video tour of auschwitz

VIDEO: A chilling tour of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp

More than 1.1 million men women and children – most of them Jews – perished at Auschwitz-Birkenau. It was the largest of the thousands of concentration camps dotting Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II. FRANCE 24’s Gulliver Cragg and Pavel Pieniajek report from the former camp.

Issued on: 27/01/2020 - 11:29

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“Work sets you free”, the notorious sign hanging over the entrance of Auschwitz says. But it’s a deceptive message: From 1942 and onward, 80 percent of the people arriving at the camp were never given the chance to work for their freedom at all, instead they were immediately sent to their deaths.

Dorota Kuczynska, a guide working at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial, says deceit was always a key aspect of the Nazis' strategy. "The Germans went to great lengths to hide the truth. For example, they sold train tickets to Auschwitz to Jews from Greece. For the same reason, they sold non-existent houses and land in Poland," she explains. Visitors touring the former camp can read the packing lists the Nazis had sent the Jews and see the things they had brought with them, though most of those items were confiscated upon arrival. The memorial also has models on display showing how the exterminations were carried out, as well as some of the poison gas cylinders that were used. Although the Nazis tried to destroy the most flagrant pieces of evidence, including the gas chambers and the crematoriums, much of the camp’s infrastructure remains intact. It is painful to look at, but people from all over the world clearly feel it is important. Last year 2.3 million people visited the memorial – a number that increases from year to year. To watch the full report, please click on the player above.

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Auschwitz, A Virtual Reality Tour

Discover history like never before as the Spirit of Triumph tour uses Virtual Reality (VR) technology to offer a firsthand perspective of Auschwitz. Rabbi Yisrael Goldwasser, an internationally acclaimed speaker on the subject of the Holocaust, narrates this moving tour of the camp. Participants will be able to explore the haunting landscapes and barracks, fostering empathy and a deeper understanding of the Holocaust. 

“ It is the most amazing footage that you will ever see. I don’t think if you go to Birkenau Auschwitz, alive in real-time, you [will] see what you see in this video, especially the narration and the different stories that are told. ” – Rabbi Eli J. Mansour,Rabbinic Leader at Magen David Yeshivah in Brooklyn, NY

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Visiting Auschwitz – How to Plan the Auschwitz Tour

Last Updated on 23/07/2024 by kami

Visiting Auschwitz, albeit a very somber experience, is one of the must things to do in Poland. The largest Nazi Germany concentration and extermination camp during World War II, where over 1,3 million people lost their lives, needs no introduction. Conveniently located near Krakow , Auschwitz can be an easy addition to your Poland itinerary.

It took me almost 37 years to finally visit Auschwitz (although I’ve been to other Nazi Germany camps in Poland), and even if I knew very well what to expect, the place still overwhelmed me with its cruelty and tragedy. And I think everyone should plan a trip to Auschwitz to understand history better and see what people are capable of when the ideology brainwashes them. And, of course, to pay respect to all the unnecessary victims. It’s important to visit places like Auschwitz so we can do our best to prevent similar tragedies from happening in the future.

If you are visiting Poland (especially Krakow , Warsaw , Katowice , or Wroclaw ), I prepared this guide to help you plan your Auschwitz tour without too much hassle. There are different ways to visit Auschwitz, but no matter which one you choose, be prepared for one of the most difficult yet necessary travel experiences of your life.

Table of Contents

Where is Auschwitz

The former Nazi Germany Concentration Camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, is located in a town of around 37.000 inhabitants called Oświęcim in southern Poland. Krakow is less than 70 km away, and Katowice is 35 km away. Warsaw, the capital of Poland, is around 330 km away from Oświęcim.

A brief history of Auschwitz

Even if Auschwitz is known mainly as the extermination camp, it was established as a concentration camp in mid-1940. It was one of over 40 camps in Poland that were supposed to be a solution to the problem of overflowing prisons full of arrested locals. The first people were brought to Auschwitz on June 14th, 1940, from the prison in Tarnow.

Since 1942 Auschwitz has also been used as the extermination camp where Nazis implemented their plan to murder Jewish people from all over Europe. At the peak of its operation, in 1944, Auschwitz was divided into three parts: Auschwitz I (the oldest one, in the old Polish military barracks), Auschwitz II-Birkenau (the largest one, founded in 1941, the majority of victims were killed here), and Auschwitz III (this was a group of over 40 sub-camps created near industrial plants, made for work prisoners).

Numerous Polish villages were demolished, and locals were evicted to develop such a large institution. The camps were isolated from the outside world. The total area was around 40 square kilometers, including all three Auschwitz camps and the so-called “interest zone” used for the technical or supply background, offices, and barracks for Nazis.

