Question about Auschwitz
 

I will be stopping by Auschwitz/Birkenau later this spring. I am unsure of how long to allow myself for visits to the concentration camps etc. My thinking is that probably 1 day between the 2 camps is enough.

Has anyone ever been there? Is that reasonable? Obviously I don't want to hang around for the sake of hanging around, but I also want to allow myself enough time to experience the place.

Merci,
MapleLeaf

It takes about an hour to drive there, as I recall, and they are very close to each other. Hire a private driver from your hotel for the trip. One day is sufficient. If you start out from Krakow at 0800, you should be back at 1400. That was my experience. I definitely think you should go as you are there and the site's importance in recent history. I must admit, I think the experience at the Holocaust museum in Washington, DC is a more moving experience.

GRF

Thank you grf1953

The whole point of my sidetrip to Krakow is to go to Auschwitz... for some reason I have a compelling need to go and experience what I consider one of the most evil places on earth. I have been to the Holocaust Museum in DC as well, I guess I will know after which one speaks to me more.

Merci

I agree, one day should suffice for both, unless you really want to spend time to "soak in" the gravity of the evil there. I certainly was left speechless and in tears at the palpable feeling of human suffering. It's astounding to think that people could treat their fellow man in any manner remotely resembling the horrors at these camps.

Just as compelling, if not more so, than the Holocaust Museum in Washington is the Jewish Museum in Berlin. I have no idea of your itinerary for your upcoming trip, but I encourage you to go some day.

More important than the amount of time you spend there, I think, is the depth of your experience. For that reason, I'd strongly recommend joining a group with a guide. You can reserve a space on an English-speaking guided tour on the website.

There are many guided tours leaving from Krakow, but they vary in quality. But if you join one of the groups led by the on-site guides, I'm sure your experience will be as meaningful as it was for me.

I was planning on getting a guide to take me through the camps. That being said I did want to wander on my own after as well, just digest, contemplate.

Now here is the million dollar question. Right now my itin is to go to Krakow enroute to other places (an addition 18 days of travel). With a bit of spinning I can go to Krakow on the end of my trip and then come home from there direct. Given the solemn nature of what it is, what it stands for etc., is it better to save the visit until the end?

I did a trip to Poland and Israel two years ago and yes, while the visit is one of the most powerful experiences i have ever had in my life, there is something beneficial, for me at least, to continue on and take your emotions from the Camps and put them to something positive. As moving as the experience will be, it is also important to see how Europe is changing (or not changing depending on how you look at it) and while your visit will always stay with you, it might be good to continue on and use that emotion in the rest of your trip, and your life. Just my opinion, others might disagree, and it will also depend on your connection to the place. But certainly give enough time to digest it all before moving on.

Well my trip from Auschwitz is actually taking me to Shanghai, Beijing and Tokyo (yeah I am going the long way around... what can I say, I am a true FT'r).

As for my personal connection. I am in Ministry. It is my belief that in order to experience and appreciate all that is good in this world, we also need to experience all that is evil. Honestly I can think of no more evil place than these concentration camps.

(btw just so you don't think I am morbid, I have been to Israel and next year will go to Macchu Pachu)

I've been to Auschwitz & Birkenau twice, once with a friend when backpacking the continent and again w/my wife when we backpacked through the region....

The first time there we got there by taking a bus from Krakow's main bus station - not a tourist bus, just a local only bus to Oscwencim (the Polish name of the town).

The second time I believe we found that the local bus times didn't work for us, so we took the train from Krakow Glowny station to Oscwencim. From there, we took a local bus to the main entrance to the camp - Auschwitz.

I'd personally advocate, based on that, just taking local transport to get there, why pay more for a "tourist" service, when you can get there like the locals would.......

As far as the amount of time you need - I think we went in the morning around 9am and returned by 4-5pm. The "main" camp - Auschwitz I - has the museums, videos, and some guides who might walk you around and give some true gravity to the place.

