Auschwitz
Concentration camps
How to Visit Auschwitz:
Built by the Germans during the Second World War, Auschwitz was intended to be a concentration, labor, torture, and extermination camp for Jews. As part of the Shoah, Hitler's aim was to completely exterminate the Jewish people. From 1942 onwards, Auschwitz housed Jewish men, women and children deported from all over Europe. On arrival at Auschwitz, the Jews were sent to the gas chambers. Their bodies were then incinerated in crematoria. Auschwitz is therefore a symbol of terror, genocide and the Holocaust perpetrated by the Germans during the Second World War.
Today, Auschwitz has become a place of pilgrimage and remembrance for survivors and victims of the Holocaust. It is also a place that explains the mistakes of the past to new generations. Auschwitz is also a place where the memory of the victims is not lost.
Some people in concentration camps
The camps to visit:
Auschwitz I
At the entrance you will notice the words "Arbeit macht frei" which means "work makes you free". The Auschwitz I camp is an administrative center consisting mainly of barracks. To find out more about Auschwitz I, click here and see what you can see on a guided tour.
A crematoria
Auschwitz II or "Auschwitz-Birkenau
This is the second camp. In concrete terms, it is the place where more than one million people were exterminated. It is the actual extermination camp. Auschwitz II is distinguished from the other two camps by the presence of the famous gate with the rails. You will also find the barracks where the prisoners were housed before being sent to the crematorium. The Auschwitz II camp is also distinguished by the huge space in which it is located. Those who have visited the place find it disturbing and poignant.
Auschwitz III
Auschwitz III is also known as Auschwitz-Monowitz. This camp was used for forced labor.