OSWIECIM, Poland (AP) — Animal-shaped stencils a mother made from a concentration camp shoe and gave to her son for Christmas are among items in a new permanent exhibition at the Auschwitz museum, located on the site of the largest Nazi death camp.
Other items on display as officials unveiled the exhibition Friday included a paper bag for holding cement that was used as thermal underwear, and drawings made in secret by prisoners. The objects, detailing the everyday experiences of Auschwitz prisoners, were displayed in blocs 8 and 9 of the former Nazi concentration camp.
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FILE - The sun lights the buildings behind the entrance of the former Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim, Germany, Dec. 6, 2019. (Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)
FILE - The railway tracks where hundred thousands of people arrived to be directed to the gas chambers inside the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz Birkenau, or Auschwitz II, are pictured in Oswiecim, Poland, on Dec. 7, 2019. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, file)
Photographs from prisoners personal file cards displayed in its new permanent exhibition at the Nazi death Camp Auschwitz in Oswiecim, Poland, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Rafal Niedzielski)
A photojournalist takes photos of sketches made by survivors after their liberation from Auschwitz and displayed near a whip, used in the Camp, in its new permanent exhibition at the former Nazi Death Camp Auschwitz in Oswiecim, Poland, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Rafal Niedzielski)
Magdalena Urbaniak, the exhibition's coordinator, said it was difficult and painful to imagine what the woman went through when she crafted the stencils from a shoe.
“It’s hard to describe this feeling, we can’t even understand this situation, the extreme situation in which this mother found herself in the camp, what emotions she experienced to do something for her child, to lift his spirits and contribute to his survival,” she said.
The new exhibition illustrates elements of the camp routine from the morning gong, through washing, meals and forced labor to evenings in the camp barracks. It gives visitors a glimpse into the feelings experienced by prisoners, from extreme hunger and cold to fear and hopelessness.
“Witnesses are passing away, the world is changing, technologies are changing, and new generations are emerging, requiring a new approach to the subject," Andrzej Kacorzyk, the deputy director of the Auschwitz museum, told The Associated Press. "Hence the need to portray humanity, the need to portray this individual fate.”
Nazi Germany built more than 40 concentration, labor and extermination camps at this location in occupied Poland during World War II.
The Nazis established the Auschwitz I camp in 1940 to imprison Poles, while Auschwitz II-Birkenau was opened two years later and became the primary site of the extermination of Jews during the Holocaust.
Nazi German forces ultimately murdered some 1.1 million people at the complex.
While most of the victims of the Holocaust were Jews killed on an industrial scale, Poles, Roma, Soviet prisoners of war, gay people and others were also targeted for elimination.
The museum operating today on the site of the former Auschwitz camps was established in 1947 and is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The museum is currently in the process of changing its permanent exhibition, which had been in place for decades. Officials say the idea is to reflect new knowledge about Holocaust history as well as the evolving demographic of visitors.
The new permanent exhibition is being built on the ground floors of six blocks of the former Auschwitz I camp. The first phase of the museum’s modernization is complete with the opening of the exhibition in blocks 8 and 9.
A second phase, including an exhibition dedicated to the Holocaust in blocks 6 and 7, will be finalized in 2027. The third and final stage, represented by an exhibition describing the camp as an institution, located in blocks 4 and 5, is scheduled for completion in 2030.
FILE - The sun lights the buildings behind the entrance of the former Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim, Germany, Dec. 6, 2019. (Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)
FILE - The railway tracks where hundred thousands of people arrived to be directed to the gas chambers inside the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz Birkenau, or Auschwitz II, are pictured in Oswiecim, Poland, on Dec. 7, 2019. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, file)
Photographs from prisoners personal file cards displayed in its new permanent exhibition at the Nazi death Camp Auschwitz in Oswiecim, Poland, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Rafal Niedzielski)
A photojournalist takes photos of sketches made by survivors after their liberation from Auschwitz and displayed near a whip, used in the Camp, in its new permanent exhibition at the former Nazi Death Camp Auschwitz in Oswiecim, Poland, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Rafal Niedzielski)
Iranian fired drones towards Saudi Arabia and Kuwait early Tuesday as U.S. President Donald Trump sent contradictory signals about how long the war could last, fueling uncertainty that’s causing markets to swing.
The Saudi Defense Ministry said it has destroyed drones over the kingdom’s oil-rich eastern region, while in Kuwait, the National Guard said it shot some down in the county’s northern and southern areas.
