Auschwitz Concentration Camp

We made a side-trip to Auschwitz Concentration Camp. There were scheduled buses that brought us there from Krakow bus terminal. We paid for an English guided tour so we could have a better understanding of the place. It was well worth the time and price. We left the camp feeling both sadness for the Jewish prisoners and anger at those who did the horrible things to them.

(Top row, left) A sculpture of a man chained to a pillar till his death.

(Top row, right) “Arbeit Macht Frie”, ie. “Work Sets You Free” - where in fact, the only way out was through the crematoriums' chimneys.

(Bottom row, left) Electric fencing that can be seen around the camp.

(Bottom row, right) There were so many captured prisoners that a second storey had to be added to the building.


In "X-Men: First Class" movie, Magneto grew up here.

Auschwitz Concentration Camp

(Top row, left) A wall designed to catch bullets.

(Top row, right) The outside view of a “Dark Cell”, which could hold up to 30 prisoners. There was only a small window near the top of the cell for ventilation. In winter, snow would fill the trench outside the window and the prisoners in the cell would suffocate.

(Bottom row, left) Photos of prisoners who were hung at that spot.

(Bottom row, right) This was where Hitler was hung after the war.

Auschwitz Concentration Camp

(Top row, left): Even though the camp was opened to tourists, there were still some restrictions for visitors of the camp, some were out of respect for those who have perished.

(Top row, right): A signboard showing where "the corpse of prisoners shot while trying to escape were displayed, as a warning to others".

(Bottom row, left): The camp orchestra kept the prisoners in step, so it was easier to count them.

(Bottom row, right): A signboard stating "If a Polish prisoner escaped, the family members were arrested and sent to Auschwitz. They were made to stand under a sign announcing the reason for their arrest and that they will remain in the camp until the fugitive was found. So that other prisoners would be aware of this policy."