The Birkenau extermination camp (aka Auschwitz II) was built a couple of months later than Auschwitz I. Both are sited in the delta between the rivers Soła and Wisła. The area is completely flat. An information board provides details about the camp’s site (sorry for the snow flakes). The planned area on the right hand side was never completed, due to the end of the second world war:
On the first day of my stay in Oświęcim, I visited the concentration camp Auschwitz I. Though it is wee small compared to the later built mass termination camp in Auschwitz-Birkenau, the main camp remained the administrative center of all Auschwitz camps for the five years the Auschwitz camps existed.
To get into the camp just cross the main entrance building. After a few meters, there’s the zynical »Arbeit macht frei« (»labour liberates«) gate to the camp’s entrance on the right hand side:
I’m just back from a visit to the extermination camps in Oświęcim. I wanted to do this trip for several years now, but the Xmas holidays usually have been to short to do all my familiy duties and such a trip. As I got some additional days off this year, it was the perfect occasion. This post will provide some general travel information. Other posts will share information about the camps themselves. (more…)
Hope you survived all of the holidays and your transition went well. Like most people, I spent some lazy days with various family members, enjoying great meals (including an original hungarian Pörkölt).
Accidentally :) I noticed that the town nearby was barely mapped. As the weather was cold but sunny, I grabbed the occasion and mapped Oberkaufungen by foot. (more…)
