Located approximately 50 km west of Kraków,
the Auschwitz complex of camps encompassed a large industrial area rich
in natural resources. There were 48 camps in all. The three main camps
were Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II-Birkenau, and a work camp called
Auschwitz III-Monowitz, or the Buna. Auschwitz I served as the
administrative center, and was the site of the deaths of roughly 70,000
people, mostly ethnic Poles and Soviet prisoners of war. Auschwitz II
was an extermination camp or Vernichtungslager, the site of the deaths
of at least 960,000 Jews, 75,000 Poles, and some 19,000 Roma. Auschwitz
III-Monowitz served as a labor camp for the Buna-Werke factory of the IG
Farben concern.