Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Visit

If visiting Kraków, it makes the ideal jumping off point for learning about one of the worst concentration camps from World War II. Auschwitz-Birkenau is just an hour and a half from Kraków with frequent buses, trains, and tours. I of course chose the bus route complete with buying an individual ticket and guided tour upon arrival.

The first thing you do upon arrival is go through security where they claimed my purse was too big and had to be checked into the luggage room. I was rather annoyed as a) my purse was not larger than their dimensions b) it was much smaller than other purses, backpacks, and all being carried around c) checking my passport, iPad, etc. into a luggage check of this mass size kind of terrifies me, but alas I don’t make the arbitrary rules, so I went and checked it in with the Icing being that of course it’s a paid luggage check – go figure.

Anyway, with that taken care of, back through the giant security line I went and to the ticket window to buy a ticket with the next opening being an hour out. I went for that option and sat and waited patiently staring at all the giant purses around me. How the tours are run is interesting in that they take a timed tour group, split it in three and give everyone headsets to hear their guides better as you’re weaving in and out of buildings past other tour groups. The other interesting part is that the tours all take slightly different routes to maximize the number of people touring at one time.  They have it down to an art.

As for the tour itself, it’s really very difficult to imagine the true terrors that took place there. Going through the barracks, the solitary confinement areas, the pitch black cells with no windows, the tiny rooms where four people were forced to stand since there was no room to sit, etc. it’s unimaginable, and those aren’t even the worst parts. The hard-working conditions, harsh temperatures and even worse guards, the lack of food and sanitary facilities, the fear of being shot, hung, medically experimented on were all daily fears thousands upon thousands of people had to face.

There are also a number of rooms featuring the articles the prisoners brought with them, suitcases of clothes, shoes, brushes, etc. that they thought were needed in the place they were going to resume their life. Auschwitz is definitely a haunting place but in many ways the worst part is in Birkenau, sometimes called Auschwitz II, where conditions were even worse. The guided tours board a bus and head down the road the 3km to Birkenau.

Upon arrival at Birkenau you’re greeted by train tracks. The same tracks they used to bring train cars full of people into the camp. There’s also the central area where the sorting process took place. The Jewish women, children under 15, and elderly were usually taken directly to the gas chambers at the very end of the tracks set back in the woods and the able-bodied men were kept for work until they were usually worked to death.  Other prisoners like the political prisoners, those who aided Jews, and many others were kept for “working” as well.  The average time frame those in the camp lived was only 3 – 6 months and everyday was a living hell. Truly hard to believe such atrocities could have happened to anyone, let alone to millions of people throughout Europe.

Would I say visiting Auschwitz is a “positive experience”? No. But would I say it’s a valuable and necessary experience to learn more about somewhat recent history? Yes.

If you’re considering visiting, check out my Tips for Visiting Auschwitz.

I also visited Dachau while in Munich, which you can read about in the post: Dachau: 70 Years of Liberation