museums Poland

Auschwitz-Birkenau tour in photos

a gate with a brick building behind it with Auschwitz concentration camp in the background
Auschwitz Arbeit Macht Frei gate

This article focuses on visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau from my tourist perspective in terms of entry tickets, getting to Oswiecim, Poland and getting around the camps. Keep in mind that my criticism of how our tour went in no way diminishes my solemn respect for this sacred place.

Our tour experience was miserable. The daytime late July temperature of 30 Celsius/86F. was something we were prepared to endure. The disorganization of entering Auschwitz with our printed tickets was something we were surprised to experience considering more than 1.5 million visitors a year tour the camp.

a gate with a sign in front of a brick building with Auschwitz concentration camp in the background
Auschwitz Arbeit Macht Frei gate

What is Auschwitz-Birkenau?

Auschwitz-Birkenau were the largest complex of Nazi concentration camps during World War II. They were used as prison labor camps and extermination camps. In addition to the main complex of Auschwitz and Birkenau, dozens of small labor camps were affiliated with Auschwitz. Manufacturing companies contributing to the war effort contracted with the Nazis for a cheap labor pool among the imprisoned population. An inability for a prisoner to work generally meant a death sentence.

The exact number of people imprisoned in Auschwitz-Birkenau during the war is unknown due to efforts by the Nazis to eradicate records and destroy evidence of the extent of the mass extermination of prisoners in the camps. Best estimates are in the range of 1.3 million prisoners were imprisoned in Auschwitz and Birkenau camps between 1940 and 1945, of which, about 1.1 million died. Jews comprised around 85 to 90% of deaths. Polish intelligentsia and resistance, Soviet POWs and Roma were the other main groups of prisoners.

Auschwitz-Birkenau were liberated by the Soviet Army on January 27, 1945. This date in January is recognized annually as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

a group of people walking down a street
Auschwitz I tour group

Birkenau, also known as Auschwitz II, came under construction in October 1941 and opened in March 1942. Originally this larger camp was designed to house 125,000 Russian POW prisoners the Nazis anticipated. Birkenau is the site of the purpose-built gas chambers, designed for mass extermination of the Jews in Europe and other undesirables to the Nazi regime. About 90% of the 1.1 million prisoners who died at Auschwitz were in the Birkenau camp.

train tracks leading to a building
Birkenau (Auschwitz II) railway gate
a black and white text on a black surface
Auschwitz victims

Where is Auschwitz?

Auschwitz-Birkenau camps are located at the town of Oswiecim, 70km west of Krakow, Poland.

Dozens of buses travel between Krakow and Oswiecim daily in about a 90 minute one-way ride. Most of the buses travel directly to Auschwitz I Museum. Bus ticket price is about 30pln round trip.

Train travel is cheaper at about 20pln round trip in 2 hours each way. The train station is 2km from Auschwitz I Museum. A bus ticket from Oswiecim train station to Auschwitz is 2.70pln or about a 20 minute walk.

The main tour requiring an entry ticket is for Auschwitz I, the original camp. Many of the buildings in Auschwitz I are the original buildings that were converted into a museum with informational and memorial exhibits inside the buildings.

Birkenau is a separate location about 3km from Auschwitz. A free shuttle bus runs every 10 minutes between Auschwitz I and Birkenau camp, also called Auschwitz II.

Birkenau is a far larger camp area than Auschwitz. Visitors do not need an entry pass to walk around Birkenau.

Visitors can ride the shuttle bus and tour Birkenau with or without a guide. Birkenau is where the main gas chambers were constructed for the mass extermination of prisoners. The gas chambers at Birkenau are now ruins, blown up by the Nazis before they evacuated the camp and retreated west to Germany as the Soviet army advanced across Poland in late 1944-early 1945. Auschwitz I Museum camp has a smaller reconstructed gas chamber.

a destroyed building with a broken roof
Birkenau gas chamber ruins
a pile of papers and a pile of paper
Auschwitz Zyklon B
a sign on a wall
Auschwitz Zyklon B cannisters
a black sign with white text on it
Nazi policies

a black sign with white text on it

The tour involved walking through exhibits in about 4 buildings. One of the barracks displayed large rooms filled with personal belongings like eyeglasses, tons of hair, luggage, dishes and ceramics.

a brick building with many windows
Auschwitz barrack
a group of people looking at a display
Auschwitz artificial limbs
a man and woman looking at a glass wall
Auschwitz shoes
a pile of old suitcases
Auschwitz luggage

Prisoner Barracks

Another barracks building displayed hundreds of photos of individual prisoners and prison life sleeping conditions and bathrooms.

a black sign on a bed
Auschwitz floor bedding in use during 1941.
a group of bunk beds
Auschwitz barracks tri-level prisoner bunks 1942-1945
a person lying on a bed
Auschwitz reflections

a group of framed photos on a wall

a group of pictures on a wall
Maria Krajewska and Czeslawa Krajewska were Polish twins born October 24, 1927. Both deported Feb 5, 1943. Maria died May 23, 1943. Czeslawa died July 23, 1943. Both died age 15.
a portrait of a man in a black and white photo
Franziscek Lachecki, Pole, born Sep 28, 1918. Deported April 5, 1941. Died June 14, 1942.

a path with trees and grass

Auschwitz Blocks 10 and 11 – the prisoners prison

a door to a building
Auschwitz Block 10

The part of the tour of Auschwitz Block 11, the camp prison barrack known as the ‘Death Block’, was especially memorable for the stifling heat with the crowd shuffling through the corridors of the prison block and into the cramped basement cells.

a group of people in a hallway
Auschwitz block 11 – ‘Death Block’

I could no longer hear my tour guide through the headset due to the tour guide of the group following us standing beside me speaking English to his group.

