National Bank of Poland

100 Zloty

8

21

Gold 900°

8000

Proof finish

Robert Kotowicz

Mint of Poland

Obverse: At the top – a semicircular inscription “65. ROCZNICA OSWOBODZENIA” (65th anniversary of liberation). On the let – the image of the Eagle, established as the state emblem of the Republic of Poland. On the right – an inscription: “KLAUSCHWITZ/BIRKENAU”. Below – an inscription “100/ZŁ” and the notation of the year of issue “2010”. Over the Eagle – stylized images of three fence posts. In the background – a stylized image of the camp crematory and the outline of a building with the entrance gate. At the bottom – a semicircular inscription “RZECZPOSPOLITA POLSKA” (Republic of Poland). he Mint’s mark “M/W” – under the Eagle’s let leg. Reverse: Centrally – an image of a boy in a cap and a coat, with David’s star on the chest. In the background – a stylized image of a building at the entrance gate to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp and the rails leading to the camp. At the top – a semicircular inscription “FABRYKA ŚMIERCI”(death factory). Below an inscription “BIRKENAU”.

Auschwitz-Birkenau, German Nazi concentration and extermination camp was liberated on 27 January 1945 by the soldiers of the Red Army. In the autumn of 1941 in the nearby Birkenau village the Germans started the construction of the second part of the camp. This was where the majority of the extermination infrastructure was built – including gas chambers and crematoria. The total number of victims at Auschwitz amounted to ca. 1 100 thousand persons. Around 1 mn (90 %) were Jews. There were also 70–75 thousand Poles, 21 thousand Roma, 15 thousand Soviet prisoners and 10–15 thousand of prisoners of other nationalities who perished in the camp.