Since Auschwitz had a strategic location on the front line, in August 1944, the camp’s liquidation began – the prisoners were taken to Germany, and the evidence of the crimes was covered up. The liberation of Auschwitz took place on January 27th, 1945, when around 7,5 thousand prisoners were still held there.

Altogether, in the almost four years of operation, over 1,3 million people lost their lives in Auschwitz; the majority were Jewish (around 1,1 million), but also Polish (about 150 hundred thousand), Roma people (23 thousand), and other nations.

In 1979 Auschwitz was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List – it is the only former Nazi concentration camp with that title in the world.

How to visit Auschwitz

You can visit Auschwitz two ways: with a tour from where you are staying in Poland (most likely Krakow, Katowice, Warsaw, or Wroclaw) or independently, reaching the site by car or using public transport. Both options are doable; however, the tour is a slightly better one as everything will be taken care of for you.

There is a wide selection of tours to choose from that depart from Krakow as well as other mentioned cities. Most of them cover more or less the same things: pick-up from your accommodation, transportation to/from Auschwitz and back, the entrance ticket to the concentration camp, and the guided tour on-site.

When I visited Auschwitz, I arrived by train from Warsaw, with the change in Katowice. I was at the museum almost an hour before my guided tour of the site was supposed to start, and despite the poor weather (it was raining on that day), there was no place to hide and wait for the tour. Visitors were not allowed to enter the museum until a few minutes before the tour was about to start. Me and a few other unlucky visitors just stood near the trees, hiding under the umbrella and waiting for our time to enter the site. I can’t say it was a comfortable situation (but at least the weather worked perfectly well for such a sad place to visit). Recently, a new visitors center was opened so hopefully the situation is better.

When using public transport, you need to rely on the schedule of trains/buses and, just in case, plan to be at the site with some extra time ahead; hence a tour is a better option. Still, visiting Auschwitz is doable independently – I did it, and once the tour of the site started, it was really good.

Visiting Auschwitz – practical information

Visiting Auschwitz memorial site is free of charge; however, I recommend joining the tour with the educator provided by the museum. They have a huge knowledge of the place and the tragedy that occurred here and can answer all the questions visitors always have. Tours are available in various languages: Polish, English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Czech, and Slovak.

Even if you decide to visit the site independently, you still need to book the entry pass – those with free entrance start in the afternoon. You can buy/reserve your ticket online at the website of Auschwitz Museum here.

Currently, the price for the tour with the educator is 80 PLN for Polish and 90 PLN for other languages. When booking the ticket, you must state your full name and surname – this will be checked later.

Since tickets can sell out quickly, booking one at least a month in advance is recommended. If there are no tickets left for the day you want to visit Auschwitz, you can join the organized tour from Krakow or other cities, as tour operators usually have tickets booked in advance. Due to the sensitive nature of the place, children under 14 years old should not visit Auschwitz Museum.

Once you have your ticket, you need to arrive at the Auschwitz visitors center 30 minutes before your tour starts to go through the security check (it’s rather thorough, similar to the airport), have your ticket inspected (remember to have the ID or passport with you), get the headset for the tour and meet your group. You are allowed to have a bag or backpack with a maximum dimension of 30x20x10 cm; any larger luggage must be left in the paid lockers.

Auschwitz Museum is open every day except January 1st, December 25th, and Easter Sunday. Opening hours vary depending on the month and are as follows:

• 7:30-14:00 in December
• 7:30-15:00 in January and November
• 7:30-16:00 in February
• 7:30-17:00 in March and October
• 7:30-18:00 in April, May, and September
• 7:30-19:00 in June, July, and August

The closing time means the last entrance – after that, you are allowed to stay on-site for an hour and a half. However, if you want to see Auschwitz Museum properly, you need at least 3,5 hours for that – that’s also how long the standard tour with the educator lasts. It is usually divided equally between Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II- Birkenau. A free shuttle bus runs between the two sites every few minutes.

Taking pictures and making videos is allowed in Auschwitz, for individual use, except in two places: the hall with the hair of Victims (block nr 4) and the basements of Block 11. Your educator will remind you not to take pictures there.

Remember what sort of place you are visiting and behave there with respect. It might be obvious for most, but I can’t count how many times I’ve read news about inappropriate behavior in Auschwitz and other similar sites in Poland, so I think it’s worth reminding this is not your typical tourist attraction but a place of one of the greatest tragedy that ever happened in the world.

Getting to Auschwitz independently

If you decide to visit Auschwitz on your own, you must get to the visitors’ center, where your tour will start. The new visitors center, which opened just recently, is located at 55 Więźniów Oświęcimia Street in Oświęcim ( here is the exact location ). If you drive there, there is a large parking lot where you can leave your car before visiting the museum.

