So true.

I went from Prague to Krakow on the train, looking out the window all of a sudden off in the distance there is the Death Gate of Birkenau. It hit me that these European rail lines have been in place for 100 years, these tracks are the same route so many rode--one way.

There is an early morning direct train from Krakow and a late afternoon no change back. Travel from Krakow on the train seems an appropriate way to visit. You travel in the morning on the same route Krakow residents went--one way. In the afternoon you are so grateful that your trip was not one way--you get to leave on the train. Leaving a place never felt so good.

There are a lot of tour busses, and crowds in the morning, but most start leaving about 1 or 2 in the afternoon. Stay till at least 5 and you will almost have the place to yourself.

Visit the bookstore at Auschwitz 1 first and buy a guidebook with maps, very helpful for self guided tours.

Visit the barracks exhibits at Auschwitz 1. They have rooms with glass walls half full of "collected items". The suitcases are one thing, the mountain of shoes is another, by the time you see the piles of eyeglasses and artificial limbs and realize how many people they represent you will be asking "how can this be real?"

Birkenau is the one that will change you. It was built on bare farm land for one purpose. The SIZE of the place will stagger you. It does not hit you until you stand there. Nothing prepares you for how big it is. Climb up to the top of the Death Gate tower and look at the place. Pictures you have seen of the rail siding selection platform do not convey how long it is and how many cars it could unload at one time. I kept thinking "I know this is real, but HOW CAN THIS BE REAL?"

Everyone on this planet should visit Birkenau.