Iran’s latest attacks on neighboring Gulf States come as Trump late Monday told Republican lawmakers that the war was likely to be a “short excursion,” but hours later threatened in a post on social media that the U.S. would dramatically increase attacks if Iran tried to close the Strait of Hormuz.
In an apparent response to Trump’s remarks published in Iranian state media, a spokesperson for the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Ali Mohammad Naini, said “Iran will determine when the war ends.”
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Amin Nasser, the president and CEO of Aramco, said the firm remained “focused on safety and meeting our commitments.”
“That situation continues to evolve, and the safety of our people and our operations remain our highest priorities,” Nasser said.
He did not immediately elaborate on any effects from the war on the company’s output.
Nasser hinted at global oil markets being squeezed the longer the Iran war goes on and shipments from the Mideast being affected.
“Given the current geopolitical situation, we may see inventories eroding and being drawn down faster as shipments are being curtailed from the region,” he said. “This is at a time when current global spare capacity remains extremely low.”
That likely could push the price per barrel globally even higher, translating to higher costs for gasoline and jet fuel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Tuesday that Israel will continue striking Iran.
“Our aim is to bring the Iranian people to cast off the yoke of tyranny, ultimately it depends on them,” Netanyahu said during a meeting with Israel’s hospital and health system leaders.
“But there is no doubt that with the actions taken so far, we are breaking their bones,” he said.
Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told government agencies and state companies to begin having staff not in public facing roles to work from home.
The government said Tuesday that Thailand was also suspending overseas training and study trips.
The announcement comes as countries in Southeast Asia move to counter disruptions to oil and gas supplies from the war in the Middle East.
The Vietnamese government ordered similar measures, but also urged people to limit private use of their vehicles.
Fuel prices have climbed and long lines have formed outside filling stations as drivers and motorcycle riders rush to ensure they can fill their tanks.
Iran’s parliament speaker on Tuesday dismissed any suggestion Tehran sought a ceasefire in the war.
“We are definitely not looking for a ceasefire; we believe that the aggressor should be punched in the mouth so that he learns a lesson so that he will never think of attacking our beloved Iran again,” Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf wrote on X.
“The Zionist regime sees its shameful existence in the continuation of the cycle of ‘war-negotiation-ceasefire and then war again’ to consolidate its dominance. We will break this cycle,” he wrote.
The Israeli military said Tuesday it killed three Palestinians in Gaza late Monday.
The Palestinians approached Israeli troops near the temporary line that Israel withdrew to at the start of the October 2025 ceasefire. The Yellow Line marks the Israel-controlled area in eastern Gaza.
Since the start of the ceasefire, at least 80 Palestinians have been killed near the Yellow Line after the Israeli military accused them of approaching and endangering soldiers.
Israel’s military said it detected an Iranian missile launch targeting the country Tuesday morning.
Sirens were heard in Jerusalem and explosions could be heard in Tel Aviv as Israel’s military worked to intercept the fire.
India’s oil ministry has set up a committee to review supplies of commercial cooking gas as the hospitality sector experiences a shortage of liquefied petroleum gas cylinders.
India relies heavily on oil and gas shipped through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has attacked several ships in the strait and threatened any ships that try to pass through, effectively closing it.
Industry groups in India say restaurants in some major cities including Mumbai and Bengaluru are struggling to secure cooking gas cylinders. They warn some eateries could shut within days if supplies are not restored.
Indian authorities have prioritized LPG supplies for household use, tightening availability for commercial users such as hotels and restaurants.
Azerbaijan has sent humanitarian aid to Iran, Azerbaijani officials said Monday.
The aid includes 10 tons of flour, six tons of rice, more than two tons of sugar, over four tons of water, about 600 kilograms of tea and about two tons of medicines and medical supplies, according to officials.
The move comes after tensions spiked between Baku and Tehran last week when Azerbaijan accused Iran of firing drones at its Nakhchivan exclave, an allegation Tehran denies.
Azerbaijan also has increased military and economic ties with Israel.
Iran’s judiciary is warning its local media about what and how it reports as the war with Israel and the United States goes on.
That was a comment made by judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir as reported by the state-run IRNA news agency.
It said Jahangir said local outlets “that did not comply with security issues and had taken videos and photos of certain places solely for the purpose of informing were given the necessary warnings.”
