marcin noras: basically, we are dealing with evidence of a crime.sophy adopted by the museum that this is evidence of a crime, one of the largest crimes in world history. malcolm: the conservators are working on 8,000 children's shoes, a fraction of the 120,000 in the auschwitz collection. marcin noras: preserving these objects, this evidence is about preserving the memory of the victims of the crime, preserving their identity often. malcolm: in all, 1.5 million children were murdered during the holocaust; 235,000 perished here at auschwitz-birkenau. frequently, children were the first to be exterminated because the nazis believed they were too weak to be forced to work and were a waste of food. eighty years ago, the air here was heavy with the stench of death, but not anymore. over time, the ashes of the children have been absorbed into the earth, and they are beneath my feet and beneath the feet of millions who walk past this drawing of an orchestra serenading slave laborers beneath the sign "work sets you free.” the victims of auschwitz have no g

malcolm: historian marcin noras has been working for two years, preserving shoes belonging to the exterminationictims. >> the leather itself is pretty resilient when it comes to the passage of time. metal, however, is our main issue. metal starts corroding. that corrosion triggers the degradation process as in everything else. malcolm: although auschwitz was turned into a museum a year after being liberated by the soviet red army in january 1945, it remains a crime scene. >> basically, we are dealing with evidence of a crime. this is the philosophy adopted by the museum that this is evidence of a crime. one of the largest crimes in world history. malcolm: the conservators are working on 8000 children's shoes, a fraction of the 120,000 in the auschwitz collection. >> preserving these objects. this evidence is about preserving the memory of the victims of the crime, preserving their identity. malcolm: in all, one of the half million children were murdered during the holocaust. 235,000 perished here. at auschwitz, birkenau . frequently, children were the first to be exterminated because the nazis