Then you want to catch the bus to Birkenau, or walk the 1-2 miles to that camp. The moment you arrive you'll know you're in a sad sad place. I can't explain it, but the camp enterance there, and the whole place feels like no where I've been. I just spent 2-3 hours walking around the vastness of the grounds and absorbing the feeling. I still vividly remember listening to an old Jewish man who was back with his grandsons telling them how HE was unloaded from the train cars and explaining the place to them. I can't even imagine how hard it must have been for a man like this to return to a place of such sorrow.

One thing that struck me was that there are new homes being built overlooking the Birekanu camp. Can you imagine that?

But I'm rambling. Just be sure to go. While not pleasant, it's one of those experiences that will stay with you.

-A

Portions of the post that previously appeared in this space have been deleted. I would provide you with a reason why, but doing so would likely be against the TOS.

Just to clarify, the correct spelling of the town name is Oswiecim. You'll probably need the correct spelling if you research train schedules, etc.

If you arrive in Oswiecim by train, it's only about 20-30 PLN to go to Museum Auschwitz by taxi. Also, you can take a taxi from Auschwitz to Birkenau, and usually the taxi will wait outside so that after you're done with Birkenau, they'll take you to the train station or wherever. Handy if you're pressed for time.

If you are not going back to Krakow afterwards, Katowice is about an hour away and a good point to catch a train, especially onward to Warsaw, Budapest, Vienna, or Prague.

Oswiecim is an important site. However, 1 day is enough. Hiring a driver and car from your hotel, and joining a tour at the camps, is the best way to see the site. Oswiecim is one of six former "Vernichtungslagen" in Poland. It is mostly in ruins, because it (like four others) was dynamited by the Nazis as the Soviets advanced. Only one of the Vernichtungslagen (in Eastern Poland) escaped Nazi destruction because the Soviets overran that camp before it could be blown up.

The salt mines are also really worth a visit! They are like the underground dwarven city in Lord of the Rings.

If you are staying in Krakow, there really isn't a need for a car and driver. Just take the local train from the main train station to Oswencim. Should take about 30-40 mins to get there. Once you there, you can take the shuttle bus (it's either free or very cheap, can't remember) or a taxi.

1 day is enough to see both camps (and you won't forget them for years) .

Salt Mines are a must-see as well.

There is a GREAT guide for Krakow and surrounding area at http://www.inyourpocket.com/poland/krakow/en/ . You can also buy a more detailed, printed version in the Krakow train station.

I don't know if "stopping by" is the right approach, but when I went to Dachau we were on site for a little less than four hours, so I think a full day would be enough. Do not expect to find any joy at all in anything on your vacation (or for that matter your life) for at least 36 hours after you leave. Fortunately, we were on a 38-day trip, and we were able to go decompress in Vienna for a day and just stare at each other.

As terrible as it is, a former concentration camp is something which everybody should experience once. It basically takes up three days of emotional and logistical time, so doing it on a vacation of less than 10 days is just insane. Mental preparation is incredibly important, or you'll just get blown away.

Thank you for this thread. Some years ago I sailed through Dachau on the train, did not stop, and have always wondered what it would have been like. Now, having read your testimony, I know I must go back and see.

I would imagine Auschwitz is a "better" experience. I went to Dachau and, although not a pleasant place at all, there isn't much left there to see, although the "Work Makes You Free" gate is pretty chilling. I found the museums discussed above, far more educational and emotional than Dachau.

I went to Dachau as well, and agree that when visiting a camp, you'll need time afterwards to digest and contemplate. It might be good to schedule something afterward (say, the next day) that's moving in a good way, like an art museum. That way you'll feel the emotion and importance -- which you'll carry with you for the rest of you're life -- but you can get back to vacationing.

You really can't compare Dachau with Auschwitz. It feels odd to even write that in a sentence but the memorial sites (what they are called now) were used for different purposes therefore, have a very different feel.

Dachau began as a place for political prisoners and was pretty much destroyed after liberation. Auschwitz was a death camp and was not as decimated as Dachau. Auschwitz 1 still has most buildings intact and Auschwitz 2 (Birkenau) has many barracks as well as the remains of the crematoriums. Birkenau is huge and there are many signs you will want to take time to read along your walk through the camp.

