Auschwitz-Birkenau

Auschwitz I

Auschwitz II- Birkenau

The entrance, seen from the inside, to Birkenau.

The kitchen barrack. That wooden carriage was used to bring in the day's ration in the morning (stale bread) and to carry the bodies of dead prisoners to the crematoriums in the evening. It was of course inmates that pulled the carriage.

"Verhalte Dich ruhig"- Keep calm or Keep quiet
Written on the walls of barracks

"Eine Laus ist dein Tod"- A lice is your death
Written on the walls of barracks

The women's barracks (left of the ramp)

The ramp

The men's barracks (right of the ramp)


I meant to write this post sooner, but I could not find the right words for it, and although I am not sure that I have found them yet, I will try to describe, as best as I can, my experience visiting the concentration camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau.

I have to say that visiting these two concentration camps was one of the most difficult experiences of my life. I knew it would be hard for me to be there, but I had no idea how hard the horror of these two places would hit me. Of course, the weather (it rained all day) and the fact that I was there alone did not help to make it easier for me to be there.

Auschwitz I has been turned into a free museum: one can visit this concentration camp alone or join a guided tour, which is what I did. Exhibitions have been set up in the buildings (all original) that still remain to this day. Auschwitz I was a relatively small place, most of the inmates being sent to Auschwitz II (Birkenau) instead. At Auschwitz I, one could find the offices of the SS officers, the mansions of the people in charge, the "hospital", where experiments were done on inmates, and other bureaucratic buildings. There was also a gas chamber and a crematorium, but these were destroyed by the Nazis when the War came to an end. They were, however, reconstructed for the benefit of the visitors of Auschwitz. I walked through the gas chamber (rebuilt on the grounds where the original previously stood) and saw the ovens used to burn the bodies of the thousands of people who died there, and it was absolutely sickening.

I, like almost everyone, had obviously heard a lot about Auschwitz before going there. I had seen documentaries and read books and heard stories, but nothing compares to being there and to seeing everything with your own two eyes.

Auschwitz II, also called Birkenau, is situated 3km away from Auschwitz I. This is where most of the inmates where sent to work and, ultimately, to die. I was shocked by the size of Birkenau- once you cross the main gate, all that you see is a sea of barracks, some still standing and some destroyed. My pictures do not do justice to the size of this place. This place was extremely well thought out- the railway goes directly into the camp, to make the transportation of prisoners as simple as possible. Birkenau is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Going to Auschwitz and Birkenau is certainly not a walk in the park, but I think that everybody owes it to himself, as well as to the victims of the Second World War, to visit these concentration camps so as to never forget this horrible tragedy and to ensure that nothing like this ever, ever happens again.