“You want soap?…use this!” Holocaust survivor Mike Jacobs holds a bar of soap that was made from ‘Jewish fat’, which in turn was provided to concentration camp prisoners in Auschwitz.” 
Holocaust survivor Max Glauben 
Photojournalist Tony Corso (Left) with Max Glauben who turned 94 years old two weeks ago. Max is still doing well at 94.
by HB Auld, Jr.
Photographs by Tony Corso: Paris, Texas, Photojournalist
Today marks the 77th anniversary of the Liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration and Extermination Camp.
The Camp was liberated by the Russian Red Army during the Vistula–Oder Offensive. Soldiers of the 60th Army of the First Ukrainian Front opened the gates of Auschwitz Concentration Camp for Liberation on January 27, 1945.
Many of the Jews died during the forced march to Auschwitz-Birkenau, but approximately 7,000 Jews remained in the Main Camp and the smaller surrounding camps when the Russian Red Army arrived at the gates. Soviet soldiers discovered the corpses of about 600 prisoners there who had been shot by withdrawing German SS soldiers or who had succumbed to exhaustion.
The photos here were taken by Paris, TX, photojournalist Tony Corso, during his coverage for The Holocaust Survivor Project in 2010. Thank you for your photographs, Tony.
For the black and white photo of Max Glauben above, Tony wrote:
“And then there is Max Glauben…the eternal optimist. I will always remember him sharing a story about a group he led back to Poland on his annual trips with college students (March of the Living) They were in the camp where his parents were killed. Apparently he had become separated from the group. The students heard someone whistling away in some cheerful tune and they were shocked that anyone could be so disrespectful to whistle like that in such a place.
“Lo and behold here come Max around the corner and it was him whistling. Someone asked him how he could whistling that in such a cheerful manner. His response: “This is where my parents were killed. If I didn’t whistle, I’d cry.”
Let us vow to never, EVER forget the horrors of all of these German concentration and extermination camps of World War II and the sacrifices that more than six million Jews made there.
hbauld's Weblog 