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KL Auschwitz
Death Camp in Oswiecim
Site of the Nazi notorious Auschwitz death camp
is an hour’s drive from Krakow. Between June
1941 and January 1945 about one million men,
women and children perished in the three
Auschwitz concentration camps–i.e. Auschwitz
proper, Birkenau and Monowitz–and their more
than forty sub-camps. At its peak the whole
complex was a deadly prison to some 150,000
inmates that were being either murdered outright
or starved and worked to death.
Visiting the
Auschwitz
Every year some 500,000 visitors come to
Oswiecim, an industrial town of 45,000, to see
the Auschwitz. Half of them are Poles, and the
rest mostly from the USA, Germany, the UK,
France, Italy, and Israel. Over 25 million people
have already visited the place.
Admission
to the Auschwitz is free. It takes minimum an
hour to see the Auschwitz proper, and another to
visit the nearby Birkenau site. They are open to
visitors (except January 1, December 25, and
Easter Sunday) from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. June through
August, till 6 p.m. in September, till 5 p.m. in
October, till 4 p.m. in November through December
15, till 3 p.m. from December 16 through
February, till 4 p.m. in March, till 5 p.m. in
April, till 6 p.m. in May. Archives, library,
collections, management, etc. work on weekdays
from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Independent
visitors may and groups should employ an
authorized guide. Over 150 of them provide tours
in Croatian, Czech, English, French, German,
Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Russian,
Serbian, and Spanish.
Oswiecim is
easily accessible owing to the region’s
extensive railroad and bus networks and the ample
road system. When in Krakow, motorists may reach
Oswiecim fastest via the paid four-lane highway
to Katowice (exit to Chrzanów after some 20
minutes). As to public transport, bus seems more
convenient. And numerous Krakow travel agencies
offer one-day excursions to the Auschwitz.
History
of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Death Camp
In 1939 Hitler annexed the old Polish town of
Oswiecim to his Third Reich as Auschwitz, and a
year later the Nazis could start the conversion
of the town’s abandoned barracks into a
concentration camp. First inmates, a group of
Polish political prisoners, arrived on June 14, 1940. In addition to Poles there were soon
imprisoned Soviet POW’s, Gypsies, and other
nationals from the rest of German-occupied Europe
to suffer and die in hellish conditions. In 1942,
notably after the construction of the nearby
Birkenau (Auschwitz II) concentration camp,
trainloads of European Jews start to come. Most
of them were immediately put to death in the
Birkenau gas chambers.
- October
1939: the Nazis annex the ancient Polish
town of Oswiecim to the Third Reich and
rename it Auschwitz.
- November
1939: new German administration installs
a German mayor.
- 1940-1944:
Polish peasants are being driven out of
the area to make room for German
settlers.
- 1940:
on Himmler’s order Jewish slave workers
change emptied army barracks into a
concentration camp.
- June
14, 1940: the Nazis bring political
prisoners, all of them Poles, to
Auschwitz Concentration Camp as its first
inmates.
- 1941:
all Jews are forced out of Oswiecim.
- October
1941: construction of the Birkenau
Concentration Camp, i.e. Auschwitz II,
starts near Oswiecim.
- 1942:
setting up of Auschwitz III-Monowitz
Concentration Camp.
- January
1945: evacuation of the Auschwitz camps.
- January
27, 1945: the Soviets take over Oswiecim.
- 1947:
new Polish government creates
Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum on the
site of the concentration camps.
- 1967:
erecting of the International Monument to
the Victims of Fascism at Birkenau.
- 1979:
UNESCO enters the Auschwitz concentration
camp and the Birkenau death camp in its
list of World Heritage sites.
- 1986:
launching of the Youth Meeting House in
Oswiecim.
- 1992:
opening of the Center Dialogue and
Prayer.
- 2000: opening of the Auschwitz Jewish
Center and Chevra Lomdei Mishnayot Synagogue.
Auschwitz
Jewish Center and Chevra Lomdei Mishnayot
Synagogue
Before the Nazis came to Oswiecim and set up their monstrous
Auschwitz concentration camp here, a small Jewish community had led
its peaceful life at that place as in many other Polish towns in the
region. In September 2000 the Auschwitz Jewish Center has opened in
the newly renovated Chevra Lomdei Mishnayot Synagogue at 5 Ks.
Skarbka Pl. amid the historical quarter of Oswiecim, a twenty
minutes’ walk from the Auschwitz Museum. The center both shows and
commemorates the life and culture of victims of the Holocaust as
exemplified in the largely forgotten history of the Oswiecim Jews.
One may see the synagogue itself, an exhibition on the Jewish
everyday life in Oswiecim before 1939, and a short film based on a
survivor’s testimony recorded by Steven Spielberg’s Shoah
Foundation. There is also a family history room for genealogical
research and a meeting space. Admission is free.
The center stays open weeklong except on Saturdays and on the Jewish
holidays, between 8.30 a.m. and 8 p.m. from April through September,
and from 8.30 a.m. to 6 p.m. since October to March.
Other
UNESCO World Heritage sites in Krakow and the Malopolska Province
Krakow's
Old Town historic district
Wieliczka
salt mine
The
Calvary sanctuary of Kalwaria Zebrzydowska
Malopolska's
wooden churches
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In the proximity of
Krakow
Krakow is Poland's tourist mecca, and
also a gateway to many other must-see sites in
the region.
See
trains
from Krakow to Oswiecim
and from Oswiecim to Krakow.
Malopolska
Province
Poland
map
City
of Krakow map
Krakow
Poland's prime tourist attraction and a
must in Central Europe boasts numerous
world-class monuments, charming vistas,
delightful atmosphere, and the best restaurants.
Hotels
in Krakow
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in Krakow
Restaurants
in Krakow
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