By late 1944, the Red Army was close to Auschwitz. The SS blew up the gas chambers at Birkenau to hide what they had done. They also destroyed many other buildings and records. On 17th January 1945, the camps' SS guards started to leave Auschwitz. They forced more than 58,000 prisoners to march west to the cities Gliwice or Wodzilaw. At the arrival of these cities they were transported by trains to concentration camps in Germany. They left behind only those who could not march. About 38,000 prisoners died on the forced march.