Auschwitz Tour (Caution: Graphic Content Included)

After about an hour drive from Krakow, we arrived at the Auschwitz Concentration Camp I. The first of the three camps located in this small town just outside the city of Krakow is where we would begin our tour. We met our tour guide, walked through security, were given our headsets and then were off.

Auschwitz "Arbeit Macht Frei" entrance gate.

We began our tour at one of the famous entrances of the Auschwitz camp, the main entrance gate. This gate, also called “Arbeit Macht Frei” means work will set you free, something that was clearly not true, and something that the prisoners would quickly come to realize if they hadn’t already. Walking through the same gate that so many of those who were murdered and were promised a new and better life but were set free by death and not work was something truly humbling.

We then walked by many of the block buildings where prisoners were forced to live. We then were able to enter a few of the buildings, some of which where the housing for the prisoners, some of which were hospitals where medical tests were completed on the prisoners, on children, on babies, and even pregnant mothers. The doctors there would inject patients with diseases, sterilized men and women, castrated them, and even attempted to change the color of people’s eyes. Hearing some of these stories was absolutely horrific and unimaginable that anyone would even consider doing some of the acts we were told about during our tour of the Auschwitz I camp.

Auschwitz I concentration camp prosthesis.

We then went through another building filled with rooms full of belongings of those who lost their life at the camp. As soon as they arrived, the one bag they were promised to be able to bring was quickly stripped away from them and searched. Any money sent directly to the German Deutsche Bank, the bank of the Nazi Regime and any valuables taken and given to the guards. Rooms full of suitcases, brushes, pots, shoes, and most devastatingly were rooms full of prosthetic arms and legs as well as a room full of human hair shaved from the prisoner's heads. The amount of hair collected was horrifyingly sad, something that brings true meaning to what happened during this horrific time.

Auschwitz I camp remaining gas chamber.

Afterward, we headed to one of the remaining gas chambers. This was by far one of the saddest and most devastating places to visit. To be in the same room that so many people lost their lives to suffocation from poisonous gas was something you can't imagine. While extremely sad, it was an experience that makes you start to understand the scope of the things that went on in the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Auschwitz Birkenau concentration camp.

We then headed to Auschwitz Birkenau, the location where the prisoners arrived, stuffed in cattle train cars about five times a day and awaited their fate. They had to wait about three and a half hours to be seen whether they were fit to work or unfit and should be sent to the gas chambers just hours after arriving. A “doctor” stood there, looked the prisoner and in a matter of seconds determined the fate of the incoming people, whether they were to be suffocated in the poisonous gas or to be worked to death in the labor camps in Auschwitz.

We saw a few remains of the gas chambers that were destroyed right before the liberation to hide evidence of the crimes they committed. While it was an experience filled with sad emotions and depressing history, I definitely recommend a visit here if you are planning to go to Krakow.

To view my photos of Auschwitz, Click Here!

In honor of all those who lost their lives, their families, their friends, and their dignity during an absolutely horrific and devastating time.