Europe,  Poland,  TDM,  Travel Journal

Visit to Auschwitz and Birkenau (Poland): trying and emotional. Travel diary

We have just returned from a long visit to Auschwitz and Birkenau. I force myself to write this article right now, now, otherwise I will not have the courage to think about it and relive the emotions that this visit aroused in me.

Part 1: Travel Diary
Part 2: Practical Tips

Part 1: Travel Diary

We left Krakow by train and 1h40 later we arrived at the Auschwitz train station (Oświęcim in Polish). The 20-minute walk from the station to the concentration camp (now a museum) made us realize that this camp was not in the middle of nowhere as we had imagined it to be. It was in the heart of a (now peaceful) city. Moreover, it was also this proximity to nearby Polish villages that allowed the prisoners to pass on secret messages to the revolutionaries

The entrance to the museum has two lanes: one for groups and the other for individual visitors. We bought the tickets one week before on the internet, to meet up with a group of 30 French people at 1pm. We each get a radio guide & headphones – so we can hear the guide from far away and he doesn’t have to shout.

We are 4 groups visiting the museum at the same time, 15 seconds apart. Even if some tourists did not speak French, they still joined our group because it was the only one where there were still places left.



The buildings used as dormitories for the prisoners we can visit in Auschwitz have been refurbished for exhibitions. For Auschwitz was mainly reserved for prisoners (and atrocious experiences) who were forced to work until they died, the methodical mass extermination took place in Birkenau (a few kilometers away).





The angle of approach chosen by the museum was to show in a factual way, with supporting evidence (photos, documents, anecdotes), what happened at Auschwitz and Birkenau – trying to answer very furtively to the angry questions “why didn’t they revolt?”, “why didn’t the allies do anything?”. On the other hand, the question “how did we get there” was not addressed.





Many people told me about Auschwitz, criticizing the facilities made for the comfort of tourists (repainted walls, central heating…), which made the place less authentic.

The moments that shocked/marked me the most were when we visited rooms full of objects stolen from the victims (mainly Jews, but there were also gypsies, homosexuals, communists, slavs…): shoes, brushes, bowls…. there were really a lot of them, and when you think that each of the objects corresponds to a dead person… and the room that hurt me the most was the one where the hair of the women (murdered in the gas chambers) was piled up. The Nazis treated the prisoners and exterminated them like animals, even after their death, they were not at peace: their hair was used for mattresses, their gold teeth torn out, their jewelry stolen, their hands cut off :'(

And then, at the end, we ended the visit with a real gas chamber, and a crematory oven rebuilt with original materials. I can tell you that everyone came out of it with red eyes. We were offered to sit down 5 minutes later, then a 10 minute break, so strong were the emotions.

Birkenau

After this horror vision, we all take a shuttle bus to Birkenau, which is much more authentic than Auschwitz. And there we come across this vision that we all have in mind with the pictures in our history books: the rails, and the entrance to Birkenau.





We find the place where the Jews were sorted by a doctor in 5 seconds (on the left immediate death, on the right slavery) – the place remained intact vs. the photo we were shown at Auschwitz.

Some (wooden) buildings were rebuilt – the buildings used to house the prisoners during the first months of their arrival – to break their minds and bodies. But the gas chambers and ovens – destroyed by dynamite – were not rebuilt. They were left as they were, in their dilapidated state. In any case, no one would have wished it.

There are commemorative plaques written in 21 languages, including one in French:“May this place where the Nazis murderedone and ahalf million men, women and children, the majority of them Jews from various European countries, be forever for humanity a cry of despair and awarning.

This sentence has marked me a lot, it is full of accuracy.

The guide gave us a lot of information about the living conditions, the vocabulary used by the Nazis. He always had the right words, a serious but not tearful expression. In short, he was perfect. We take the shuttle back, go back to the Auschwitz museum to get JB’s backpack and then we take the first bus back to Krakow, with a heavy heart.

The visit was very informative. At no time did we think it was voyeurism. There was a lot of respect in the content given to us by the guide, and the tourists who were there had a lot of respect for the places, for the victims. No selfies, just documentary style photos. The presence of many Israeli visitors added to the emotion.

If we too took pictures, it was not to show “look, we were there”, but as the plaque said, let it all remain ingrained in our memory, as a “warning”. We were all very affected by this 3h30 visit, physically and morally exhausted. Everything was cynical and vicious, from breaking the morale of the victims to turn them into slaves, to making them pay for their own train ticket to death … and even after their death, stripping them of everything. How did it come to this?

Part 2: Practical Tips

If you prefer to go through an organization, you can book a tour in French with Civitatis here (for 37,3€/person), departure from Kraków

Transport

Either take the train (which drops you off 25 minutes walk from the museum) or the bus (which drops you off right in front of the museum). Both depart from Glowny station in Krakow.

15 zloty for train or bus / person.

Tickets

buy your tickets in advance (2-3 days before minimum) on: http://visit.auschwitz.org/?lang=en

Choose

Visit for individuals
Visit for individuals for whom a tour in groups with an educator is organised or for individuals without an educator

Then General tour 3,5 h (in French if you want). Price: 45 zloty/person

This includes the guided tour of Auschwitz and Birkenau.

In fact, if there are no more places left for the French tour, pick one up at the same time as the French tour, then leave with them. The guides do not count the number of people in the group.
Some tourists also abandon the group because they prefer to spend more time exploring the museum themselves, which is quite possible. Just leave the museum and take the free shuttle bus to visit Birkenau.

Do not come to Auschwitz on April 20, 21 and 22, as these dates are reserved for visits by concentration camp survivors and their family members.

The visit

Some things may shock you: the fact that the buildings are reconstructed, the side a little too touristy (sale of books, postcards, restaurants near Auschwitz). If it bothers you too much, take the shuttle bus and go directly to Birkenau. However, the visit of a real gas chamber and oven is only done in Auschwitz.

I really recommend the visit, even if it is emotionally charged.
And I advise you to spend a whole day on it, because you don’t have any other things on your mind afterwards.

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