Liberation of Nazi Camps: How the Holocaust Ended in 1945

The Holocaust ended with the liberation of Nazi concentration and extermination camps by Allied forces in 1944-1945. The first camps were uncovered in North Africa in 1943, where Allied troops found evidence of forced labor and persecution of Jews under Vichy French, Italian, and German policies. In Libya, the British Eighth Army liberated survivors from camps like Sidi Azzaz, Buq Buq, and Jado in January 1943. In Tunisia, Allied forces liberated about 5,000 Jews from camps in 1943. The Soviet Union's Operation Bagration, launched on June 23, 1944, led to the discovery of Majdanek on July 24, 1944, the first major extermination camp found by Allied forces. Soviet troops also liberated Treblinka, Belzec, and Sobibor, though these had been largely destroyed. On January 27, 1945, Soviet forces liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau, finding about 7,000 survivors. US forces liberated Buchenwald on April 11, 1945, followed by Dora-Mittelbau, Flossenberg, Dachau, and Mauthausen. British troops entered Bergen-Belsen on April 15, 1945, and the Polish 1st Army found Sachsenhausen on April 22, 1945, with Ravensbrück liberated on April 29, 1945. The liberation revealed the full extent of Nazi atrocities, leading to war crimes trials and eventual commemoration. In 2005, the UN declared January 27 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day, marking the anniversary of Auschwitz's liberation.