The camp, on the outskirts of the Polish town of Oswiecim, was set up by the Nazis in 1940. Hitler had invaded Poland and the Germans renamed the town Auschwitz.

In the beginning, Auschwitz was meant mainly to confine Polish rebels who the Nazis considered to be a threat to their occupation. The Polish prisoners were subjected to horryfying treatment and within 20 months more than 10,000 prisoners died.

But more, unparalleled horrors were unleashed on January 20, 1942, at the Wannsee conference in Berlin. The Nazis came up with the 'Final Solution' for Jews -- mass murder.

During 1942 about 2,00,000 Jews were sent to Auschwitz from all over Europe. About 70 percent of them were murdered on arrival.

File photo of children prisoners at Auschwitz.

Photograph: Keystone/Getty Images