Pictures from Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp in Poland

Here, I’m sharing with you some pictures from Auschwitz. The largest extermination and concentration camp in the Third Reich now can be visited, and it’s an important place to visit when travelling to Poland.

It is an important place for humanity. Now, it’s “just” a place to visit, but during World War II it was a place where many people not only died but went through experiences, nobody would want to go through in life.

It shows what humans are capable of, in a very sad sense…

Today, the Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration camp Museum is visited by many people from all over the world, and I think it’s an important place for us to visit, so hopefully, history will never repeat itself.

In this post, I share pictures from Auschwitz, the way it today.

Auschwitz I Main Camp

It’s hard to find proper words when writing about Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp.

Pictures often speak louder than words, that’s why I’m sharing with you how Auschwitz I looks today.

It’s good to know that the remains of the two camps of Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau are on the World Heritage List.

When visiting the museum, one of the first things you will notice it’s an entrance gate…

“Arbeit Macht Frei” which translates to “Work Sets You Free”, a very sarcastic sign on the entrance to the place where millions of people died.

Electric Fences Can Be Seen Everywhere

Pictures of electric fences, no matter where you go, everywhere would be an electric fence with high voltage.

Confiscated Good from Auschwitz Prisoners

In Auschwitz, Nazis tend to confiscate anything they could from prisoners. They would take every suitcase to find out if there were any valuables, gold teeth would also be taken away from people.

If something could be confiscated, it would be…

Suitcases would be taken away, opened and anything that had any value would be taken away. The rest most probably was thrown away

The Death Wall

Here I share a few pictures of a “Death wall”, a place where Nazis would execute political prisoners and everyone else who had a death sentence. Several thousand people were shot here, mostly polish by SS men.

Now the wall is reconstructed and many visitors would bring flowers in memory of people that were killed here.

Just one more picture of the “Death Wall”, showing the whole place where prisoners were executed.

Crematorium & Gas Chamber

Here are two pictures from Auschwitz main camp, showing the Gas Chamber and Crematorium.

And here we have a picture of empty Zyklon B canisters…

Auschwitz Gallows

It happened that some prisoners were hanged, but it was not so common thing. Prisoners that tried to escape Auschwitz would be hung in public, so others would not try to follow their steps; but also other reasons.

Here we have the place where Rudolf Franz Ferdinand Höss was hanged in 1947 following a trial before the Polish Supreme National Tribunal. He was the longest-serving commandant of Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp.

Pictures from Auschwitz II-Birkenau

Located about 3 km away from Auschwitz I, the main camp. It was the largest camp, where about 90% of the victims of Auschwitz Concentration Camp died.

Here is the closer view of “the Gate of Death”.

How the barracks look on the outside. If you’re interested in learning about life in the camp, please check this article.

Prisoners of the concentration camp in Birkenau would be sleeping on those bunks.

When the Soviet Army was approaching, the Germans decided to destroy gas chambers and crematoria in Auschwitz II Birkenau, this picture shows how the place looks today.

When you’re exploring and learning about Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, at the end of the tour you end up here, seeing this just a normal looking gate.

However, after just 2-3 hours tour and being inside the camp, seeing this gate makes you feel so free.

It’s impossible to grasp through what kind of pain the prisoners went through, but those who survived, seeing this gate opening and walking out of the camp, I hope they experienced this wonderful feeling of freedom.

Extra Tips for Interested in Visiting the Museum

Disclaimer:
*In the spirit of full disclosure, there is an affiliate link from DiscoverCracow, which means that I get a commission if you decide to purchase theirs service. There is no extra cost to you and it helps me to support this blog.

Here are some of my personal tips for people interested in visiting the Museum of Auschwitz-Birkenau:

• When you’re visiting Krakow, it’s quite easy to get to the museum by yourself, you have several options to choose from, read here if you want to know how to get to Auschwitz-Birkenau.
• If you don’t mind paying a bit extra and having everything organized for you, including transportation from Krakow, Auschwitz tour might be something for you.
• Make sure you eat something before you go, and take a bottle of water with you or something else to drink. You might think you can buy some snacks or drinks in Auschwitz when you get hungry. Yes, you can, however, the prices there are outrageous. A SMALL bottle of water would cost you as much as 3 big bottles in the city and instead of getting a small snack you could get a nice dinner in the city.
• Most probably you’re aware of that, however, it’s good to mention. Auschwitz-Birkenau is a very sad place, so expect to have overwhelming feelings of sadness after visiting the Museum. Also, wear appropriate clothing. Still, I highly recommend visiting the site, it’s something we all should learn about us, our history and what we as humans are capable of.