Can you visit Auschwitz today?

Most people might have heard about World War II and the infamous German Nazis who were popular for ‘exterminating’ people. It can be one of your worst nightmares that can give you countless sleepless nights. One of the worst affected countries during World War II was Poland. 

The German Nazis had their most notorious concentration camps located in Southern Poland near Krakow. The ruins of the concentration camps now remain as a painful and tragic reminder of Poland’s bitter history. It has now been converted into a museum and a memorial to those who had lost their lives in the gruesome acts of world history.

Visiting the place can be a moving as well as an educational experience. Auschwitz-Birkenau, also known as the Auschwitz concentration camp is one of the largest German Nazi concentration camps and death camps. This museum attracts around 2 million visitors every year. It is also one of the most popular day trips opted by the tourists from Krakow. You may also visit this place as a part of your Krakow city tour.

 

History of Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camps

All of this began as the German Nazis took a Polish army base in the town of Oświęcim. It was then turned into a concentration camp that practiced mass murder on an industrial scale.

Auschwitz-Birkenau has three major parts – Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II-Birkenau, and Auschwitz III-Monowitz. Auschwitz-I is one of the buildings which was a part of the former military base that was opened in 1940 as a detention center to hold the prisoners, especially Polish political prisoners. 

It soon became a concentration camp where mass exterminations were carried out. Auschwitz II-Birkenau was opened in 1941 to keep up with the increasing number of prisoners and Jews who were being deported to Auschwitz. Auschwitz-Birkenau turned into the primary site of the German Nazis’ ‘final solution to the Jewish problem’.

It is estimated that around 1.3 million people were sent to Auschwitz and out of these, around 1.1 million people died. Most people who were deported were sent to the Gas chambers. Those who didn’t die in these chambers died of starvation, medical experimentation, forced labor, and infections. Most people who got killed were Jews, Poles, Hungarians, gypsies, and anyone else who caught the attention of the German Nazis. By January 1945, Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated, as the Soviet troops arrived.

 

How Ghastly & Impactful Were the Camps?

Auschwitz-Birkenau was one of the two German Nazi camps where they were used for two purposes – one was mass incarceration of slave labour and for the mass extermination of people in the gas chambers. The camps as well as the gas chambers were very active during 1942 and 1944. As many as 120,000 prisoners in the area worked as slaves in the concentration camps. The prisoners were the sole witnesses and victims of the gory and heinous act of torture and mass extermination. By the end of the camp, most of the inmates had gotten killed or were transferred. However, an estimate is that in 1945, tens and thousands of Auschwitz survivors were alive in various parts of Poland and Germany. The people who were alive had their own stories and experiences to share. They wrote books and chronicles about their lives in the camp. Their voices helped the world know about such heinous activities that shook the world.

Auschwitz-Birkenau became synonymous with the Holocaust. There were other German-Nazi camps such as Belzec, Sobibor, etc. that had received lesser attention when compared to Auschwitz as the purpose behind it was mass extermination. The other camps were just temporary structures and were hidden in the forests far away from Western Europe. The sole function of the Auschwitz camp was to kill as many Jews from German Nazi-occupied Poland as possible and they were designed to be dismantled once the task was a success.

It is now one of the best-preserved former Germany Nazi concentration camp as well as an extermination camp. Most of the camp structures remain intact and house artifacts like original documents of the victims’ property, shorn hair and so on. If you happen to visit this museum, you can see the buildings, imprisonment sites, execution areas, and thousands of preserved objects. The visual aids can help you imagine the place back in time.

The buildings and objects offer material proof of the crimes that were committed which is particularly important. In Auschwitz, the visitors are allowed to enter the crematorium Gas Chamber and explore the inside of a gas chamber and see the cremation ovens. One of the two such German Nazi-built structures stands today. Visitors can see the well-preserved sites as it is preserved as a museum. Don’t forget to add the Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp to your must-visit list during your Poland tour.