If you use public transport, there are both trains and buses you can take to reach Oświęcim. I recommend trains as they are slightly faster and more comfortable; however, some buses stop next to the museum, so that’s convenient. You can check all the connections on this website , where you can also find the location of the bus stop in Oświęcim (there can be three different ones).

The train station in Oświęcim is located at Powstańców Śląskich Street, some 20 minutes walking from the Auschwitz museum. It’s a straightforward way; you can check the map with the directions here . I recommend catching the train that gives you at least an hour between arriving at Oświęcim and when your tour starts.

Auschwitz tour from Krakow

Numerous Auschwitz tours depart from Krakow, so you will easily find the one that suits your itinerary and needs. Here are some recommended ones:

• Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum and Memorial Guided Tour from Krakow
• Auschwitz & Birkenau – Fully Guided Tour from Krakow
• Auschwitz-Birkenau Guided Tour with Private Transport from Kraków
• Auschwitz-Birkenau Guided Tour by Private Transport from Krakow

You can also combine visiting Auschwitz with Wieliczka Salt Mine , another UNESCO-listed site near Krakow and a must-visit place in Poland. Here are the tours that go to both places in one day:

• Day Trip to Auschwitz-Birkenau and Wieliczka Salt Mine from Krakow including Lunch
• Full-Day Tour of Auschwitz and Wieliczka Salt Mine from Krakow
• Auschwitz-Birkenau and Salt Mine Tour with private transport from Krakow
• Combined: Auschwitz Birkenau and Salt Mine private chauffeur from Krakow

If you decide to go to Auschwitz from Krakow on your own, you can take the train from the main train station to Oświęcim. They are rather frequent, more or less every hour, and the journey takes a bit over an hour (depending on the connection, the longest one is 1h20min).

If you want to take the bus, they depart from the MDA bus station, next to the main train station. The price for trains and buses is similar, between 15 and 20 PLN, although trains tend to be cheaper and faster. You can check all the connections and buy a ticket here .

Auschwitz tour from Warsaw

Even if Warsaw, the capital of Poland, is located over 300 km away from Oświęcim, it is possible to go for a one-day Auschwitz tour. However, you can expect a long day, and a large part of it will be spent traveling. But if you are visiting Warsaw only, Auschwitz can be a good addition to your Poland itinerary, so you can better understand the country’s complex history.

Here are some of the recommended Auschwitz tours from Warsaw:

• From Warsaw Auschwitz and Krakow one day tour by train with pick up and drop off
• One day tour to Auschwitz-Birkenau from Warsaw with private transport

Going for the day trip from Warsaw to Auschwitz independently is also possible using trains. You can take the 6 am train to Katowice and then change for the train to Oświęcim, arriving in the town around 10:30. If you decide to do that, you can book your Auschwitz tour for 11:30 or 12:00. On the way back, you can catch the train after 16:00 from Oświęcim to Katowice, and after changing for the train to Warsaw, you will be in the capital after 20:00.

Auschwitz tour from Katowice

Since Katowice is less than 40 km from Auschwitz, it’s easy to go for a day trip. You need to take the local train to Oświęcim, it takes less than 50 minutes, and the connections are more or less every hour.

Or you can go for a tour, here are the Auschwitz tours from Katowice:

• Auschwitz – Birkenau from Katowice
• Auschwitz & Birkenau English guided tour by private transport from Katowice
• Auschwitz tour from Wroclaw

Wroclaw is another popular place to visit in Poland, and since it’s located around 230 km from Oświęcim, you can go for an Auschwitz tour from Wroclaw too. If you decide to do it independently, you can take the train to Katowice and then change for the local train to Oświęcim. A one-way trip should take you less than 4 hours.

Or you can go for a tour; here are the recommended ones from Wroclaw:

• Auschwitz-Birkenau Tour from Wrocław

Auschwitz Museum Tour

As for the museum itself, here is what you can expect.

You will start in the oldest part of the concentration camp – Auschwitz I, where the infamous gate with the sign “Arbeit macht frei” (meaning “Work Sets You Free”) is located. Here, you will visit numerous barracks where inmates were kept – now you can see different exhibitions there, showing the reality of Auschwitz and halls with personal belongings taken from arriving prisoners – luggage, shoes, glasses, etc., or hair of Victims. You will learn all about cruel practices here, including medical experiments or torture.

Visiting this part of Auschwitz museum is a very somber experience, and it’s really difficult to comprehend the tragedy that happened in this very place.

Besides the barracks in Auschwitz I, you will also see where the camp commander lived or the first crematorium where Nazis started their experiments with killing using gas. In this part of the Auschwitz tour, you can take pictures everywhere except the two places in Blocks 4 and 11 – they will be clearly marked, and your educator will remind you about this restriction.