Between Sep 3-5, 1941, there were experiments conducted in the basement of Block 11 to test the effectiveness of Zyklon B as a killing agent.

600 Soviet POWs and 250 Polish political prisoners were used for the experiment and murdered.

a brick building with a courtyard
Auschwitz execution courtyard

The courtyard between blocks 10 and 11 was the execution ground for Auschwitz.

No photographs are allowed of the prison cells in the basement of Block 11. Here is a view of basement cells taken from the courtyard.

a window with bars in a concrete wall
Block 11 prison cell
concrete blocks in a wall
Block 11 basement cells
a reflection of a person in a window
Taking Away the Corpses – Wladyslaw Siwek

The remainder of the tour was mostly outdoors.

Several of the barracks hold national exhibits specific to Netherlands, Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, France and Belgium. The 3.5 hour tour did not include visiting any of these exhibits.

long shot of a hallway
Auschwitz barrack holding France exhibit
a building with a metal structure
Auschwitz gallows
a wooden structure in a street
Auschwitz guard hut
a sign on a post next to Auschwitz concentration camp
Auschwitz guard tower

The location of the camp Gestapo building is where Rudolf Höss, a Nazi German SS-Obersturmbannführer (lieutenant colonel) and the longest-serving commandant of Auschwitz concentration was hanged on April 16, 1947.

a sign in front of a park
Rudolf Höss, Auschwitz commandant hanged here April 16, 1947.

Auschwitz Gas Chamber and Crematorium

a brick chimney on a hill
Auschwitz crematorium chimney
a room with lights on
Auschwitz gas chamber
a brick oven with a large metal box
Auschwitz crematorium furnaces
a grass hill with a brick chimney
Auschwitz gas chamber

This was the end of the tour of Auschwitz I camp. We returned our headsets and the guide said meet her at the bus stop for the shuttle to Birkenau. And that was effectively the end of our guided tour. We could not hear her without the headset once we were at Birkenau.

a brick building with a fence with Auschwitz concentration camp in the background
Auschwitz fence
a sign in front of a fence
Auschwitz fence line sign

Birkenau – Auschwitz II

Most of Birkenau is ruins.

a group of people standing next to train tracks with Auschwitz concentration camp in the background

a train tracks in a grassy field
Birkenau camp
a group of people standing next to a train car
Birkenau rail car

Birkenau is where several large gas chambers were constructed. The SS and doctors immediately separated incoming prisoners for those healthy enough to work and the remainder were sent to be executed. An informational sign stated 70-75% of prisoners were determined unfit for labor.

The weather was rapidly worsening and our guide hustled across the camp making it hard to take photos and keep up.

a group of people on a field
Birkenau before the storm
a sign on a sign next to a destroyed building
Birkenau gas chamber ruins
a pile of rocks with a roof
Birkenau gas chamber
a row of black rectangular stones in a row
To the memory of the men, women and children who fell victim to the Nazi genocide. Here lie their ashes. May their souls rest in peace.
a building with a brick tower in the background
Birkenau barracks

Our tour guide took a right turn towards some Birkenau barracks as the rain started. We headed straight for the shuttle bus, but did not reach it before a torrential downpour ensued. When the bus came, more people were waiting than could possibly fit on the bus. We packed into the bus as the last passengers to squeeze on, while the bus sat there for another 8 minutes until it was the scheduled departure time to go back to Auschwitz I.

Tourist Information You Need to Know

  1. Admission to Auschwitz I is regulated and controlled. You must have an entry ticket, bookable online to enter Auschwitz. Admission is free, however, you need to arrive early or late if you want to tour the camp on your own without a guide.
  2. “In the period from 1 April to 31 October, between 10:00 and 15:00, entry to the premises of the former Auschwitz I camp is permitted only with a Museum educator.”
  3. Birkenau is a separate location about 3km from Auschwitz. A shuttle bus runs every 10 minutes in summer between Auschwitz I and Birkenau camp, also called Auschwitz II.
  4. The main tour is the camp of Auschwitz I Museum. This is the controlled area requiring a metal detector check. No large bags are allowed Auschwitz I Museum camp. Backpacks and other bags must be stored at the free luggage storage area near the camp entrance. The maximum size of backpacks or handbags brought into the Museum does not exceed dimensions: 30x20x10 cm.
  5. A regular Museum educator guided tour is 3.5 hours. The Auschwitz I portion is about 2 hours. Then, about a 15 minute break when boarding a shuttle bus to Birkenau with your guide. Ticket price is 50pln (about $13.66usd)
  6. Most tours are in English or Polish. There are less frequent tours in many other languages. After passing through the metal detector security check, you pick up a receiver and headset for the tour and look for your language guide.
a group of people outside a building
Auschwitz Museum entrance

