Memorial and Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau

The website says that some areas are not accessible but others are. Our guide would not let the wheelchair in any building and so they had to sit outside, totally excluded from the tour. The tour for able bodied people was a conveyor belt so that you kept in your time slot, giving no time to read any information or time for reflection. It felt like a money making venture, rather than what the time is supposed to be about.

On Sunday, 23rd October 2022 I visited Auschwitz-Birkenau. I have studied World War II since my school days and in particular the Holocaust. I would class myself as very knowledgeable about this subject, but no amount of knowledge, reading, studying or watching documentaries can prepare you for the feeling of actually being there in person. From the moment I arrived at Auschwitz, before the car had even parked up, I felt a wave of emotion come over me and a very heavy feeling inside. Auschwitz is split into two camps (there was actually 3 but you can only visit the two) Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II Birkenau which are about 1.5 miles apart. There were several points of the tour where I found myself wiping tears from eyes. It really hit me so hard when the guide was talking about not only what the Nazis done to men and women but children as well. The guide also spoke quite a bit about Josef Mengele, who was known in Auschwitz as the Angel of Death, an SS officer and physician who conducted inhumane and sick experiments on prisoners, including children. There are also certain rooms where there is very strict no photography or video allowed at all. One of these rooms is where they have 2 tonnes of human hair. You know how light hair is, just imagine what 2 tonnes of it looks like. Heartbreaking. I actually didn't take many photographs at all. I was too concentrated on listening to our tour guide, deep thinking and just trying to comprehend the horrors that happened on the ground I was stood on to even think about taking photographs. There is also a room that is full of mobility aids and prosthetic limbs that were confiscated from disabled prisoners who arrived at Auschwitz. Disabled people were immediately sent to the gas chambers to be executed upon arrival at Auschwitz as the Nazis deemed them all unfit for work. It is an important place in history and its important that we never forget the 1.1million people who were murdered here, that is why I would encourage you to visit if you do get the chance to go.

This is a review of Auschwitz-Birkenau, an extermination camp, which was in operation during World War II. Some people might find the text and photos in this review upsetting. Auschwitz is the smaller but better preserved of the two camps. If you can manage the steps, there is lots to see inside the individual buildings. A short ride away is Birkenau which was the larger camp but not so much survives as the Nazis tried to destroy it to hide their atrocities, so a lot it is open ground. Both sites are emotionally and physically demanding to navigate. I went on a guided tour which was organised by Krakow Direct. However, there are many similar companies which offer similar tours.