Auschwitz-Birkenau

About

Now standing as testimony to man’s inhumanity to man, Auschwitz is a major part of history that many people feel compelled to visit and pay their respects to those who died there. Both sections of the camp, Auschwitz I and the much larger outlying camp at Birkenau (Auschwitz II) have been preserved and are open for visitors, who are free to find their own way around or arrange a tour. Auschwitz I consists of a cinema showing a fifteen-minute film on the history and horrors of the camp followed by the barracks, each containing displays relating to life in the camp. Auschwitz II-Birkenau is vast and is where the main gas chambers and crematorium were situated (Birkenau was the site of most of the killings and not Auschwitz 1) and has mainly been left as the Nazis left it, with many of the buildings dynamited flat or burnt down. Please note: as tickets often sell out quickly you should book in advance at http://auschwitz.org/en/visiting/