 

Auschwitz

The original camp had started as Polish army barracks that were later converted into a prison camp in 1940. It was meant for political prisoners. On the entrance gate, you can see the words ‘Arbeit macht frei’ (‘Work will set you free’) carved. It was a horrifying irony that many people went inside the camp but never came out.

There are rows of brick huts. Each of them had a different function. Hut 20 was known as a so-called hospital which was more of a lab where the prisoners were used as guinea pigs and were experimented with different ways of killing them. Hut 11 was a prison within a prison where the guards would bring in more horrific ways to torture the prisoners who had rebelled – by starvation, suffocation, or by forcing them to stand in a tiny one-cell metre square for days. The most heart-breaking of all is the piles of belongings – a huge stack of suitcases, cups, bowls, and shoes that people had brought with them when they thought that they were being sent away to work and would be going home someday.

You can also find an eerie pile of glasses, human hair, and wooden legs. By taking people’s clothes, belongings and shaving off their hair helped the German Nazis to strip them of their humanity. However, when you walk along the hut corridors, you can see the lines of faces looking at you as, during the early days, the new arrivals in the camp were photographed and recorded. This practice was stopped as the number of people grew and it was tough to keep up with the same.

 

Birkenau

Most Poland tours, especially the Auschwitz-Birkenau tours begin with the original Auschwitz camp and then moves on to Birkenau which is also known as Auschwitz II. This is the largest of the three main Auschwitz camps that were built in 1941. It was built to accommodate around 200,000 prisoners as the original camp was too overcrowded.

Birkenau is situated over 225 acres of barren landscape with watchtowers and barbed wire fences that stretch off into the distance in each direction. It was the extermination camp where the Nazis had industrialised death by building around four gas chambers to do the heinous crime of eliminating Jews as efficiently as possible. There is a railway track that runs right through the middle of the site. The trains would arrive here that carry prisoners from all around Europe. The guards used to select who would live and who would die from here. Fit people would be sent to work in the camp. The sick and the elderly were taken to the gas chamber to get ‘exterminated’. Most of the buildings here in Birkenau were destroyed in 1945 when the Nazis tried to hide the evidence of what they had done, from the Soviet army that was behind them.

Visiting this place will get you thinking. Your mind would try to figure out what had happened here back in the day. It was here that most of the machinery for mass extermination was established that murdered millions of Jews. Most people feel numb and too emotional to handle the sight.

Planning Your Visit

You should set aside a minimum of 90 minutes from your schedule to visit each of the concentration camps. Also, visit both parts of the camp (Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau) to get a clear idea of the place that is the symbol of the Holocaust as well as German Nazi crimes against the Poles, Romans, and other groups of people. Most of the buildings and the grounds of the Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau sites are now open to visitors. But visitors are restricted from accessing certain buildings such as the blocks reserved for museum administration and its various departments. It’s important to adhere to all the rules and regulations that you are expected to follow.

Getting to Auschwitz – Birkenau Concentration Camps

Most people visit Auschwitz-Birkenau during a day trip to Auschwitz from Krakow. This site is located 75 kilometres west of Krakow. You can get to the Auschwitz – Birkenau concentration camps by car, bus, or train. The closest town to Auschwitz is Oświęcim.

Opting for a tour to Auschwitz from Krakow would be the most convenient and expensive option. If you decide to join a tour (public or private), the transportation charges and the visit to the place would be covered. The tour organizers would arrange the transportation and guided tour of Auschwitz. 

Booking Tickets for the Tour

During the offseason, you can book tickets for the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp tour on the same day or the previous day. However, during the peak season we recommend, you book your tickets at least two weeks in advance to avoid the last-minute rush or in case the tickets get sold out.  You can check the availability of the tickets by following the link https://www.rosotravel.com/tour/krakow-tours/skip-the-line-auschwitz-birkenau-camp-tour-with-transport/