 

Iwan Rebałka was just 17 years old when he was sent to Auschwitz from his home in Syrowatka, in what was then known as Russland and is modern-day Ukraine. 

He was a member of the Greek Orthodox Church and was designated a Russian political prisoner by his Nazi captors - one of an estimated 1,500 such prisoners sent to the camp.

Iwan was working as a milkman when he was arrested, and died at Auschwitz five months later on March 1, 1943. 

His cause of death was listed as perinephric abscess - an abscess near the kidney - though this information was false. In fact he was killed via a phenol injection to the heart by SS-Unterscharführer Scherpe, one of 82 boys aged between 13 and 17 who were executed this way at the same time.

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Aron Lowi was a Polish Jew who was born in April of 1879 in Dulowa, Poland. At the time of his arrest he was living in Zator where he was married and working as a merchant. Prior to being sent to Auschwitz, he was locked in Tarnow jail

Aron Lowi
Aron Lowi

Lowi was aged 62 when these images were taken on his arrival at Auschwitz on March 5, 1942, where he was registered as prisoner number 26406. He appears emaciated in his photo and has a split lip and large facial bruise - possibly gained during his time at Tarnow jail

Lowi's prisoner number was listed among those who had died on March 10, just five days after being interred at Auschwitz. No cause of death was given

Lowi's prisoner number was listed among those who had died on March 10, just five days after being interred at Auschwitz. No cause of death was given

Aron Lowi

Aron Lowi was a Polish Jew born in Dulowa in 1879 who was working as a merchant in the town of Zator alongside his wife as the war broke out. He was arrested on an unknown date and locked up in Tarnow jail.

He arrived in Auschwitz on March 5, 1942. By the time he got to the camp, where these photos were taken, he was emaciated, had a split lip and large facial bruise - likely got during mistreatment by guards at Tarnow.

Records show his prisoner number - 26406 - listed among the dead on March 10, just five days after his arrival. No cause of death was given.

Heroine: Janina Nowak, 24, became the first female prisoner to escape Auschwitz, and she evaded capture for nine months before she was arrested and sent back to the concentration camp
Survivor: She was sent to another concentration camp in Germany, and was liberated in 1945
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Heroine: Janina Nowak, 24, from Łódź, arrived in Auschwitz on June 12, 1942. Twelve days later, she became the first female prisoner to escape, when she ran away from a work party sent outside the camp walls. SS guards had been sent out to try to track her down, but they failed, and the 24-year-old Pole made it back to her home town where she successfully hid from the Nazis for nine months, until March, 1943, when she was captured and brought back to Auschwitz by authorities. Miss Nowak was soon transferred to Ravensbrück, an all-female concentration camp in northern Germany, 56 miles north of Berlin. She survived her incarceration, and was liberated at the end of April 1945 by the Soviet Red Army

Prisoner: It is not clear why Miss Nowak, a Polish woman from a town 140 miles from the Nazi concentration camp, is sent to Auschwitz, but she is registered as part a group transport which arrived in June, 1942

Brave: The colourisation is carried out after meticulous research by Miss Amaral, which has found the likely colour of Miss Nowak's eyes to have been  blue and her hair to have been blonde

Brave: The colourisation is carried out after meticulous research by Miss Amaral, which has found the likely colour of Miss Nowak's eyes to have been blue and her hair to have been blonde

Janina Nowak

Janina Nowak, from Będów near Łódź, was 24 years old when she arrived at the German Nazi camp on June 12, 1942. Twelve days later, she became the first female prisoner to escape Auschwitz, running away from a work party sent outside the camp, and the guards failed to catch her. She was able to make it all the way to her home town of Łódz where she successfully hid from the Nazis until March, 1943.

She was captured and brought back to Auschwitz, before being transferred to Ravensbrück, and all-female concentration camp in northern Germany, 56 miles north of Berlin, where she stayed until  liberation at the end of April 1945 by the Soviet Red Army.

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Murdered Witness:  Deliana Rademakers, a 21-year-old Jehovah's Witness from the Netherlands, was arrested while preaching her faith door-to-door, and deported to Auschwitz in November, 1942. In a final letter to her family and congregation she wrote; 'go bravely onwards without fear, Jehovah is with us, what can (mere) people do to us?' According to her death certificate, Deliana died in Auschwitz on 10 December, 1942 - less than three weeks after her arrival.

Lest we forget: The colourised images bring out the details of the haunting images, such as the hacked shaving of her hair

Killed for her faith: Mere weeks after this photograph of the young Dutchwoman was taken, she was dead

Killed for her faith: Mere weeks after this photograph of the young Dutchwoman was taken, she was dead

Deliana Rademakers 

Jehovah's Witness Deliana Rademakers from the Netherlands, was 21 when she was deported to Auschwitz in November, 1942, having been arrested going door to door to preach her faith. 