“If this happens again, the necessary legal measures will be taken,” he said, without elaborating.
Iran has shut off the internet during the war and may be restricting reporting to hide what has been struck so far.
Turkey’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday the Patriot missile defense system is being deployed in Malatya province, which hosts a NATO radar base.
The move follows NATO defenses intercepting a second ballistic missile fired from Iran that entered Turkish airspace Monday.
The Israeli military on Tuesday reiterated the call for all residents of southern Lebanon to evacuate their homes as it planned to “operate forcefully” in the southern area against Hezbollah.
Israel issued similar warnings during its war with Hezbollah in 2003-2024, displacing hundreds of thousands of people.
The Iraqi military has condemned an attack early Tuesday on a camp for an umbrella of Iranian-backed groups in northern Iraq.
The airstrike on 40th Brigade of the Popular Mobilization Forces in the city of Kirkuk killed five and wounded four, according to two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.
The military described the strikes as “a blatant targeting of Iraq.”
Iraq for years has had to walk a tightrope between the U.S. and Iranian-allied Shiite groups, including some that are part of the government.
The Israeli military said Tuesday it had completed a series of strikes targeting Hezbollah’s financial arm, al-Qard Al-Hasan.
Israel says Hezbollah uses al-Qard al-Hasan to finance its military activities.
Israel targeted several of the group’s branches in southern and eastern Lebanon last week.
Saudi Arabia’s oil giant Aramco reported 2025 profits of $104 billion, down from the year before as the Iran war has seen its fields and facilities targeted.
Aramco released its annual results Tuesday. It planned to brief investors later in the day as the war that began Feb. 28 has seen Iranian drones and missiles target its facilities.
Aramco, formally known as the Saudi Arabian Oil Co., reported profits of $110 billion in 2024.
Aramco said its 2025 revenues were $445 billion, down from $480 billion in 2024.
The United Arab Emirates will lower the volume of missile alerts sent to mobile phones in the overnight hours.
The UAE’s National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority made the announcement late Monday night, saying that the loud blaring alarm would sound on phones from 9 a.m. until 10:30 p.m.
A standard text message chime would sound from 10:30 p.m. until 9 a.m., it said.
The blaring klaxon had sounded in the middle of the night since the war began Feb. 28. The change in the alerts signals how Gulf Arab states are trying to adjust to the idea of the war grinding onward as there’s no immediate sign of an end to the conflict.
Egypt hiked fuel prices by up to 17% on Tuesday as the war in the Middle East sent prices of oil soaring.
According to the Petroleum Ministry the cost of a liter of diesel, which is heavily relied on for public transport, increased by more than 17%. The price of the 92-octane gasoline rose by 15% and 95-octane gasoline increased by 14%.
The war has hit Egypt hard. The most populous Arab country, Egypt depends heavily on imported fuel. The Egyptian pound fell to a record low, trading at over 52 to the US dollar on Monday.
To mitigate impact of the war, the government announced a series of measures, including reducing official overseas trips and tightening fuel consumption across sectors.
The paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said on Tuesday that the end of the war will be determined by Iran.
Spokesperson Ali Mohammad Naini said in a statement published in various Iranian state media and apparently in response to Trump’s remarks Monday that “Iran will determine when the war ends.”
The U.S. president pledged aggressive action against Iran if it continues to block the shipment of oil in the Strait of Hormuz.
“If Iran does anything that stops the flow of Oil within the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit thus far,” Trump posted on social media. “Additionally, we will take out easily destroyable targets that will make it virtually impossible for Iran to ever be built back, as a Nation, again — Death, Fire, and Fury will reign upon them — But I hope, and pray, that it does not happen!”
The president said his threat was a “gift” to China, among other nations, because it relies on oil from the Middle East.
Flames rise from an oil storage facility south of the capital Tehran as strikes hit the city during the U.S.–Israel military campaign, Iran, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iraqis hold a portrait of the new successor to Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei at a bridge leading to the fortified Green Zone where the U.S. embassy is located in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
A coffin is carried during the funeral of mostly children killed in a strike Feb. 28 at a girls' elementary school in Minab, Iran, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (Abbas Zakeri/Mehr News Agency via AP)
This image taken from video provided by Iran state TV shows Mojtaba Khamenei, a son of Iran's slain supreme leader, who has been named as the Islamic Republic's next ruler, authorities announced Monday, March 9, 2026. (Iran state TV via AP)