The visit to Auschwitz I takes around 1,5 hours. Afterward, together with your group and educator, you will take the shuttle bus to Auschwitz II-Birkenau, located some 3 km away.

Auschwitz II-Birkenau is where around 90% of victims died. It is a huge area that worked kind of like the killing factory, with four gas chambers and crematoriums. This is also where most prisoners arrived – you most likely know the view of the railway tracks and brick gate – that’s Auschwitz II-Birkenau. This part of the visit is mostly outdoors.

You will walk around the area, see the remnants of the camp, visit some barracks inside, and learn all about the horrific tragedy that happened here. When Auschwitz I has a more intimate, even claustrophobic feeling, Auschwitz II-Birkenau can overwhelm you with its scale and enormity.

You will spend around 1,5 hours here, too; afterward, you can take the shuttle bus back to the visitors center when you started your tour.

Final thoughts on visiting Auschwitz

Even though I’ve lived in Poland almost my whole life, and Auschwitz has been a familiar topic since I remember, it took me nearly 37 years to finally visit the place. Before I was in different Nazi Germany sites in Poland, mostly in Majdanek in Lublin, so I didn’t feel the need to visit Auschwitz too. But I don’t regret the decision to go there eventually.

You can read and learn about the place, but nothing can prepare you for visiting Auschwitz. Some areas look familiar (after all, pictures of the “Arbeit macht frei” sign or Birkenau gate are present everywhere), but you will still be overwhelmed by the place and seeing it in real life. It’s hard to comprehend the cruelty and tragedy that happened here, and dealing with all the thoughts invading your mind afterward can take a while. It can be one of the most difficult-to-understand places you will ever visit.

Still, despite it all, I think everyone should go to Auschwitz to see where fanaticism and totalitarianism can lead and why we should avoid them at all costs.

Further reading

I published many articles about Poland that you might find useful when planning your trip there. Here are some of them:

• 37 Amazing Things to Do in Krakow, Poland
• 20 Great Places to Visit As Day Trips from Warsaw, Poland
• 17 Amazing Things to Do in Lublin, Poland
• The Complete Guide to Visiting Slownski National Park, Poland
• Visit Grudziadz – One of the Hidden Gems of Poland
• 19 Amazing Things to Do in Gdansk, Poland
• Visit Sandomierz, Poland – One of the Prettiest Towns in the Country
• Visiting Malbork Castle, Poland – the Largest Castle in the World
• 25 Amazing Things to do in Wroclaw, Poland
• and many more!

If you are looking for articles about a specific destination – check out the map with all the articles I’ve published (and their locations). You can also join my Facebook group about traveling in Central Europe and ask your questions there.

Travel Resources

You can find the best accommodation options at Booking . They have many discounts and excellent customer service. Click here to look for the place to stay in Poland

Never travel without travel insurance , you never know what might happen and better safe than sorry. You can check the insurance policy for Poland here.

I recommend joining organized tours to get to know the place better and to visit more places during your trip. You can find a great selection of tours at Get Your Guide – click here .

For the end I left a few announcements that might interest you:

• Sign up to my newsletter or follow me on Bloglovin to get updates about the new posts
• Join my Facebook group about Eastern Europe, the Balkans and former USSR and connect with fellow travellers and enthusiasts of these regions – just click here!
• I’ve included a few handy links of services and products I personally like and use so you can plan your own trip to Poland too. They are often affiliate links. This means I will get a small commission if you book/purchase anything through my links, at no extra costs for you. Thank you!

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I am thinking of visiting Auschwitz in a couple of months, when I’m transiting Poland. I’ve been recently to France and saw Camp des Milles, an interment camp from September 1939, from where thousands of people were sent to Auschwitz. It was an emotional experience and it can’t even be compared to what horrors happened in Auschwitz. I’m not sure if I’m ready for Auschwitz. I need to decide soon considering that I need to buy tickets so far in advance. Thank you for your informative post.

I think everyone should visit Auschwitz. It’s definitely a difficult place to see but it’s part of history and these places are a reminder that we should do everything to prevent the history from repeating itself.

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The Unforgettable Experience of Visiting Auschwitz Camps

As part of a week long trip to Eastern Europe, with our main destination set on visiting Auschwitz, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect during the visit. I know no better word to describe my visit to the two Auschwitz concentration camp sites than the word harrowing  (extremely disturbing or distressing; grievous).

