Auschwitz-Birkenau

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Took the local mini-bus the hour and 40 min journey to Auschwitz, arriving before 10am means that the museum is free. There were already a lot of people there at 8:30am, tour groups as well as independent people. IN fact couldn’t believe the number of people we saw today.



The whole experience here was not what I had imagined. I felt moved last year visiting the museum at Hiroshima, I didn’t get the same feelings today, more somber. The camp at Auschwitz is surprisingly intact, 28 or so large brick buildings, today was a lovely sunny day and they are set in lawns with nice trees, all oddly pleasant. Very hard to picture the horror that went on. The museum is well laid out with exhibitions in the various buildings. There were a few personal stories from survivors, how they survived is hard to believe. The most disturbing exhibit was the 200 kg of hair taken from women, the mass of shoes, spectacles, suitcases (with their names on), brushes and other personal effects. There’s a lot of information, lots of graphic detail and blown up photos. The two areas that the sign asks for silence because so many were murdered here were both spoilt by Spanish speaking tour guides talking incessantly. We spent about 3 hours looking around the museum and felt quite overwhelmed by the information. From the museum there’s a free shuttle bus the 3km to Birkenau. This was Auschwitz II and much larger, it’s the main place where the mass gassings, cremations and other types of murder went on. It’s also the classic image seen in movies, with the train tracks going right to the entrance. Much of this was destroyed by the Nazis, or later. It is more eerie and somehow more atmospheric than the Auschwitz side.

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