Photos: Remembering the horror of Auschwitz 70 years after liberation

A red rose tribute — A red rose left in tribute to victims is attached to a barbed wire fence at the Auschwitz II Birkenau extermination camp in Poland.
Christopher Furlong / Getty Images

Ceremonies marking the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the infamous concentration camp are taking place today. An estimated 300 Holocaust survivors will lay wreaths and light candles at the so-called Death Wall to mark the camp's liberation, and remember those who never left.

Auschwitz was a network of concentration camps built and operated in occupied Poland by Nazi Germany during World War II. At Auschwitz I and nearby Auschwitz II-Birkenau, an estimated 1.1 million people — mostly Jews from across Europe — were killed in gas chambers or from systematic starvation, forced labor, disease and medical experiments.

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Sunrise over a fence — The sun rises over the electrified fence of the Auschwitz II Berkenau extermination camp on Nov. 11, 2014, in Oswiecim, Poland.
Christopher Furlong / Getty Images

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Survivor Sam Pivnik, left, and camp sign — Survivor Sam Pivnik, left, now 88, was 14 yeas old when he and his family were forced to march to Auschwitz by the Nazis. His father, mother, two sisters and three brothers were all killed in the gas chamber. A barbed wire fence, right, surrounds the Auschwitz I camp. The camp is now a museum.
Christopher Furlong / Getty Images

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Photos: Remembering the horror of Auschwitz 70 years after liberation

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