My Experience Visiting Auschwitz

We spent about 6 hours between the two sites, and the visit is something that is nearly impossible to even describe. The best I can do is show you what I experience with a little bit of the history I learned while there and hope just a little piece of my experience can be carried over. This is a place everyone needs to visit when going to Eastern Europe. It is a place that just cannot be grasped without going there yourself.

Auschwitz I

Auschwitz, which had been a Polish barrack prior to World War II with the Germans took over Poland. The Nazi’s then used the site as a concentration camp initially to house Polish prisoners. The camp was expanded and eventually was large enough to house 16,000 people.

The entrance gate to Auschwitz was framed with the saying, “Arbeit macht frei” meaning “Work will set you free.” It was intended to give a false hope to the people imprisoned there. As we walked through the gate to what felt like a very large site we tried to comprehend the number of people that would have been imprisoned here.The guidebook said that by the end of the camp, there were 16,000 people imprisoned here.

Many of the buildings held memorials and historical information about the events of the war and the things that happened here. It was hard to take in everything that we read and saw. One of the most moving exhibits was these rows of proped up striped uniforms behind barbed wire fencing. They looked as if marching to their death with a wall of actual photos of people from the camps in the background. It was a horrible thing that took place here, and it is so important that we learn about and remember what happened so that history is not repeated.

The heart wrenching memorials continued with exhibit rooms filled with belongings of the people from the Auschwitz camps – including their pottery, shoes, suitcases, even their hair which was crudely shaved from their heads before they were sent to work or to their death.

It was at Auschwitz I where they trialed the first crematory and gas chamber. Walking in through the gas chamber was something that is hard to put into words. You could just feel the impact of this place and see the claw prints on the walls from the innocent people who were locked in and poisoned by gas. The gas chamber lead to the crematorium where they would then dispose of the bodies by fire. This gas chamber was eventually put out of use as they expanded their extermination efforts with a series of gas chambers at the nearby Auschwitz II – Birkenau.

At Auschwitz I also experimented with mass sterilization, experimentation on twins, drug trials and more. These inhumane experiments left survivors permanently disabled and many were killed either for the experiments or during experimentation due to the effects. Many executions took place at Auschwitz as well.

It was a place of so much death that it was hard to be there and experience everything that this place once was, but so important to do so. We spent about 3 hours at this camp, then went back to the apartment for lunch and to head to the second site.

Auschwitz II – Birkenau

Just 2 miles from Auschwitz I, the Germans began to build a second camp, Auschwitz II – Birkenau that would become the largest Nazi concentration camp and a place of mass extermination of Jews and other captives. It was important that we had visited Auschwitz I first to learn of the history and see the exhibits so that we could come to this second site with more awareness.

But when we walked through the large entrance gates and onto the railway tracks that brought so many people here we were completely blown away by the sheer size and capacity of this second camp. We had thought the first camp was large. This second camp, was impossible to grasp the magnitude.

Most of the sites lay in ruins with just the brick fireplaces and foundation still in place, which makes it such a harrowing site to see cabin after cabin in ruins but as far as you could see in both directions. The camp was being built to hold 200,000 prisoners on 432 acres of land, but was only partially completed by the spring of 1944 with more than 300 buildings on the site and 11 miles of electrified barbed-wire fencing!

The tracks that ran right through the entrance of the camp to the very back of the camp brought in the prisoners who would then undergo a “selection” where the majority were deemed unfit to work. In most train loads brought in, 75% or more of the people were sent immediately to the gas chambers to be killed. We were able to see the ruins of these gas chambers, as they were destroyed towards the end of the war to hide evidence of their war crimes committed.

Those not immediately killed would be sent through an humiliating process at the “Sauna” house. The people would be filled through a series of rooms, sometimes taking hours between each of the rooms. Their belongings were taken from them including their clothing, their heads were crudely shaved, they were then showered en mass with often very hot or very cold water and disinfected. From there, they would be given a camp uniform and wooden clogs along with a camp number.

The people were then shuttled into one of the barracks. We were able to go into one of the wooden barracks that was designed to hold 400 people, with a total of 15 people per triple bunk. In practice, the bunk platforms would hold 10 people sleeping on simple straw mats with not enough room to even roll over.

There was an incredibly moving display of the prisoners photographs of their peaceful and happy lives up until this horrific war. To see these thriving people that lived lives very similar to my own was heartbreaking. I tried to grasp all that they were put through during these terrible years, but it was impossible to experience the gravity of the events that took place here.

In the Auschwitz camps, it is estimated that over 1.3 million people were brought including over a million Jews. Of those brought to the camp, over 1,100,000 people were killed the majority of which were gassed and cremated.  About 90% of the victims were Jews.

For ever let this place be a cry of despair  and a warning to humanity,  where the Nazis murdered  about one and a half million  men, women, and children, mainly jews  from various countries of Europe.