In a final letter to her family and congregation she wrote; 'go bravely onwards without fear, Jehovah is with us, what can (mere) people do to us?' According to her death certificate, Ms Rademakers died in Auschwitz on 10 December, 1942 - less than three weeks after her arrival.

Hundreds of Jehovah's Witnesses died in Auschwitz as their faith prevented them from serving in the army, carrying out work supporting the war effort, or praising the Nazi leader with 'Heil Hitler' - crimes punishable by imprisonment or death.

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Holocaust victim: Salomon Honig, a Jewish man from Jasło, southeastern Poland was deported to Auschwitz on March 5, 1942, along with a group of 27 Polish Jews some time before the mass exterminations in gas chambers began. Less than two weeks later, on March 18, he died, aged 52, with the Nazis claiming his cause of death was a stroke. This was likely a lie as the SS camp chiefs would usually try to hide the true reasons for the deaths in the concentration camp.

One of millions: The heartbreaking images of the 52-year-old merchant, detained by the Nazis for his faith, is one of several colourised by the Brazilian artist for the Faces of Auschwitz project

Hitler's final solution: Dressed in the striped prisoner's uniform with a white and red Star of David, Mr Honig has less than two weeks to live when this photograph was taken

Hitler's final solution: Dressed in the striped prisoner's uniform with a white and red Star of David, Mr Honig has less than two weeks to live when this photograph was taken

Salomon Honig

Salomon Honig, a Jewish man from Jasło, southeastern Poland was deported to Auschwitz on March 5, 1942 along with a group of 27 Polish Jews some time before the mass exterminations in gas chambers began.

Less than two weeks later, on March 18, he died, aged 52, with the Nazis claiming his cause of death was a stroke. However, as Ms Amaral notes, this was likely a lie as the SS camp chiefs would usually try to hide the true reasons for the deaths in the concentration camp.

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A converted Catholic: While Norbert Gluszecki was born Jewish he chose to convert to Catholicism, along with most of his family. Unfortunately this did little to protect them from the radical persecution of Jews during World War Two

Within weeks of this portrait being taken it is likely Norbert Glluszecki was dead
Norbert Glluszecki was dead was given the number 29801 upon his arrival at the concentration camp

 Prisoner 29801: Within weeks of this portrait being taken it is likely Norbert Glluszecki was dead. The official cause of death was an obstruction to his intestine. However, the Nazis often falsified records of death meaning what was recorded may not be the reality

An issue of race: While Norbert was born Jewish, he and his family chose to convert to Catholicism at some stage before they were captured. However, Germans still viewed Jews who converted to Catholicism as Jewish, because the Nazis believed being a Jew was an issue of race, not religion or self-identity. He died in the camp in May 1942

An issue of race: While Norbert was born Jewish, he and his family chose to convert to Catholicism at some stage before they were captured. However, Germans still viewed Jews who converted to Catholicism as Jewish, because the Nazis believed being a Jew was an issue of race, not religion or self-identity. He died in the camp in May 1942

Norbert Gluszecki 

Nobert 'Israel' Gluszecki, was born on November 27, 1886 in Podwolocyzka, near Tarnopol, a pre-war Polish city that is today part of Ukraine. He was one of those with a 'non-Jewish' name, who under the Nuremberg Laws, anti-semitic and racial laws in Nazi Germany was required to add Israel (or Sara if a woman) to their given names. 

He was taken to Auschwitz, along with his sons in April 1941. There he was given his new identity, number 29801. While he was born Jewish, Gluszecki had converted to Catholicism at some point before he was taken into the concentration camp with his sons.

Unfortunately this did nothing to protect them from being taken to the camp where they later died. 

In 1941 a number of Roman Catholic communities were willing to convert Jews as a way of helping them escape victimisation. But, Germans still viewed Jews who coverted as Jewish. For the Nazis being Jewish was not about religion or self-identity, but about race - which a person could not change. 

Gluszecki's death certificate listed his cause of death as ileus, a painful obstruction of the ileum in May 1942 - just weeks after he was captured. The Nazis frequently falsified causes of death - so it is unlikely the officially recorded cause of death was actually the truth. 

