The death toll given by the Soviets was 4 million people. This number was written on the plaques in the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.
Most of the -Birkenau camp victims were Jews from almost every country in Europe and Poles who died in gas chambers or in the result of forced labor, starvation or 'medical' experiments. The camp was started by Nazi Germany formally for polish poltical prisoners. But soon it showed it's real aim and became an implement to the Nazi policy of spoliation, degradation and extermination of the Jews.
As many people use the expression 'Polish death camp', it can bring misleading that Poles were initiators of this concentration camp. To avoid that, the government of Poland started a campaign in 2004 against falsification of history and two years later a campaign for changing the name by UNESCO.
As the result of polish activity on the 28th of June, 2007, the United Nations World Heritage Committee announced that the official name "Auschwitz Concentration Camp" was changed into "Auschwitz Birkenau. German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp?.
