Auschwitz

A Soviet soldier claims to have driven "his T-34 into the high, electric barbed-wire fence surrounding the Auschwitz death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland."

Units of the 322nd Rifle Division liberated Auschwitz on January 27, 1945.

Soviet rifle divisions did not have tanks. Though like U.S. infantry divisions, tank units may have operated with Soviet rifle divisions.

The Soviets took photos and films of the liberation. The Soviets were propagandists and as did official U.S. Army photographers and cameramen, staged photos.

A dramatic and historically significant moment as a Soviet tank driving into the electric barbed wire fences Auschwitz would have either been recorded or reenacted for still photos and videos.

No photos or films have been found of that event. No photo has been found of the destroyed section of the electric barbed-wire fence.

All photos of the electric barbed-wire fences at  Auschwitz at the time of liberation are intact.

The only source of the tank driving into the fence is from the soldier.

The account of a soldier driving his tank into the Auschwitz fences appears to a fabrication of Soviet propaganda and lacks any substantiation or corroboration.

As Auschwitz is the best known of the death camps, this type of error, inaccuracy or can be cited by Holocaust deniers and therefore is potentially very harmful.

Please share additional information and we will update this web page.
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All items not in the public domain Copyright 2026
The 45th Infantry Division in World War II: An Unofficial Guide to Resources

Administrators: Leonard H. Cizewski & Judy Erwin Branham

Constructed: February 24, 2026
Posted: February 24, 2026
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Updates, Revisions & Corrections History:
February 26, 2026



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