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The Polish Actor: August Kowalczy was born in Southern Poland in 1921. At the start of World War II he wanted to join the polish army in France, but was arrested on his way west, while travelling through Slovakia in December 1940

While in Auschwitz the young Pole was forced to work alongside his fellow prisoners
The young man was made to unload construction materials, build chemcial plants and dismantle the bombed synagogue in Oswiecim

While in Auschwitz the young Pole was forced to work and joined other prisoners who unloaded construction materials, built chemical plants and dismantled the bombed synagogue in Oswiecim

Hiding in plain sight: After two years in captivity August Kowalczyk managed to escape and hid in a nearby forest and a field of grain where some civilian Polish women found him. They disguised him in female clothes and took him to a secure hiding place. He hid in an attic for seven weeks until he obtained fake identification documents and managed to get to Krakow to join the Polish Home Army

Hiding in plain sight: After two years in captivity August Kowalczyk managed to escape and hid in a nearby forest and a field of grain where some civilian Polish women found him. They disguised him in female clothes and took him to a secure hiding place. He hid in an attic for seven weeks until he obtained fake identification documents and managed to get to Krakow to join the Polish Home Army

August Kowalczyk

August Kowalczyk was a theater, film and television actor born in Southern Poland in 1921 - one of few prisoners who escaped from Auschwitz.

When World War II started, Kowalczyk wanted to join The Polish Army in France formed under the command of General Władysław Sikorski. However, he was arrested while traveling West through Slovakia and deported to Auschwitz- Birkenau in December 1940.

His inmate number was 6804. While there he was forced to work alongside other prisoners, unloading construction materials, building plants, dismantling the local synagogue and houses of expelled Poles. 

In June 1942, he managed to flee captivity into a nearby forest where he was helped by local Polish women. They dressed him in women's clothing, and took him to a nearby attic where he hid until he managed to get hold of some false identification papers.   

He made his theater debut in November 1945 and worked as an actor until 1962 when he became the director of the Adam Mickiewicz Theater in Częstochowa (1962-1966) and the director of the Polish Theater in Warsaw (1968-1981). He retired in 1981. 

After retiring he devoted the rest of his life to educating youth about the Holocaust and the concentration camp. He died in July 2012. 

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Jailed for his sexuality: Walter Degen was born on January, 4, 1909 in Mörchingen ( a former German town now located in French territory) – between 1871 and 1918. He was registered as having arrived in Auschwitz in August 1941 - as a homosexual and German political prisoner

As a homosexual, German political prisoner, Degan was registered under prisoner number 20285 in 1941
Degen can be seen in this portrait which clearly depicts the pink-coloured triangle that marked someone as an 'asocial parasite' who 'endangered the morality and purity of the German race'

The newly coloured portraits clearly depict the pink-coloured triangle that marked someone as an 'asocial parasite' who 'endangered the morality and purity of the German race'

The crime of homosexuality: Prisoners like Walter Degen were arrested under Paragraph 175 which stated that homesexual acts between males were a crime. The Nazis arrested an estimated 100,000 homosexual men, 50,000 of whom were imprisoned in concentration camps. It is unclear what happened to Degen

The crime of homosexuality: Prisoners like Walter Degen were arrested under Paragraph 175 which stated that homesexual acts between males were a crime. The Nazis arrested an estimated 100,000 homosexual men, 50,000 of whom were imprisoned in concentration camps. It is unclear what happened to Degen

Walter Degen 

Walter Degen, a locksmith by trade was transported to Auschwitz with a group of 20 others from various towns around Europe. Walter Degen was registered both as a homosexual and a German political prisoner on August 29, 1941.

In Auschwitz, prisoners of German nationality designated by a pink triangle were arrested under Paragraph 175 of the German criminal code as “asocial parasites” for “endangering the morality and purity of the German race”. 

The Nazis arrested an estimated 100,000 homosexual men, 50,000 of whom were imprisoned in concentration camps. At least 77 prisoners of Auschwitz were said to have been persecuted for their homosexuality, of which at least 43 died.

Homosexuals were among the most abused groups in the camps.

It is unclear if Degen survived.

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Peaceful resistance: Seweryna Szmaglewska worked in one of the hospitals in Piotrków Trybunalski as a volunteer nurse following the German occupation of Poland. She was engaged in illegal education and in 1940 she joined a student resistance organisation that run an underground library of Polish literature.

