FAQs

As the Allied forces moved forward into Nazi-occupied territories towards the end of the Second World War, the Nazis tried to hide all evidence of their crimes. Early in 1945, the Nazis blew up the crematoria at Auschwitz-Birkenau and began to transport surviving prisoners of the camps deep into Germany.

Some prisoners were evacuated from the camps by train, often in open goods wagons, but most were force-marched hundreds of miles. Starving and weak, poorly clothed and with no proper shoes, they walked for weeks through snow and rain. Tens of thousands died from cold or hunger, or were shot for not keeping up.

Survivors were moved on again as the Allied advance continued. Their final destinations were to be Bergen-Belsen, Buchenwald, Mauthausen, Terezin and Ravensbrück, or one of their many sub-camps. The resulting overcrowding in these camps would cause many more deaths.

The Unspeakable exhibition and website serve as an opportunity to see together the very different artistic perspectives encompassed in the Imperial War Museum's collection of art relating to the Nazi persecution of the Jews of Europe.

The information in the FAQ pages contextualises some of the experiences portrayed within the artworks, but is not by any means a complete historical account of the events which occurred in Nazi-occupied Europe.

For more information, please visit the website for Imperial War Museum London's The Holocaust Exhibition, where you can find information about the exhibition, survivors' testimonies and a list of links for further enquiry.