Apparently there is a movie of the Russian liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, a separate fee ticket, but we were never allowed inside the museum building entrance. After returning from Birkenau, and determined to find the movie theater, we were told it was too late to see the movie.

a group of people standing in a line
Auschwitz metal detector security line

While the website recommends arriving 15 minutes before your tour, I recommend arriving 45 to 60 minutes before your tour, especially if it is peak season. We could not figure out where to go when we arrived. There were many hundreds of people standing around the parking lot and in front of the museum entrance building. One staff member directed me to the line for group entry, but then the museum staffer at that line looked at my ticket time, pointed to the 12:15 time and told me to wait.

By the time we were let into the security line, passed through the metal detector check, and received our headset device, our English language tour had departed. Another staff member in the courtyard told us to wait by the ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ sign and a colleague would escort us to our tour group. After another 10 minutes with nobody coming to escort us, we went back to the entrance and asked for help again. We were escorted to our tour group approximately 30 minutes into our guided tour.

If I return to Auschwitz, I will be sure to go outside of summer season and tour the camps on my own at my own pace.

a group of people walking down a dirt path
Auschwitz gate

Here is a guide I think is very useful and informative on the advantages and disadvantages of booking a group tour or an individual tour of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

https://discovercracow.com/blog/visit-auschwitz/

 

7 Comments

  • JohnnieD August 2, 2018

    We toured this area June 2016. After reading all the rules, we decided to tour on our own. Much better than all the speeding tours that past us. Had to get there early like you mentioned. We also were able to see the film in the theatre.
    We stayed at Hampton hotel 3 nights when it was 5k/nt. We had a rental car for our 12 day visit that started in FRA. Just wanted to point out that one needs to buy vignettes-toll stickers in various countries at their borders. Austria,Czech had these. I assume one will be billed by mail if you dont have them.

  • bluecat August 2, 2018

    I was there last year and also did it on my own.

    If you return, I recommend going to a couple of the country-specific exhibits. Also, I found the Schindler museum to be one of the best I’ve ever been to. Extremely good telling of the story.

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  • Marilyn B August 2, 2018

    @Ric, I was surprised to see this report, because I thought I remembered you saying that you had no desire to go to Auschwitz, having been to Dachau many years ago.
    We had also visited Dachau in the late 80s and were in Krakow in 2005. My husband is of Jewish heritage and I asked him if he wanted to go to Auschwitz. He gave me a firm “no” so we never went. We did visit a number of other Holocaust sites on our trip, but at that time the museum at the Schindler factory was not in existence. We explored the ghetto, found the Pharmacy Under the Eagle and walked down to the fields where some of “Schindler’s List” was filmed – not so easy at the time, as there wasn’t a lot of information. As @bluecat noted, the local sites are very interesting, and I think that more has been done in the dozen years since we were there to make the various sites better known, and tourist oriented in terms of exhibits and information provided.

  • Ric Garrido August 2, 2018

    Kelley has wanted to visit Auschwitz for past three years and this was first time we were able to conveniently fit the trip into our schedule.

    Visiting was educational with respect to getting a visual layout we will remember for future reference when reading and seeing shows on Auschwitz-Birkenau.

    The tour of Auschwitz itself was pretty useless since we had enough background knowledge that very few details of the tour provided information we did not know or could not read on signs.

    It was so crowded there was no time to absorb much as we were constantly having to move through buildings to keep from being swallowed up by other tour groups.

    Even the information people standing around seemed hurried and gave quick, short replies to our questions that were not very helpful guidance.

    I think the middle of winter would be a better time to visit the camps.

  • Abraham Baumgartner August 7, 2018

    I have visited Auschwitz/Birkenau many times over the years, and it is always for me a fresh experience. Here is some friendly advice. Auschwitz does not open itself easily on any level — too much happened here. It remains elusive and unknowable, haunted. But before going, READ about the place, especially survivor accounts. Once you have done this you will be far better prepared, and you will not really need a guide. You cannot see the place in a quick day-tour anyway. Better to do the visit over several days, taking your time. The camp is truly vast, especially Birkenau (wear sturdy shoes). Going it alone allows you to get away from the crowds, and do some thinking. There are important parts of Birkenau where I have never seen another human being! It’s just me and my friends the ghosts. The best time for a visit is late Fall or Winter, when the crowds are thinned out. Winter in particular has a stark, cruel quality — the camp is all black, white, and brown. It is easy to get to Auschwitz from Krakow by buses running about every hour, from behind Krakow Glowny train station. Forget the train. There is a cafeteria at Auschwitz I; a welcome service in an unlikely place. While in Krakow by all means visit the Schindler Museum, even though it upset me so much that I had to leave! A truly harrowing place. Finally: I may be Jewish, but please, PLEASE, remember all the countless non-Jews who died at Auschwitz, and who today are largely forgotten.

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