Visit the Auschwitz-Birkenau complex, the largest of the Nazi concentration camps
In 1939, after the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany and the loss of the defensive war by the Polish army, all the western regions of Poland, including the town of Oświęcim, were annexed by the Third Reich. The town was renamed as Auschwitz and the same name was given to a complex of concentration and extermination camps that were built there.
The history of the Auschwitz concentration camp can be divided into two primary periods: the years 1940-1942, when it functioned as a concentration camp and a place of slow extermination, and the years 1942-1944, when it was transformed into the biggest centre of immediate mass extermination of Jews, who had been transported into the camp under the policy conducted by the Third Reich that assumed the extermination of the entire Jewish population in Europe. It is estimated that over 1.1 million women, men and children died in the camp during these four years. Around 90% of casualties were Jews brought there from all the European countries that were occupied by Germany or situated in the zone of German influence. Most of them were put to death in gas chambers and others were victims of brutal punishments, medical experiments or inhumane living conditions in the camp. A visit to the Auschwitz Museum allows you to learn about the cruel fate of these people and to broaden your historical knowledge of the Holocaust.
A trip to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum is a specific encounter with the history of Nazi cruelty and the fate of the Holocaust victims, which is the saddest in the history of humanity. During the tour, tourists will see a permanent exhibition, original camp buildings in the main part of the complex (Auschwitz) and the most important sites in Brzezinka (Birkenau). Konzentrationslager (KL) Auschwitz was established as a result of Nazi policy conducted in the territory of occupies Poland in order to destroy the Polish state by means of mass deportations and systematic extermination. The KL Auschwitz camp was the largest Nazi concentration camp and extermination centre, so we ask that you to maintain due respect to the memory of the victims. During the tour, the group will be accompanied by an experienced museum guide who will tell tourists step by step about the sad fate of the camp victims. The entire sightseeing tour, including travel, will last around 7-8 hours – the visit to the first part of the Museum will take 2 hours, and the visit to Birkenau will take around 1 hour.