This is what it's like to visit the Auschwitz Birkenau memorial (our experience)

One of the most impressive visits you can make in your trip to Krakow, in the southern Poland, it is to Auschwitz Nazi concentration camp memorial,

“It is not a visit.”easy" well in this memorial You will see incredible vestiges of the great drama that occurred in that place during the second world warl.

But I think it is a essential visit to understand this drama and, above all, prevent anything similar from being repeated.

Before your visit, at the outset you should know that the former Nazi concentration camp de Auschwitz It is actually distributed in two different places, very close to each other, so they can tour in the same visit.

Where is the Auschwitz memorial in Poland?

Specifically, in the town of Auschwitz, 70 kilometers west of Krakow, just over an hour by car, you find the location of the Auschwitz I main camp,

And just three kilometers from it is the enormous field Auschwitz II Birkenau., which was built later to “accelerate” the extermination of the Jews.

Curiosities of the history of Auschwitz Birkenau

El Auschwitz main camp, known as Auschwitz I, was built in 1940 by the Nazi regime, and due to its dimensions, in this concentration camp Between 15.000 and 20.000 prisoners remained.

Along with the later built of Auschwitz II Birkenau, where 90.000 prisoners were held, became the largest Death camps of the aforementioned Nazi regime.

Furthermore, later, they acquired a terrifying fame when the numerous and cruel experiments carried out in these fields became known. Nazi scientists, like the doctor Josef Mengele.

Auschwitz It was liberated in January 1945 by the Soviet Army, after being previously abandoned by the nazis given its imminent arrival during the final development of the Second World War.

What to see on a visit to the Auschwitz I memorial (our experience)

In order to plan your trip, from the experience of our visit, we tell you that you must start it with the Auschwitz I main camp.

It is recommended that, before entering the premises, you should watch the 15-minute documentary shown in the Visitor Reception Center, with black and white images that are projected continuously.

It really is a dramatic appetizer of what you are going to see.

You will see scenes recorded during the first moments after the liberation of the camp (if you go with children, the images may be too shocking for them...), some already known, but others new to all of us.

After watching the documentary, it is time to cross the iron gate to access the Auschwitz I camp, with the sadly famous phrase Arbeit Macht Frei (Work will make you free).

Crossing this door cannot help but give you a special feeling, especially when you arrive completely shocked by the documentary.

Former Auschwitz I barracks

From this moment, the tour will take you through the different barracks buildings where the Jews who were later going to be exterminated were gathered.

You can visit most of these barrack, which have been converted into a museum.

The most impressive places are, without a doubt, the enormous glass rooms where thousands of objects are piled up. collected from prisoners, such as suitcases.

Or the room where the human hair used for weaving is piled up.

In the hallways of the barrack You will see endless rows of photos of prisoners who were in Auschwitz.

And you will also be able to see the wall used for the executions, known as the Wall of Death, or the jails used to hold prisoners rebels, or the rooms where prisoners were gassed.

How to get to Auschwitz II Birkenau

The location of the Auschwitz II Birkenau camp It is located just three kilometers from Auschwitz I.

If you do not have a car to travel between one field and another, you can do it on foot (half an hour), by taxi or on the bus that connects both fields.

What to see when visiting Auschwitz II Birkenau

This other place is the great extension that the nazis they made the first field of Auschwitz .

I can tell you that, in fact, most of the images that you have on your retina of what, without a doubt, is the most sadly famous extermination camp built by the Nazis, you find them precisely in the camp. Auschwitz II, known as birkenau.

This complex was built in 1941 to expand the capacity of the original Auschwitz camp, which did not allow more than 20.000 prisoners to be concentrated.

En birkenauIn 1944, 90.000 prisoners were concentrated.

Contrary to the Auschwitz camp, which is located in a wooded area, when you get to Auschwitz II Birkenau you will find yourself before a large open field which was originally a swampy land.

But while most of the original brick buildings remain in the initial field, in birkenau The original entrance building barely remains.

This field is much less visited than that of Auschwitz I, headquarters of the museum, which during my visit was completely full of tourists.

En birkenau There were very few visitors, and in fact there is only a small parking lot in front of it.

However, it is absolutely shocking to see yourself in front of the silhouette of the Vigilance tower de Auschwitz II Birkenau, which is located in the building at the entrance of the field.

Below it follows the train track that accessed the interior of the extermination camp with thousands of prisoners who, as they arrived, were taken directly to the gas chambers.

The field of Auschwitz II Birkenau occupies an enormous area of ​​almost 200 hectares.

Apart from the entrance building, there were originally more than 300 wooden barracks, of which very few remain standing.

When the Nazis abandoned the extermination camp they set it on fire, so you will see a dark row of brick chimneys, which have remained standing in the original places occupied by the Nazis. barrack.

Climb the Auschwitz II Birkenau Watchtower

The first thing recommended is climb the watchtower, from where you will have impressive panoramic views of the Birkenau countryside.

From the tower you will also see the train track which ended at the final station located inside it.

After getting off the Vigilance tower, you can go to the first row of barrack.

There you can imagine the incredible conditions in which the hundreds of thousands of prisoners who were in prison must have endured. Auschwitz II Birkenau.

Although the rest of the field is a large open field, you can walk to the bottom of it where the ruined remains of the gas chambers.

The nazis The cameras exploded, and today they can be seen as they were.

In short, a visit that shakes our hearts, but a essential visit trust your trip to poland.

Visiting hours of Auschwitz Birkenau near Krakow

The  Auschwitz visiting hours They vary depending on the time of year.

Visits from June to August begin at 7,30:19 a.m., with admission until 20,30:XNUMX p.m. and completion of the visit until XNUMX:XNUMX p.m.

The rest of the year the last access varies depending on the month in question, being in December at 14 p.m., with visits until 15,30:XNUMX p.m.

La complete tour of Auschiwtz, including the field of birkenau, it will take you at least three hours, and I remind you that the Admission is free., although it is essential to have a ticket as there is a capacity limit.

Therefore, during peak tourist seasons, to ensure entry, the best option, without a doubt, is to sign up for one of the guided tours available.

Map: how to get to Auschwitz Birkenau

If in your trip to Krakow You don't have a car, you can go to Auschwitz by bus.

You must leave from the bus station Kraków Główny, and you will arrive directly at Oswiecim Muzeum, without passing through the town of Auschwitz.

By car it has to take the A4 motorway that connects Krakow with Katowice, and in the town of Chrzanow You take Highway 233 to the south, which will take you directly to Auschwitz.