In an effort to restore rigorous scientific method to the study of the camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau, Annette Wieviorka, renowned Holocaust scholar, reconstitutes, step by step, the bare facts of its history. Relying upon the latest authoritative sources, she examines the selection of its location by Nazi officials, the circumstances of its construction, and its colossal expansion with the need to accommodate increasing numbers of prisoners. In doing so, she lingers on fundamental elements of the vast, machine-like enterprise of the destruction of the Jews.

This precise and fascinating study allows for a better understanding of the controversies and the stakes revolving around the memory of Auschwitz, especially the question of who exactly holds rights to it. In addition, important new information on the famed aerial photographs helps both scholars and readers draw new conclusions about how much was actually known about Auschwitz at the time by foreign leaders and the military.