Liberation is typically characterized by the arrival of Allied forces. Interviewees tell of liberation from concentration camps, or during death marches, or may describe liberation upon emergence from hiding.

On the afternoon of January 27, 1945, the Red Army liberated Auschwitz, a complex of concentration and extermination camps. Although most of the prisoners were sent on a death march before the Soviet troops arrived, around 7,000 still remained at Auschwitz. The date of the liberation is recognized by the United Nations as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.