Auschwitz II, also known as Birkenau, was a major extermination camp established by the Nazis during World War II. Located near the town of Oświęcim in Poland, it became the largest site of the Holocaust, where over a million people, primarily Jews, were murdered. The camp was designed to facilitate mass killings, with gas chambers and crematoria built to dispose of the bodies. Opened in 1941, Auschwitz II expanded rapidly to accommodate the influx of prisoners. It included barracks for forced laborers and facilities for the systematic extermination of those deemed undesirable by the Nazi regime. The camp was liberated by Soviet forces in January 1945.