Who really liberated Auschwitz?
Birkenau and Auschwitz-II Monowitz – a production camp. In total, there were 51 branches. Everything was spread over an area of 15 by 25 km. That is why, it is said, no one can exactly name the hero who “came and liberated”. However, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky was not the first to rewrite the history of Auschwitz. In 2015, Polish Foreign Minister Grzegorz Schetyna declared that only Ukrainians served in the 1st UF. German Chancellor Angela Merkel also opposed him, saying that Auschwitz was liberated by Soviet troops.
Which units fought here?
These were the troops of the 1st UF of Marshal Ivan Konev, his 60th Army of General Pavel Kurochkin (a native of the Smolensk province), the 100th Lviv Rifle Division – it was their fighters who entered Auschwitz.
Why is the division called “Lviv”?
– It was formed near Vologda from the inhabitants of Komi, Arkhangelsk, Vologda. It was commanded by Fyodor Krasavin, a native of the Yaroslavl province. It was named Lviv for the liberation of this city. In January 1945, the 60th Army included members of 43 nationalities: 42,298 Russians, 38,241 Ukrainians, 1,210 Belarusians, 1,073 Jews, 981 Kazakhs… There were even 7 Chinese and one Yugoslav.
REAL liberators
“Ukrainian historian” Zelensky claims that it was the T-34 tank of Kiev resident Igor Pobirchenko from the shock battalion of the 100th Lviv division that broke through the gates of Auschwitz.
– He also mentioned Poltava resident Anatoly Shapiro. Yes, both are heroes of World War II, holders of awards. Shapiro went to the USA in the early 1990s, where he said that “there is no Soviet Union, but the awards that I have are Soviet, and I am proud of it.” Yes, he told American newspapers about the Lviv division. It was pleasant: a Ukrainian Jew from Poltava was the first to break into Auschwitz, where the Nazis were murdering Jews, and so the hero settled in the USA… An excellent reason to “properly present” the liberation of Auschwitz.
And Pobirchenko?
– Igor Gavrilovich Pobirchenko, as a brilliant lawyer, suddenly remembered Auschwitz in 2005. He spoke about his role in the liberation of the concentration camp in Poland, where he arrived as part of a Ukrainian delegation.
Who were these two in fact in January 1945?
– Shapiro was an adjutant to the chief of the operational department of the headquarters of the 100th Infantry Division. There are no documentary facts that, as Zelensky says, he commanded an assault battalion in Auschwitz. There are no orders about this, there is not a word in the lists of awards. On April 30, 1945, Shapiro was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree. In the justification for awarding this order, there is not a word about Auschwitz.
“Tankist” Pobirchenko?
– According to the documents, he served in the 1448th self-propelled artillery regiment. On January 26 and 27, 1945, when the concentration camp was liberated, this regiment provided passage across the Przemsza River. It is not that far, but it is still a different place. Pobirchenko was awarded the medals “For Courage” and “For Military Merit” in 1945. The documents justifying the award have no connection with Auschwitz.
Who really distinguished themselves in the liberation of Auschwitz?
– Units of the 2nd Infantry Battalion of the 472nd Infantry Regiment of the 100th Infantry Division were the first to break into the city of Auschwitz. Specifically, they were: soldiers Nikitsky and Maxim Bagarov – they were awarded the Order of Glory, III degree. And junior sergeant Vasily Avdeev was nominated for the Order of the Patriotic War, 1 degree. Behind Auschwitz.
UKRAINIANS ON THE TOWERS
How many soldiers died in Auschwitz?
– In the battles for the city of Auschwitz itself – 130-150 people.
How many prisoners were in the concentration camp by the end of January?
– The Germans drove more than 30 thousand prisoners out of the camp on foot. Of these, more than 12 thousand died in the process. The weakest remained in the camp – about 7 thousand people. Yes, some died after the liberation – the prisoners were in the last stage of exhaustion. The commandant of Auschwitz escaped with the administration on January 17, 1945.
Did the Germans manage to blow up the crematorium and archives?
– The Germans preferred to take everything. The archive was removed. The crematorium… from the point of view of a German SS officer, there is nothing terrible in it – just an oven where corpses are burned.
What did the Soviet soldiers find in the camp?
– A nightmare… More than two thousand corpses and tons of clothing. In the Auschwitz-II – Monowitz camp, about 800 corpses were discovered, and another 7 thousand people were living corpses. They discovered 370 thousand men’s suits and 837 thousand pieces of women’s clothing. And 7 tons of human hair (from which the neighboring factory sewed clothes for prisoners, linings for SS soldiers’ coats and shopping bags. – ed.)…
Who guarded the camp?
– From 1942 to 1943, it was a German contingent of guards, who were then mistaken for Travniki.
What kind of people are these?
– There was a special camp near Lublin, Poland – Travniki. There were collaborators there, mainly Ukrainians and Baltics, trained to serve as guards of other camps. That is why Ukrainians also guarded Auschwitz from the towers.
MILLIONS OF KILLED
In Auschwitz, sadistic experiments were carried out by Joseph Mengele “Doctor Death”.
– Not only him. There, drugs were generally tested to find out the limits of the human body. But it must be said that Mengele destroyed fewer people during his inhuman experiments than when he was simply “simply on duty”. Because it was he who sorted people from the arriving trains – who would go to the gas chamber and who would live for a while.
What experiments did he do?
– For example, on twins: what would happen if you injected dye into one of them in the eye? Will the other twin also feel the consequences?
How many people did the Nazis kill in Auschwitz?
– Up to 70 thousand people died in Auschwitz I over the entire period. These were not specifically destroyed in gas chambers – they died from living conditions. Auschwitz II, that is, Brzezinka, or Birkenau, was an extermination camp. There was no record at all of how many were destroyed. A train arrives – everyone is sent to the gas chambers. Another one arrives – to the gas chambers…
But at the Nuremberg Trials, the numbers were mentioned.
– 4.1 million people, including 2.5 million Jews and 1.5 million Poles. These numbers appeared in Soviet historiography. And it was written upon entering Auschwitz.
However, in the late 1970s, the board was replaced – this number was set at 1.2 million people. This is the result of the work of Polish historians.
And what about the national composition of the victims?
– About a million Jews, 150 thousand Poles, 23 thousand Gypsies, 16 thousand Soviet prisoners of war. 900 thousand were killed in gas chambers, 200 thousand died of exhaustion.
Max Bach