Auschwitz – Birkenau 1940 – 1945

It is my hope that we will learn from the past and never let something like this ever happen again. In order to hold this resolve, we must try our best to grasp the cruelties that have happened at places like Auschwitz. By understanding them we will better be able to spot and fight against the cruelties of humanity and stand up against what is so clearly wrong.

I would absolutely recommend taking a trip to Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II – Birkenau, it is a place that everyone should visit as it is an experience you will never be able to forget.

To see how we set off on a 7-day vacation while sticking to a $1,000 budget, see our tips for budget-friendly travel .

Then, read about the rest of our journey through 5 different European countries . Auschwitz was just one of our stops, but needed it’s own post to cover this incredible place. Read on to experience the rest of our vacation including an easy itinerary you can follow!

Wednesday 10th of January 2018

Wow, this is heart breaking indeed, I am always interested in learning more about history. I couldn't even phantom living back in that time nor any of my family being in that camp. I would love to have my family visit Auschwitz concentration camp, I'm sure it would be very emotional that's for sure!

Tuesday 9th of January 2018

We went there several years ago, it really is a place you never forgot and leaves such a lasting impression.

I can only imagine how heavy it must be to be there, to know what had happened. I think it would be a meaningful experience to share with my family when all of my kids are a little older.

Monday 8th of January 2018

Thank you for posting this. As a Jew this is especially meaningful to me. Both sets of my Grandparents went through the war and were the only survivors of their entire family. My grandmothers were both sent to labor camps and managed to survive while one grandfather managed to stay alive by hiding in the forest and joining up with some partisans. My other grandfather was sent to Siberia and made it through! #neverforget

Friday 12th of January 2018

Oh man, you have a strong family! #fighters

We just watched Defiant last night and not sure if that was anything like your grandfather's experience, but it was definitely amazing all that they went through hiding in the forests!! I was so inspired that seeing these people through it all not lose their faith!

Desiree Lopez

It is an important thing that Auschwitz still stands so that we can be reminded of what happened here. I enjoy visiting historical places like this.

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Auschwitz Concentration Camp Virtual Tour

A brilliant mind and photographer left us this week, and my heart misses my friend Alan Jacobs whose Auschwitz Concentration Camp Virtual Tour is a breakthrough way to see the camp, even if you never are able to visit it.

Missing my friend, Alan Jacobs

Enter auschwitz krematorium 1 and take the tour with videos below – the top 3 are the original auschwitz concentration camp virtual tour. below those are the same 3 videos with captions by alan jacobs and art..

At the bottom of the page are text descriptions of what you see , with details and historical information and much more.

Auschwitz Krematorium 1

The first crematorium in Auschwitz Concentration Camp.

The door below the chimney is the entrance to the gas chamber.

The building was converted from an old munitions bunker to a crematorium, circa July 5, 1940.

Scrolling you see the SS hospital.

Further to the right is a street that ends at the admissions building (see map), and to its right maintenance building and workshops.

Still further is a parking lot for people who work in the Memorial.

All photos and videos are Copyright Alan Jacobs and Remember.org. Auschwitz Concentration Camp - Krematorium 1 Gas Chamber Victims were led in through the door at the front left.

To the right and near the top edge of the photo, is another post-war reconstruction.

Notice the rectangular dark area, one of the ceiling openings through which the “Zyklon B” blue crystals were poured from the rooftop by SS guards wearing gas masks as they were immediately activated on release from their canisters.

Scrolling to another doorway, you catch a glimpse of the furnace room.

The poisonous agent, “Zyklon B”, was used in Germany before and during the war for disinfection and pest extermination in ships, buildings and machinery.

In Auschwitz it was used exclusively for sanitation and pest control until the end August of 1941.

From that time it was also used as an agent of mass annihilation, first experimentally (on Russian POW’s) and then routinely.

Zyklon B consisted of diatomite, in granules the size of fine peas saturated with prussic acid.

In view of its volatility and the associated risk of accidental poisoning, it was supplied to the camp in sealed metal canisters.

The Zyklon used at Auschwitz was produced by the firm Degesch (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Schädlingsbekämpfung mbH), with headquarters in Frankfurt am Main and forming a part of IG Farbenindustrie.

Zyklon B painting by Geoffrey Laurence

Copyright All Rights Reserved.

All photos and videos are Copyright Alan Jacobs and Remember.org. Auschwitz Concentration Camp - Krematorium 1 Furnace

Two sets of furnaces where bodies were burned .

The device at the oven mouth is mounted on rails and used to push the bodies into the flames.

Scroll and look through the door to the gas chamber (see Krematorium 1 Gas Chambers, Video #2 on this page and described above).