 

Ms Szmaglewska can be seen with her raggedly shaved head after being arrested for her involvement in the resistance
She was one of 47 women transported from a prison in Radom to Auschwitz in October 1942

Imprisoned for her conviction: Ms Szmaglewska can be seen in this coloured portrait shortly after her arrest with a raggedly shaved head. She was one of 47 women transported from a prison in Radom to Auschwitz in October 1942

A story of survival: Seweryna Szmaglewska escaped from an evacuation transport near  Wodzisław Śląski on January 18, 1945. Immediately after this she began to write her memoirs - one of the first personal tales out of the concentration camps. Her books depict the horrors that went on inside Auschwitz, including the cruelty of the SS, the torture of slave labour and how the human spirit rallied in the face of what appeared to be a very bleak future

A story of survival: Seweryna Szmaglewska escaped from an evacuation transport near  Wodzisław Śląski on January 18, 1945. Immediately after this she began to write her memoirs - one of the first personal tales out of the concentration camps. Her books depict the horrors that went on inside Auschwitz, including the cruelty of the SS, the torture of slave labour and how the human spirit rallied in the face of what appeared to be a very bleak future 

Seweryna Szmaglewska

Seweryna Szmaglewska was born on 11 February 1916 in Przygłów near Piotrków Trybunalski in central Poland. Before the war she studied psychology and literature and became a teacher. After the German occupation of Poland she worked in a local hospital as a volunteer nurse, and was engaged in illegal education. In 1940 she joined a student resistence organisation running an underground library of Polish literature. 

Her involvement in the resistance movement saw her arrested by the Gestapo and taken to a prison in Radom, before being transported with a group of 46 other women to Auschwitz in 1942.   

She escaped from an evacuation transport near Wodzisław Śląski on January 18, 1945, and after finding freedom began to write her memoirs - one of the first personal books detailing what went on in Auschwitz. 

The book exposes not just her personal story, but also the reality of life under the cruelty of the SS, torture of slave labour, constant humiliation, death and how the human spirit rallied even in the face of what appeared to be a very bleak future.  

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A lone prisoner: Gersz Zysking was born November 17, 1913, in Łódź, Poland. Little is known about his life outside of the concentration camp, his family or other loved ones. His life inside was brief, the 28-year-old died mere weeks after this photo was taken

Zysking died only a few weeks after this photo was taken
This photo shows a young man with eyes likely filled with terror as he faced the unimaginable horrors of life with the Nazis in power

Prisoner 39178: Official records show that Gersz Zysking died at the age of 28 just a few weeks after his incarceration in the concentration camp. The photograph shows eyes that had likely seen unimaginable horrors in his relatively short life

A life of hardship and horror: There is little information available on the life of this young man who died inside the Nazi camp, no-one has been able to establish what he did for a living, who he loved, or what dreams he had for his future. All that's left are these sober images that show a man as he faced an unimaginable nightmare at the hands of the Nazis

A life of hardship and horror: There is little information available on the life of this young man who died inside the Nazi camp, no-one has been able to establish what he did for a living, who he loved, or what dreams he had for his future. All that's left are these sober images that show a man as he faced an unimaginable nightmare at the hands of the Nazis

Gersz Zysking 

Gersz Zysking was born November 17, 1913, in Łódź, Poland and registered as a prisoner in Auschwitz on June 9, 1942. 

He was given number 39178. 

His time inside was brief - official records showed he died on August 4, 1942—a little over a month from the time that he was incarcerated and a few months short of his 29th birthday.

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A pianist and a Jew: Maria Schenker was born in was born in Cracow, Poland, on March 20, 1913. Very little else is known about her life barring the fact that she was Jewish and made her living as an office clerk, but was also a pianist

The mark of the yellow star: The Yellow Star of David can be seen vividly in the coloured versions of these portraits taken of Ms Schenker at Auschwitz.
The yellow star can be seen - the trademark symbol of a Jew

The mark of the yellow star: The Yellow Star of David can be seen vividly in the coloured versions of these portraits taken of Ms Schenker at Auschwitz. Initially imprisoned in Helclow, a women's only facility in Cracow, she was later moved into Auschwitz along with 127 other Polish women - of whom at least 25 were said to be Jewish - in April 1942

Death behind the walls: Prisoner 6842, as she became known, Maria Schenker died after four months of constant fear, forced labour and living on the brink of starvation in August 1942

Death behind the walls: Prisoner 6842, as she became known, Maria Schenker died after four months of constant fear, forced labour and living on the brink of starvation in August 1942

Maria Schenker was born in Cracow, Poland, on March 20, 1913. Very little else is known about her beyond the fact that she was Jewish and had made her living as an office clerk before the war. She was, records showed, a pianist as well. 

The Jewish woman, of Polish descent, was sent to Auschwitz in April 1942, only to die four months later after being subjected to constant fear, forced labour, and living on the brink of starvation in August 1942.   

Jews, like Ms Schenker, had lived in Poland for 800 years before the Nazi occupation. On the eve of Germany's conquest of Poland they numbered 3.3 million - 10 per cent of the total population.  

