Tour of the Auschwitz Concentration Camp

When you go to Krakow (Poland) one of the best and most interesting activities is the excursion to Auschwitz. This place, known to all, is the famous Nazi concentration camp. Actually Auschwitz is a complex made up of several camps: Auschwitz I, Auschwitz-Birkenau and the Auschwitz-Monowitz labor camp.

A place with a black history

In Auschwitz, not only did the genocide of Jews take place, but also Gypsies, Poles, prisoners of war, homosexuals and people with "improper conduct" were being held.
The role of these fields in early Francoism it was to concentrate these population groups and it was frequently used as labor in slave factories. Regarding Auschwitz-Monowitz, the company with which he was associated was IG Farben, a chemical factory whose main product was a cyanide-derived pesticide that would later be massively exterminated in the other fields.

Later the genocide would begin and the other two camps would come into operation. In addition, during World War II, human experimentation with prisoners in these camps would begin. The subjects discarded from the experiments they would end up in the gas chambers and then the bodies would be cremated.

With the fall of the Nazis in 1945, the allied countries would free the prisoners and discover the remains of the cremation ovens that were destroyed to hide what was really happening there. According to German SS documents in this place 35 thousand people were murdered, although it is estimated that at least 1.5 million people died in these conditions.

Why are there guided tours of the Auschwitz Concentration Camp?

This concentration camp has been converted into a Museum and Memorial for victims. The objective of this museum is to show the horrors that were lived just a few decades ago so as not to repeat such atrocities.

The first visitors were the German civilians themselves, from whom the conditions and the murder of these people had been hidden by the regime. After the liberation of the different fields, the American troops they decided to take the population to see these places.

It is a solemn place, an altar for the deceased and affected in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. The main reason to visit this place is to pay tribute to the population who died from the horrors of the victims. In addition, it is a place with undoubted historical importance that is worth being visited at least once in a lifetime.

The most recommended is to do a tour to Auschwitz in Spanish, to be able to know all the history of the concentration camp and understand the place you are visiting completely. UNESCO declared this place in 1949 as a World Heritage Site in Memory of the Holocaust. Today this Museum receives about 2 million visitors each year with one of these excursions to Auschwitz from Krakow (Poland).

What does an excursion to Auschwitz consist of?

The tour usually lasts about 1 day, since you will need at least 6 hours for your guide to do the complete tour of the place. The most common thing is to make your reservation for the entrance and the guide of the Auschwitz field visit well in advance. Besides, the guided tour in Spanish It is one of the most popular, to get to know this place better.

During your visit, you can take a tour in which one of the guides will explain the conditions in which the prisoners lived, their rooms, the places of work and the remains that were left of the cremation ovens and the gas chambers.

The most common during your visit is that it is made of 3 parts, separated by a short break. As time goes by, this tour leaves visitors shocked. Take into account the history of the place where you are and have an attitude of respect and solemnity towards the victims.

What other sites are visited in Krakow related to Auschwitz?

Other visitors often book in advance other excursions such as Wielizcka salt mines. If you want to complete this experience, also book a tour of the Oskar Schindler factory or the Jewish quarter. With this route you will be able to know perfectly the history of Poland during your visit to Krakow.

Walking Through Auschwitz | WARNING: Actual footage of entire camp (April 2024)