After gassing, prisoners workers called Sonderkommando (special workers), men who were forced on pain of death to do this work, carried or dragged the bodies to the rail carts that were used to push the bodies into the ovens.

Scrolling around you see some of the devices used for another oven no longer there.

This was an early version of the industrial mass production methods used for murdering countless souls.

As you will see in the Birkenau exhibition ( see Birkenau Map ), the Nazis were to greatly improve the size and efficiency of their mass destruction methods.

All photos and videos are Copyright Alan Jacobs and Remember.org.

For all who never had a chance to meet and work with Alan Jacobs

For 25 years I helped him share his visions and his breakthrough VR work, a Virtual Tour of Auschwitz Concentration Camp – because he knew that a single photograph couldn’t compare to a 360 degree virtual experience, immersing in a place rather than watching a photo..

His last email sent a few weeks ago still makes me smile…

“What can only a grateful thanks  be enough?  … but just thank you for your dedication, diligence, expertise, talent, and most of all FRIENDSHIP!

All my very best Declan,

Jake”

To sum up Jake in a sentence is impossible, his life was one of exploring and sharing and finding meaning, from firehouses in Chicago to the fields of Auschwitz…much of his work on Remember.org are collaborations with his dear wife Krysia.

A few words from someone who touched mine and millions of lives with his work, generations of people have grown up viewing his photos and articles.

“I set out to discover as much as I can, never realizing at the time the complexity of the job or how captivating it would become, the tight-knit community I was allowed to enter, the tragedy, and the humor, the honesty and openness, the help I would receive and… the friendships. What a bunch they are.”

Alan Jacobs – after living with Chicago area firefighters for a year, and writing a book about the experience.

“Thank God for These Guys” at: ThankGodForTheseGuys.com

“Before starting this significant criticism of Israeli policy for the Palestinians I think a short history of my involvement with the Holocaust is necessary.

My first trip to Auschwitz was in 1979. Since that time I have made eight separate trips to Poland and the two camps there, Auschwitz and Birkenau . My photographic work of Mauthausen and the two camps mentioned above are published on the Cybrary of the Holocaust, and one exhibition, the Virtual Tour of Auschwitz and Birkenau won a first prize in an Adobe world wide competition.”

Alan Jacobs was a psychotherapist, and also an author and independent researcher on issues related to genocide and the abuse of power.

He has been to Auschwitz and Birkenau many times. During those visits, he interviewed numerous survivors and took many photographs of the camps.

He has also spent many hours viewing artifacts, art and photographs stored at the Auschwitz Museum Archives. He made a film using the words and art of survivors and SS photos.

Although still a work in progress, it has been shown in universities, professional conferences, cultural centers etc.

Jacobs has had several articles published on the structure of dictatorship and for some of this work he received the 1996 Eric Berne Memorial Award for social applications of theory.

He wrote about autocratic power, nationalism, aspects of survival, and explanations of why people commit mass murder and genocide.

Jacobs is the editor of Idea, an e-journal of articles, stories and reviews dedicated to discussion and exploration of cults, totalism, autocracy, war, holocaust and genocide.

Also a psychotherapist and trainer, Jacobs has has conducted workshops for professional therapists in the USA and abroad.

Most of all, he was a friend to many, supporting them through his photos and his words,  always challenging  mediocre ways of thinking, and a blast to hang out with.

While he’s missed, his work lives on, as does his vision of a world that can do better, and only will if we challenge it.

Thanks for the 25 years of knowing you, being pushed by your amazing energy and creativity, and most of all, for the friendship.

Would say I’ll miss you, though your presence in my heart is always there, and a honor to share a part of this life journey with you my friend.

Remember. Zachor. Sich erinnern.

Remember.org helps people find the best digital resources, connecting them through a collaborative learning structure since 1994. If you'd like to share your story on Remember.org, all we ask is that you give permission to students and teachers to use the materials in a non-commercial setting. Founded April 25, 1995 as a "Cybrary of the Holocaust". Content created by Community. THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT . History Channel ABC PBS CNET One World Live New York Times Apple Adobe Copyright 1995-2024 Remember.org. All Rights Reserved. Publisher: Dunn Simply

APA Citation

Dunn, M. D. (Ed.). (95, April 25). Remember.org - The Holocaust History - A People's and Survivors' History. Retrieved February 28, 2022, from remember.org

MLA Citation

'I visited Auschwitz and was horrified to see the one thing tourists were doing'

Auschwitz is a place you'll never forget visiting. Most people walk around in silence and little is said even after the experience - but everyone should do it once.

With many visitors in tears, I was shocked and horrified to see other guests posing for selfies on the train tracks which brought Holocaust victims to the death camp in southern Poland.

