Originally, the National Socialists commissioned Auschwitz to hold Polish POWs and prisoners of conscience. An estimated 130,000 to 140,000 perished there due to starvation and inhumane treatment.
Another 15,000 Soviet POWs were also imprisoned there, a substantial
percentage of whom were in fact Ukrainians, according to the historical
context provided by Rutgers professor Alexander Motyl before a recent
screening of Marek Pawlowski’s “The Runaway” at the Ukrainian Institute
of America.
