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Discover Auschwitz-Birkenau

The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum stands on the grounds of the former German Nazi concentration and extermination camp – the largest such complex ever built. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979, it preserves the memory of over 1.1 million men, women, and children who were murdered here, the vast majority of them Jewish. Today, more than two million people from across the world visit the memorial each year, making it one of the most visited and most important historical sites in Europe.

The memorial was established in 1946 by former prisoners – among them Tadeusz Wąsowicz – under the direction of Poland’s Ministry of Culture and Art. Its first exhibition opened inside the original barracks in 1947, presenting the history of the extermination and the conditions in which prisoners lived. A new permanent exhibition followed in 1955 and, with some updates, remains in place today. After 1960, several camp blocks began housing national exhibitions created at the initiative of former prisoners from various countries through the International Auschwitz Committee.

The camp complex consists of three main parts. Auschwitz I, established in 1940, was the first concentration camp and administrative headquarters of the SS. Here you will see the brick barracks, the infamous gate bearing the words “Arbeit macht frei,” original punishment cells, the first gas chamber and crematorium, and exhibitions displaying thousands of personal belongings confiscated from prisoners – shoes, suitcases, kitchen utensils, prostheses, and human hair. Currently, the museum also hosts the temporary exhibition “Prussian Blue” by artist Yishai Jusidman, the first large-scale contemporary art exhibition at the memorial, displayed in Block 21.

Auschwitz II-Birkenau was constructed in 1941 to hold the rapidly growing number of deportees. It is here that the vast majority of mass murders took place. The railway tracks, original cattle cars, ruins of the crematoria – partially destroyed by the Nazis before liberation – the wooden barracks, and the International Monument to the Victims of Fascism all remain. The sheer scale of Birkenau, stretching across nearly 200 hectares, is difficult to comprehend until you stand on its grounds.

Auschwitz III-Monowitz was a forced-labour camp. Nothing remains of the original structures today save a roadside memorial. It is not included in standard tours.

Whether you are here to learn, to remember, or to honour someone who was lost, a visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau is an experience that stays with you – a reminder of what humanity is capable of, and why this history must never be forgotten.