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A student: Seweryn Głuszecki was a student born on June 19, 1925. He was only 17 when he died inside Auschwitz

The 17-year-old can be seen being forced to hold his head upright for the portrait
The student, of whom little else is known, was given the number 29803

Selwyn, a teenage student, of whom little else is known, was given the number 29803 when he entered Auschwitz

Born in August 1925, the young student, of whom little else is known, died in Auschwitz one day after turning 17 on June 20, 1942

Born in August 1925, the young student, of whom little else is known, died in Auschwitz one day after turning 17 on June 20, 1942

Seweryn Głuszecki

Seweryn Głuszecki was a student whow born on 19 June 1925. His records do not indicate where, or to whom. He received number 29803 at Auschwitz, and later died, a day after his 17th birthday on June 20, 1942. 

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The face of innocence: Jozefa Glazowska was born on March 19, 1930, in the village of Sitaniec, near Zamosc, in Poland. Along with her parents and a group of around 370 people, Józefa was expelled from her village on December 6th, 1942 to make way for the state-sponsored settlement of the ethnic German Volksdeutsche

Jozefa Glazowska was deported to Auschwitz in a transport of 318 women and children who arrived in the camp on December 13, 1942
Both of this young girl's parents were killed at Auschwitz, making her, like many others an orphan of the war

A child victim: Jozefa Glazowska was deported to Auschwitz in a transport of 318 women and children who arrived in the camp on December 13, 1942. She was deported along with her mother, who was killed in a gas chamber in February 1943. Her father, who was taken to Auschwitz separately, was also killed leaving the young girl an orphan 

Experimented on: While in the camp, the young girl was experimented on by the Nazis who often used prisoners as guinea pigs in an effort to find answers to medical mysteries

Experimented on: While in the camp, the young girl was experimented on by the Nazis who often used prisoners as guinea pigs in an effort to find answers to medical mysteries

Jozefa Glazowka   

Jozefa Glazowka was born on March 19, 1930 in the village of Sitaniec, near Zamość. Along with her parents and a group of around 370 others she was expelled and deported to Auschwitz - one of the hundreds of victims of Aktion Zamosc. 

The term referred to what was being carried out as part of a greater plan under the Nazi regime - the forcible removal of the entire Polish populations to make way for the state-sponsored settlement of the ethnic German Volksdeutsche.  

Both her parents were killed in the camp - rendering her one of the many war orphans during this period. While in the cam Jozefa herself was experimented on by Nazi scientists and doctors.  

Such experimentation was said to have been done by numerous German physicians, in an effort to improve the health of soldiers, postwar populations and to reinforce the bases of racial ideology.   

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The face of resistance: Witold Pilecki was a reserve officer in the Polish Army born 13 May 1901 in Olonets, Russia. He was arrested on 19 September 1940, after deliberately entering an area of Warsaw where the German Army was conducting a roundup of Polish civilians. His plan was to infiltrate the camp and organise a resistance movement from within

Wiltold Pilecki was sent to Auschwitz and was registered with number 4859
The polish officer had been arrested with false papers and was registered under the fake name Tomasz Serafinski

Defiance in the face of the Nazi regime: Wiltold Pilecki was sent to Auschwitz and was registered with number 4859. He had been arrested with false papers and was registered under the fake name Tomasz Serafinski

Fighting from within: Pilecki created a new organization inside of the camp called the Union of Military Organization this merged with another organization operating behind the camp’s walls. This resistance organisation aimed to help the morale of prisoners by gathering news from the frontline, organising the delivery of needed supplies and devising escape plans

Fighting from within: Pilecki created a new organization inside of the camp called the Union of Military Organization this merged with another organization operating behind the camp’s walls. This resistance organisation aimed to help the morale of prisoners by gathering news from the frontline, organising the delivery of needed supplies and devising escape plans

Witold Pilecki 

Witold Pilecki was a reserve officer in the Polish Army born 13 May 1901 in Olonets, Russia. he intentionally got captured to infiltrate Auschwitz and establish a resistance movement.  

As early as 1941, Pilecki’s reports informed the Western Allies of the atrocities being committed at the death camp, from where he organised a resistance movement.  After almost three years inside, the soldier escaped, eventually making it to Warsaw where he presented an extensively detailed report concerning resistance activities and the disposition of prisoners in Auschwitz. 

 In August 1944, Pilecki was captured in the wake of the Warsaw Uprising’s collapse and was charged in 1948 for a number of espionage charges; and the attempted assassination of Polish officials. he was sentenced to death in May 1948.

It was not till years after his death that the Polish soldier's heroics became more widely known. 

  • Faces of Auschwitz is a collaboration between Marina Amaral and the Auschwitz Museum

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