Auschwitz April 27

On Wednesday April 27, I went on a day-trip guided bus tour to Auschwitz. It is a bit over an hour’s travel from Krakow. We spent a somewhat rushed couple of hours at the central Auschwitz concentration camp, which was not enough to see everything. During the peak months, the site is overrun with tourists, so tours have to be tightly managed to keep everyone moving.

The entrance to the inner compound with the Arbeit Macht Frei sign

The electrified fence around the inner compound

We then went to the nearby Birkenau extermination camp for another hour. The Birkenau camp is much larger in size, so the tourist groups there can be spread out more. Also it seems that many tour groups do not come to Birkenau, but just go to the central Auschwitz site, which is a pity. I found the Birkenau site more impressive.

A barracks building at Birkenau

A building with latrines at Birkenau

A railroad car at the unloading siding at Birkenau

One of the gas chambers at Birkenau