I have taken many groups to both Dauchau and Auschwitz. While Dauchau is about a 4 hour experience, Auschwitz is all day long. Please allow the entire day to absorb the site. Go early. Take your time going through the country exhibits (housed in the barracks at Auschwitz 1) and other buildings at the main camp. Then take a long quiet walk to Birkenau. You will find some of the former living barracks still up. Take time to walk through them. On one trip, we found artwork on the walls from 60 years before. The second camp leaves no doubt as to what occurred there. While the main camp could pass as a college campus (if you don't look too closely) there is no mistaking the vast, drab setting of Birkenau.
You can then take the shuttle bus back to the first site to pick up the bus or whatever ride got you to Oswiecim.

If you have any questions, feel free to pm me.

I have visited Dachau twice, and four hours is enough to visit. For my visit in the future, I plan to allow two or even three days at Auschwitz. It is the largest cemetary in the world without a single tombstone. From my readings, the size and gravity of the sight is unlike any other place on earth.

Please visit this site to get some preliminary information. http://www.remember.org/educate/intro.html

Also see the movie the Grey Zone which depicts the uprising in the camp by the Sonderkommandos.

I visited Auschwitz/Birkenau when I was a senior in high school on the March of the Living (www.motl.org, this a great program for Jewish teenagers; if you have a child who is eligible and can handle it; the trip will change their life) so allow me to chime in.

1) If you have never been to one of the camps before be prepared to have you life changed. Make sure that you prepare yourself as it was a place of much evil and it may very well take you a day or two to readjust. One person I traveled with cried for much of the trip she was so disturbed by what we saw. You will have the opportunity to stand in a real oven and see the true evidence of what happened their. I will spare the public the details.

2) If you can meet up with a survivor of the camps; when I visited it was with multiple survivors and their stories were incredible; they can truly change how you appreciate the area. At the same time if you do encounter survivors be respectful of them as they are visiting what was for them Heck on Earth and are most likely dealing with some of their own demons.

3) The walk between the two camps is about 3kms and is over relatively flat land and quite doable. However if you do decide to walk the distance do keep in mind that you are walking the same route (minus the new highway overpass) that prisoners walked to their deaths.

4) PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE be respectful of where you and never forget where you are nor that you are walking in history.

When people ask me about visiting the camps and the March of the Living I tell them that it is an experience that I would not wish on my worst enemy but I feel it is so important for people to visit the camps and become witnesses to what happened their that I will take my (currently non-existent) children to camps once they are old enough; their is no doubt in my mind of that.

I hope this helps; feel free to PM me if you have any questions about what I wrote.

GWU

I went to Auschwitz last year and I think you should allow at least a full day. That was enough for me, but everyone is different.
I took the bus from the station in Krakow, and it takes you right to the camp. It was, however, confusing to confirm the schedule and find the right bus--the bus station ticket counter personnel were distinctly unhelpful, and the posted schedules were confusing and inconsistent. There were several other English speakers, and we banded together and found the right one. I took the shuttle between the two camps both ways, so I could spend the extra time at the camps.
I arrived not certain whether or not to hire a private guide; I knew I did not want to see Auschwitz as part of a tour group. I ultimately decided to do the self-guided tour, and I think that was the right decision for me, as I became very emotional a number of times, and wanted some privacy. I also wanted very much to travel at my own pace. But you may feel otherwise. The tour groups I saw were generally respectful, and I did learn a thing or two from listening to snatches of the guides' talks that were not in my written materials or the many things posted, but I still think I made the right choice. (Indeed, virtually everyone there was appropriately respectful, except that late in the day, I encountered two Italian couples at the ruins of the crematorium who were having a fine old time and laughing quite loudly. I have to admit I lost it after 5 minutes and reminded them where they were.) I did find Auschwitz overwhelming, and felt the impact very much the next day, even in London at the ballet.

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.

I spent a week in Poland on a youth group trip in 1986. We visited Majdanek, Treblinka and Auschwitz/Birkenau. I also visited Dachau and Tereisenstadt as an adult. I must say that the visit to Birkenau had to be the most profound experience of my life. My grandmother's 2 sisters survived Birkenau, her brother died there (I don't know the details), and her 3-year-old niece went straight from the train to the gas chamber, so it was very personal to me. I definitely echo what others have posted above, and do not try to cut corners by skimping on the time you spend there.