Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum

The site at Oswiecim is preserved as a memorial and museum, listed by UNESCO in 1979, and run by a state institution whose work is conservation, research and education. It covers two locations about three kilometres apart: the brick barracks of the first camp, which hold the permanent exhibitions, and the much larger grounds of Birkenau, kept largely as open ground with surviving structures and foundations. Visits are by booked, timed entry and follow set routes. This page is practical information only; the history is documented by the museum itself and by the sources it publishes.

History

The site holds the main camp of Auschwitz I and the remains of the concentration and extermination camp of Auschwitz II-Birkenau, built and run by Nazi Germany during its occupation of Poland in 1939-1945, and the Polish state preserves it as a research centre and in memory of the 1.1 million people who died there, among them 960,000 Jews. The first exhibition in the barracks opened in 1947 and was revised with the help of former prisoners, a new exhibition was planned in 1955, from 1960 national exhibitions were set up in Auschwitz I, and in April 1968 a Jewish exhibition opened. Protection zones were set around Birkenau in 1962 and Auschwitz I in 1977, the site became a World Heritage Site in 1979, the year Pope John Paul II celebrated mass at Birkenau, and Piotr Cywiński has directed the museum since 2006 (Wikipedia, Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum).

Highlights

• The first site - brick blocks holding the permanent exhibitions and archive displays.
• Birkenau - open grounds with surviving barracks, foundations and the rail spur.
• The national exhibitions - country-by-country displays in separate blocks.
• The memorial - the monument at the far end of the Birkenau grounds.

When to go

Year-round. Entry is free but a timed ticket must be reserved in advance through the museum site, and in peak hours you can only enter with a guide, which is charged. Morning and late-afternoon slots are the least crowded. Allow four hours for both sites, plus travel from Krakow and back.

Things to know

This is a memorial, not an attraction, and the museum publishes its own rules on conduct, photography and dress - read them before you go. It is not suitable for children under fourteen, which is the museum's own guidance. Tickets are heavily oversubscribed and release on a fixed schedule. Much of the Birkenau visit is outdoors on open ground with no shelter, so weather matters. Bags above a small size are not allowed inside.

Nearby

Krakow is ninety minutes east; the Wieliczka salt mine is on the same side of the city.