England

Auschwitz Maps
Road Next to the Auschwitz Camp
Camp Entrance
SS
Prisoner-Swastika Statue
Warning Signs

Around the Camp
Death Block and Gas Chamber
Brick Barracks
Prisoner Possessions
Execution Wall
Gas Chamber and Crematorium

Gestapo
Guard Area
Star of David
Small Guard Tower
Standing Cells
Starvation Statue

The entrance to Auschwitz I bears one of the most famous Nazi lies which greeted prisoners doomed to imprisonment and often death: "Arbeit Macht Frei." (work is liberty or work makes you free).

All over the world, Auschwitz has become a symbol of terror, genocide, and the Holocaust. It was established by the Nazis in the suburbs of the city of Oswiecim which, like other parts of Poland, was occupied by the Germans during the Second World War.

Auschwitz is a little over an hour's drive from Krakow. We hired a van to take us, but Auschwitz is accessible by train from Krakow. You should plan on 3 to 3 1/2 hours to see Auschwitz I and another 2 to 3 hours to see Berkenau. Try not to rush and really take in what happened at these locations.

There are so many websites with information on Auschwitz-Berkenau, but I have included some information for the pictures we have taken. We have also include a separate page with more detailed information on the prison camps. Auschwitz-Berkenau.

Auschwitz Maps: The first map shows the locations of the Auschwitz camps in Poland while the second shows a detailed map of the Auschwitz camp.

Road Next to the Auschwitz Camp: A road sign on the way to Oswiecim (Auschwitz). Life has changed and things are different now. The main road passes only a few feet a way from the Nazi prison camp where some of the worst atrocities that ever occurred in history took place.

Camp Entrance: By order of Reichsfuhrer SS Heinrich Himmler in 1940, the SS requisitioned the former Polish army garrison in Oswiecim, that had been taken over by the German army after Poland' defeat in 1939. The concentration camp the SS set up here was later called Auschwitz I.

Schutzstaffel (German for "Protective Squadron"), abbreviated SS was a large security and military organization of the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party) in Germany.

The SS was established in the 1920s as a personal-guard unit for Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. Under the leadership of Heinrich Himmler between 1929 and 1945, the SS grew from a small paramilitary formation to become one of the largest and most powerful organizations in Nazi Germany. The Nazis regarded the SS as an elite unit, the party's "praetorian guard", with all SS personnel selected on the principles of so-called racial purity and unconditional loyalty to Führer and the Nazi party.

The prisoners were mainly men, and initially mostly Poles. Later transports of Jews and others were also sent here. In certain periods, the SS also held women and Soviet prisoners of war here.

Prisoner-Swastika Statue: The statue is a combination of man and fence post from the camp formed into a Nazi Swastika. This statue is located in the administrative building at the entrance to the camp.

Warning Signs: These signs are located throughout the camp. The first sign reads 'Beware High Voltage' while the second is a warning sign to stop.

Around the Camp: Various views around the camp showing buildings, guard towers and electrified barbed-wire fences.

Death Block and Gas Chamber (Block 11): Block 11 was the prison within the prison at Auschwitz. The SS conducted experiments killing with Zyclon B gas in the basement. The photos show the gas chamber rooms.

Brick Barracks (Inside): These photos show where the prisoners slept, 3 to a level, 9 total in the cell.

Prisoner Possessions: Human hair used by the Nazi's in textile production to supply cloths to German people made homeless by the war. The remaining photos show prisoner's suitcases, shoes and eating utensils.

Execution Wall: From 1941 to 1943, the SS shot several thousand people at the wall in this courtyard between Blocks 10 and 11. Most of those executed here were Polish political prisoners, above all, the leaders and members of clandestine organizations and people who helped escapees or facilitated contacts with the outside world. Poles who had been sentenced to death in nearby towns were also brought here to be shot, including men, women, and even children who had been take hostage in revenge for operations of the Polish resistance against the German occupation. Prisoners of other nationalities and ethnic origins, including Jews and Soviet POWs, were also sometimes shot at this wall.

The SS administered brutal punishments here: floggings, and also the torture known as "the post", in which prisoners were hung from a post by their writs with their arms twisted behind their backs. The execution wall was dismantled in 1944 on the orders of the camp authorities. Executions were subsequently carried out elsewhere, most often in the gas chambers and crematoria at Auschwitz II-Birkenau.

Gas Chamber and Crematorium: This is the Auschwitz I crematorium reconstructed from its original pieces. This building was were the first mass killings with Zyclon B took place. Once the poison was dropped in through the roof an SS officer would sit outside revving the engine of a motorcycle to help drowned out the screams.

The photos show the crematorium and large gas chamber. The cans are empty containers of Zyclon B.

Gestapo: The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Under the overall administration of the SS.

This is where the camp Gestapo was located. Prisoners suspected of involvement in the camp's underground resistance movement or of preparing to escape were interrogated here. Many prisoners died as a result of being beaten or tortured.

The first commandant of Auschwitz, SS-Obersturmbannfuhrer Rudolf Hoss, who was tried and sentenced to death after the war by the Polish Supreme National Tribunal, was hanged here on 156 April 1947.

Guard Area: This is a hiding location for guards in case of an air raid. These are located at various locations throughout the camp.

Star of David: The Star of David gate is located at the entrance of one of the barracks that is now a museum.

Small Guard Tower: This booth is where the SS man responsible for conduction the roll-call and collecting reports on the number of prisoners took shelter during inclement weather.

Standing Cells: the photo shows the entrance to one of the 4 standing cells (Stehzellen) in the basement of Block II, where prisoners were sent for extreme punishment. These cells were 3 feet square and had no light coming in at all, nor any heating or cooling system. Prisoners had to crawl into the cell through a tiny door, as shown in the photo above. There was just enough room for four slender men to stand without touching each other. There was no room to lie down, but if the prisoners cooperated, one prisoner could sit down while the other three crowded closer together. The floors of these cells were covered with excrement left by the occupants.

Prisoners were confined there four at a time for several or more then a dozen nights. They had to stay in overnight and they had to work during a day. Many died in consequence of suffocation and exhaustion. During heavy snow, the air vents would sometimes become blocked and the prisoners would suffocate.

Starvation Statue: This statue showing starvation is located inside one of the barracks.

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