The memorial has asked guests in the past to respect the memory of those killed and to not take images but it would appear that despite this request, photos among visitors are still popular - in what many, including myself, see as one of the greatest signs of disrespect.

The Nazis murdered more than 1.1 million Jewish people at Auschwitz. Hundreds of thousands of others died, most of whom were Polish citizens.

While most people agree that taking images while at the site is distasteful and disrespectful, some have defended selfie-takers.

They argue that this is the new generations way of engaging with history and any engagement with this important part of history is better than none at all.

On my visit, I saw many guests hiding tears behind sunglasses and discretly carrying tissues. Most people didn't talk and not much was said between visitors before, during or after the tour was over.

While walking through the gas chamber, guests are asked to stay entirely silent and not to take any images from inside. It's eerie, dark and damp as you walk through the empty space and it's heartbreaking to think of what happened there. It seems odd to see people walking around and 'touring' a place where such awful things happened but at the same time, it feels like people should be there learing about this important part of history first hand.

I arranged my tour through Tripadvisor which included a pick up and drop off from my hotel. Most people travel to the concentration camp by car as there is a drive between Auschwitz and Birkenau if you are planning on seeing both which most tours include.

This comes after last week, influencer Anna Redman, posted her 'outfit inspiration' for a trip to the concentration camp.

Furious followers branded her 'tone-deaf' leading her to issue an apology.

She said: "I'm severely sorry for any pain I caused when sharing my packing notes story. I understand how flippant it came off labelling that day with the trip we are taking.

"I understand the heaviness of visiting Auschwitz and have been planning accordingly since we added seeing it in our travel plans. Again, I'm very sorry and took it down as soon as I understood the gravity of the mistake I made."

The same issue has also been present at other holocaust memorials such as Berlin's Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe which is a popular place for tourists to visit.

Basic information

•  Admission  to the grounds of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial is free of charge. The entry cards should be reserved on visit.auschwitz.org . For better understanding the history of Auschwitz we suggest a visit with an guide-educator

• The fees are charged for guided tours. Visitors in groups are required to engage an Auschwitz Memorial guide.  There is also possibility  for individual visitors to join a guided tour . 

• The Museum also organizes  online guided tours   for groups and individual visitors.

• While on the grounds of the Museum, you are required to observe the appropriate solemnity and respect. Before the visit please read " the rules for visiting ".

• Due to overwhelming demand, please book in advance and arrive at the Memorial at least 30 minutes before the start of the tour due to security checks. The main car park and entrance to the Museum is located at  55 Więźniów Oświęcimia Street .

• The grounds and buildings of the Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau camps are open to visitors. The duration of a visit is determined solely by the individual interests and needs of the visitors. As a minimum, however, at least three-and-a-half hours should be reserved.

• The maximum size of backpacks or handbags brought into the Museum does not exceed dimensions: 35x25x15 cm.

• Visitors may leave their luggage in paid luggage storage. The dimensions of the luggage storages expressed in centimeters are 90x50x22, 60x50x22 and 85x65x42, internal dimensions are: 90x50x30, 60x50x30 and 90x65x50, and their maximum load is 30 kg.

Taking pictures  on the grounds of the State Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oświęcim for own purposes, without use of a flash and stands, is allowed for exceptions to a room with the hair of Victims (Block 4) and the basements of Block 11. Material may be used only in undertakings and projects that do not violate the good name of the Victims of Auschwitz. Photography and filming on the Museum grounds for commercial purposes, at spaces closed to visitors or with a drone , require prior approval by the Museum.

• Guides . Visitors in groups are required to engage an Auschwitz Memorial guide; individual visitors may also  engage a guide-educator . For them we offer  organized tours .
• Groups of more than 10 people  are required to hire a headphone guiding system.
• Disabled . Because of the need to preserve the historical authenticity of the site of the Memorial it may be difficult for dissabled persons to move around the grounds and buildings. In order to help visitors with disabilities wheelchairs are available free of charge at the Visitor Service Centre. More information...
• It is not recommended  that children under 14 visit the Memorial

While on the grounds of the Museum,  you are required to observe  the appropriate solemnity  and respect.

• via @auschwitzmuseum" aria-label="Udostępnij na Twitter">

Images from www.auschwitz.org may be used only in publications relating to the history of the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau or the activities of the Auschwitz Memorial. Their use must not tarnish the good reputation of the victims of KL Auschwitz. Any interference in the integrity of the images – including cropping or graphic processing – is prohibited. The use of the images for commercial purposes requires the Museum’s approval and information about the publication. Publishers undertake to indicate the authors and origin of the images: www.auschwitz.org, as well as to inform the Museum of the use of the images ([email protected]).