Poland marks 85th anniversary of first deportation to Auschwitz

The observances in southern Poland earlier this month included a religious service at the St. Maximilian Centre in the village of Harmęże, near the former Auschwitz camp, state news agency PAP reported.

June 14, 1940, when the first transport of 728 Poles arrived from a prison in the city of Tarnów, is widely considered the date Auschwitz began operating.

Auschwitz was the first concentration camp established by the Germans after the outbreak of WW2 in the occupied Poland. 14 June 1940 is considered the date of its creation, as on that day, the first Poles were deported there from Tarnów – 728 prisoners. https://t.co/EcGssoqmge

— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) June 14, 2025

Among those attending were several Auschwitz survivors, including Janusz Rudnicki, who was deported to the camp during the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, according to the PAP news agency.

Auschwitz Survivors commemorated the 85th anniversary of the deportation of the first group of Polish prisoners to Auschwitz.

This marked the beginning of operation of this German Nazi concentration camp which later became also an extermination center.pic.twitter.com/RaRilZFaY7

— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) June 14, 2025

“This is my first time attending such a ceremony,” he told reporters. “I meet with young people from time to time to speak about Auschwitz, but what I share is just a drop in the ocean of what could be conveyed.”

June 14, 1940, is recognized as the date marking the beginning of the operation of the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz.

On that day, the Germans deported a group of 728 Poles from the prison in Tarnów to Auschwitz. Among them were soldiers of the… pic.twitter.com/5Cg0XjlLf8

— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) June 14, 2025

Auschwitz Museum Director Piotr Cywiński called the memory preserved by survivors “perhaps the greatest work of their lives” and a gift to new generations.

He added: “Every year on June 14, I think of those Polish survivors who have helped create this place of remembrance. It is thanks to them that we can reflect more wisely and maturely on our choices today.”

Piotr Cywiński, director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum. Photo: PAP/Łukasz Gągulski

In a homily during the Mass, Bishop Roman Pindel of the Bielsko-Żywiec Roman Catholic Diocese reflected on the infamous inscription on the camp’s gate, “Arbeit macht frei” (Work Sets You Free), contrasting it with the biblical message that “the truth will set you free.”

He described the Nazi slogan as a cynical distortion used to deceive and demoralize prisoners subjected to forced labour and inhumane conditions.

Inside a brick barracks for prisoners at Auschwitz II-Birkenau.

Sixty brick partitions, each with three levels of bunks, created 180 bunks, on each of which four people were to sleep. According to SS plans, each of these barracks was to house over 700 prisoners. Initially, these… pic.twitter.com/iKhAhlwWLk

— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) June 14, 2025

“Those who ended up in the camp quickly learned that the only true freedom came through death—through the chimney,” Pindel said.

He added that the slogan on the gate was a symbol of the ideological perversion and cruelty of the Nazi regime.

Following the Mass, survivors, government officials and local dignitaries laid wreaths and lit candles at the Death Wall in Auschwitz I, where many prisoners were executed.

The Polish national anthem was played in tribute, the PAP news agency reported.

On our YouTube page, we publish videos about the history of Auschwitz, footage of commemoration events, educational materials, webinars & podcast.

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Amplify our voice. We remember together. pic.twitter.com/BAW28OLrYH

— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) June 16, 2025

Earlier in the day, flowers were laid at a plaque on the former Małopolska State College building, where the first deportees were briefly held in a basement before the camp was ready.

If you want to deepen your understanding of the history of Auschwitz, we invite you to listen to the “On Auschwitz” podcast.

Visit https://t.co/ny0q0taFlV to listen to all episodes, access full transcripts, and find links to podcast platforms.

Each episode explores a different… pic.twitter.com/J1TIgCSiDK

— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) June 17, 2025

On June 14, 1940, Nazi Germany sent the first group of Polish prisoners—including soldiers, resistance members and youth activists—to Auschwitz. Of the 728 deported, only 239 are known to have survived the war.

The crematorium at Auschwitz I was set up by the SS in a pre-war military storeroom. It became operational on 15 August 1940.

See a short video about its history: https://t.co/ACCJJYkJ1B pic.twitter.com/YHEzdgJwYf

— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) June 17, 2025

In total, around 150,000 Poles were imprisoned in Auschwitz. Half were killed there or later in other camps.

17 June 1943 | SS-Hauptsturmführer Josef Mengele officially began his duties as a camp doctor in Auschwitz (Lagerarzt).

He was responsible for criminal experiments on Roma and Sinti prisoners, as well as twins, mainly Jewish.

Listen to our podcast about Josef Mengele:… pic.twitter.com/BRhXTM59rz

— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) June 17, 2025

Auschwitz became the largest Nazi death camp, where more than 1.1 million people—mostly Jews—were murdered, along with Poles, Roma, Soviet POWs, and others.

The building of the first crematorium and morgue of the camp.

In the fall of 1941, the morgue at Auschwitz I was turned into the first homicidal gas chamber of the camp. In the crematorium, heat-resistant fire channels were placed under the floor and in the ground, running a… pic.twitter.com/2fR7oRTJN2

— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) June 16, 2025

The camp was liberated by Soviet forces on January 27, 1945.

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Join us… pic.twitter.com/ZTER3HGNiz

— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) June 18, 2025

In Poland, June 14 is observed as the National Day of Remembrance for the Victims of German Nazi Concentration Camps and Death Camps.

14 June 1940 | The Germans deported 728 Poles (incl. over a dozen of Polish Jews) from Tarnów to #Auschwitz. This date is the beginning of the operation of this concentration camp. Learn the history of this transport in our @googlearts exhibition: https://t.co/eFNYPdgWjV pic.twitter.com/fpzWsyjxwt

— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) June 14, 2025

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Source: IAR, PAP

Poland marks 85th anniversary of first deportation to Auschwitz

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