Auschwitz II – Birkenau
To remember so as to not repeat
Although it is a hard blow to the soul, Auschwitz is a must during a trip to Poland.
We stopped in Krakow and took a bus that took us directly to the entrance of the complex.
We had booked in advance on the website of the bus company, so we had already bought the tickets and the peace of mind of safe arrival, something recommended if you buy the pass to the museum outside the agencies. The frequency of buses from the city is not so significant and the other option, to go by train, takes extra time because the station is not close.
In fact, when we were about to board the bus, we were very impressed by how the driver would push aside those who did not have a ticket, with little patience. We did point out that you can get on the bus by paying with a credit card... as long as there are seats available.
We left at 9.40 am from Krakow MDA Station, next to the train station.
The trip takes about an hour and a half, and the entrance to Auschwitz is done according to the time indicated on the ticket, after checking belongings and identity by presenting a photo ID passport.
The recommendation is to carry only a small bag, as backpacks and large briefcases are not allowed, and must be kept in the payment boxes.
Once in the entrance hall, we waited for our time until a guide appeared with a sign referring to the tour in Spanish. We were given the headphones that we would wear during the tour and we entered.
By then, although it was still quite sunny, a few drops of rain began to fall, which worried us. But as we entered the first barrel, where a short introductory video was shown, we were able to go through the whole sorrowful tour in the warm spring sunshine.
Auschwitz was a gigantic complex composed of three prison camps: Auschwitz I (the original camp), Auschwitz II-Birkenau (concentration and extermination camp) and Auschwitz III-Monowitz (labor camp).
First we visited Auschwitz I, entering where the prisoners did, the big iron gate with the ironic legend Arbeit Macht Frei, which refers to the fact that work confers freedom.
This is the beginning of the three-hour tour of the largest extermination camp built by the Nazis in Poland.
The atrocities of World War II that took place there are truly terrifying, and there are no words to express the inhumanity and absurdity of those years. The facilities have been preserved as a memorial and tribute to the millions of victims. Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Auschwitz I was opened in 1940. It was the first concentration camp and headquarters of the SS. First we visit the barracks and prison cells, converted into a black and white photo gallery of the camp when it was in operation. Also on display are prisoner belongings, such as shoes, kitchen utensils, suitcases, among others.
Everything is surrounded by two-meter high posts with electrified wire fence that enclose the camp.
Then we took a bus that took us to Birkenau, the adjacent Nazi extermination camp. Its entrance façade, with the train tracks and some rusty wagons, is the other well-known image of this complex of terror. The extermination chamber or “shower”, where the victims were sprayed with toxic gas, as well as the crematorium ovens and the mass graves, operated there.
The prisoners who survived when the Russian army entered the camp on January 27, 1945, were the ones who recounted the atrocities. For there too, in addition to planned extermination, eugenics experiments were carried out, a macabre system that sought to perfect the human species by means of the racist criterion of selection.
Is it worthwhile to set aside a day for such a harrowing experience? While it is very sad, very painful to walk through those barracks and corridors, and feel in first person the remnants of horror, @tripticity_ strongly recommends it. It is a synthesis of the history of the twentieth century, in addition, we highlight the objectivity of the story, the professionalism of the guide Magdalena, and the curatorship of the museum, which provides a guided tour that allows you to reconstruct the facts while you visit.
At the end, we waited in the same place for our bus that would take us back to the central station of Krakow, demolished in spirit but satisfied with the visit to such a significant place.