Picking flowers at Auschwitz

A summer stroll around a former concentration camp

Amanda Uren

1990

A little girl in her Sunday best stopping to pick wild flowers, which grow at the Auschwitz II-Birkenau concentration/extermination camp. Credit: Francois Le Diascorn/Rapho/Getty Images

The German Nazi concentration camp known as Auschwitz was located in the Silesian area of Poland annexed by the Third Reich. It was not a single site but instead comprised Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II–Birkenau and Auschwitz III–Monowitz, as well as 45 additional sub-camps.In September 1941, members of the German Nazi Party began exterminating Auschwitz prisoners. By the time of the camp's liberation, 70 years ago, on Jan. 27, 1945, more than 1.1 million prisoners had died at Auschwitz alone, 90% of whom were Jewish.In 1947, the camp was legally declared a memorial and museum by the Polish government, and in the decades that followed, it became a key symbol of the Holocaust. The following photos picture Polish community life around Auschwitz, circa 1990.

Young Polish girls with their mother taking a Sunday stroll through Auschwitz II-Birkenau concentration/extermination camp. Credit: Francois Le Diascorn/Rapho/Getty Images

A local couple just outside the Auschwitz II-Birkenau concentration/extermination camp. The young woman is expecting a child. Credit: Francois Le Diascorn/Rapho/Getty Images

A Polish woman on her bicycle leads her cow back home, passing by the watchtowers of Auschwitz II-Birkenau concentration/extermination camp. Credit: Francois Le Diascorn/Rapho/Getty Images

Two young girls have entered one of the Auschwitz II-Birkenau concentration/extermination camp barracks. Credit: Francois Le Diascorn/Rapho/Getty Images

A star of David has been placed in the compound of the Auschwitz II-Birkenau concentration/extermination camp. Credit: Francois Le Diascorn/Rapho/Getty Images

Credit: Francois Le Diascorn/Rapho/Getty Images