Auschwitz Concentration Camp

Poland was home to the world's largest Jewish community for centuries. Before WWII there were 3.5 million Jews in Poland. Between the German invasion in 1939 and the end of the war over 90% perished.

About 50 km (~32 miles) from Kraków is the town of Oświęcim, which the Germans renamed Auschwitz. In 1940 a camp was built to hold Polish political prisoners, followed by Soviet POWs and then prisoners from other countries as well. Within two years it was the most notorious of the six extermination camps in Poland (Auschwitz, Belzec, Chełmno, Majdanek, Sobibór and Treblinka).

There were three primary sections to the concentration camp. Auschwitz was the first and held between 12,000 and 20,000 prisoners. In 1941, Auschwitz II-Birkenau was established 3 km away. Birkenau was the largest section and in 1944 there were over 90,000 prisoners. In 1942, Auschwitz III-Monowitz was established. Today only Auschwitz and Birkenau remain.

By early 1943 there were four crematoria working around the clock at Birkenau. Over 20,000 people were gassed and cremated every day. The exact number of people killed at Auschwitz and Birkenau will never be known but estimates put the number between 1.1 – 1.5 million people from across Europe. There is still one gas chamber at Auschwitz but the gas chambers and crematoria at Birkenau were blown up by the Nazis in 1944 in an attempt to cover up the mass killings.

The Nazis said that Jews would be resettled in the east. Many people actually had to purchase tickets for the trains that took them to their deaths. Auschwitz was the only concentration camp where inmates were tattooed on their arms. However, the vast majority of people were never tattooed because they went directly from arrival to the gas chamber.

I think that it is better to visit the camp in the winter. First of all it is far less crowded. And secondly, because it is a bit easier to appreciate just how bad the conditions must have been. I was thoroughly bundled up from head to toe and after 20 minutes outside I was freezing. I don't know how prisoners were able to stand out in the cold for hours, often without shoes.

Visiting the camp can be very emotional. Approximately 46,000 Jews were sent to Auschwitz from Bohemia and Moravia. I happened to notice that one of the suitcases on display belonged to a victim from Brno.

I think that everyone needs to visit Auschwitz so that nothing like the horrors that occurred here will ever happen again. The camp is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Here is an interesting Rick Steves video I found on YouTube about Auschwitz.

©Rick Steves