Auschwitz is a word synonymous with terror, death, antisemitism, and horrors beyond measure. It is a lesson of what can happen when we let our fears and misinformation run amuck and the worst of humanity are allowed to take control. It still stands but now as a symbol of overcoming that hate and continuing and thriving. It serves as a lesson to all those, learn from our mistakes in history or we are doomed to repeat them. My family and I visited the infamous concentration camp in Poland this summer. It was not a pleasant visit, but it was an informative one. It was one done respectfully and with the solemnity it deserves. Here I will talk about the visit, and what to expect, especially when bringing your family along.
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I am not sure when my fascination with Word War II and the Holocaust began. My dad was always a big history buff, particularly military history as he was an ex-Navy man. It started young and I watched all the programs and read all the books. I first heard about Auschwitz when I was a pre-teen, reading “The Diary of Anne Frank,” which was a favorite of mine as a kid. When we planned our trip to Poland and I saw how close we were to Auschwitz, I knew we had to make a visit.
My two children were not as excited about this idea as I was. They had had a hard time at the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC and were nervous about visiting an actual concentration camp. But I felt that it was important history for them to see and I thought they were old enough to understand, remember, and respect the solemnness of the place. But I also wanted to make it as easy as possible on all of us.
To make it easy, I booked a tour with Royal Cracow through GetYourGuide. I wanted a hands-off experience. And Royal Cracow did just that. The tour picks you up from the center of Kraków, takes you to Auschwitz and Birkenau, provides a guide through both camps, and for a small add-on fee provides you with a bagged lunch. You are brought back to Kraków where you started.
The Tour
Pick Up
The tour picks you up bright and early. You can request a pickup time, but they can change it dependent on how many tours they have that day, and usually let you know a day or two ahead of time. We had requested an 11am pick up but were switched to 8am. While that is hard with teens, it could have been worse, I heard of pick ups as early as 6:30 am.
At the pickup there is a bus, and they check your name before you board. If you purchased the lunch add-on, this is also when they hand out the bagged lunches. Then, as we ride out of Kraków, we are given some information from our tour guide on what we would see that day, but also what to watch for as we drove to Oświęcim, the town that houses Auschwitz. We were out of the city and able to see what real country and daily living looked like for most of the Polish people. There were cute houses and rolling hills and forests. I usually stick to cities in Europe, so it was nice to see a smaller, more quaint side of Europe. After a little over an hour, we arrived at the parking lot for Auschwitz.
Auschwitz I
On the way over we learned that Auschwitz actually had multiple campuses. We started at Auschwitz I. Once we got off the bus, we were divided into groups and given stickers. There were about twenty in a group. After checking our tickets and security, we joined our tour guide. We were all given headsets so we could hear the guide and she did not have to speak too loudly in this solemn place.
The tour starts when you walk through a tunnel that takes you onto the grounds of the camp. In the tunnel, they say the names of each victim of the camp. You are to walk in silence and listen to the names as you walk through. It is a very powerful and somber experience, and it puts you in the right mindset when visiting the rest of the camp.
In the camp, I will be honest, I was surprised to find how nice the buildings were. I learned that this was actually a Polish Army base before it was turned into a concentration camp, so the buildings were there before the Nazis. In this part of the tour, we were taken through several of the buildings. Each building was dedicated to different exhibits about the concentration camps. Some showed the living conditions, and the punishments cells. Some showed the pictures rescued from the camps that explained the process and how selection worked. The most powerful were the exhibits with items. Rooms of shoes, of medical devices, of clothing. But the room filled with children’s items; that was the one that was hard. Not a single person could leave that room with a dry eye.
After the exhibits we were walked around to see the execution wall, where people were shot, and walked past a crematorium. Thankfully, the crematorium was under renovation and we couldn’t enter. I’m glad because I’m not sure I could have handled that part. After about an hour and a half, we were walked to the end of the exhibits, where we turned in our headsets. We were given about 20 minutes to see the shop, go to the bathroom, and eat our lunch before it was time to head back on the bus.
Auschwitz II-Birkenau
It was a short ride over to Birkenau or Auschwitz II. When you see the iconic pictures of the Auschwitz train station, of the trains lined up, and the people being lined up and separated, you are actually seeing Birkenau. As we walked up to the building, I have seen a million times in photos, I was extremely overwhelmed to understand that many of these people did not know this would be the last place they would see.
As you enter, you walk over the train tracks, up along rows and rows of small, hastily created bunkhouses behind chain link fence and barbed wire. Here, the guide referred to the pictures we saw in the earlier exhibits and explained where we were standing and how the selection process worked. We then walked to the bunk houses, where the guide explained the lives of the people in these buildings. These were the buildings you see in the pictures of six people to a bunk. This was what I was expecting.
Birkenau was a much shorter tour, just 45 minutes, as it does not have the exhibits that Auschwitz I has. But as you walk the long tree-less path through the camp and back to the parking lot, you cannot help but notice the wildflowers growing. It was a peaceful way to end the visit. It reminded me of hope, and beauty. It helped me think of those who were able to survive and live on. That was the hope we all needed after that day.
The Return
After that, we had just a few minutes at the shop in the parking lot before we boarded the bus back for the trip back to Kraków. On the way back, the tour guide talked about and pointed out (but did not stop) at Auschwitz III. I had not even realized that it existed. But apparently it was built to have prisoner help with a local power plan, and they were the best treated and most likely to survive. We mostly rested and contemplated on the way back, as we looked at the rolling hills. The houses, and the signs of life that have managed to continue and thrive.
Important considerations
I personally think that anyone who is in Poland or anywhere in eastern Europe should take the opportunity to visit a concentration camp. But it is not an easy thing to visit. And if you have a family, there are some things you need to take into consideration.
- The tour did not have an age limit but recommended that visitors be 14+. My daughter was twelve. I felt she was old enough to be respectful and handle the emotions, but you know your own children. You need to evaluate yourself what your child can handle.
- There are no overly graphic pictures. The emotion is in knowing what the people are facing. There is a photo of a line with people and the tour guide will tell you that they are headed to the crematorium. There are piles of belongings of those who were taken to the gas chambers. But there are no pictures of bodies, of hangings, or of blood. The most graphic pictures are of some prisoners who were emaciated.
- I highly suggest that you prepare your kids ahead of time for what Auschwitz is and what happened there. My kids are older so during a road trip we listed to “We Were the Lucky Ones” on audio book. Some other good options are “The Diary of Anne Frank”, “Night” and “Number the Stars”.
- When purchasing your tickets, they will ask for the full name of everyone attending. Everyone’s IDs will be checked and they much match the name on the ticket. They take security very seriously at the camp. Make sure to bring the passports, and do not bring any items that are not allowed into the camp. You will go through X-Ray and your bags will be scanned.
- There is a lot of walking and you are outside for much of Birkenau. There is very little protection from the elements. In the summer consider sun hats or umbrellas. In the winter dress warmly.
- While you are allowed to take pictures and video you are NOT allowed to take video of the guide and what they are saying. Please be respectful.
- There is very little time to eat and no matter how you slice it, it’s an all-day tour. We were given 20 minutes before we had to board the bus. There are vending machines and a café that sells lunch, but no time to sit down and eat. Take the bagged lunch option. It is not gourmet but it does the job.
- Make sure you plan light days around this visit. It is heavy. We traveled the day before from Warsaw (just two hours) and walked around a bit. We did a walking tour the next day, then let the kids veg out in the apartment. We let the kids order door dash and watch TV after the tour. Let yourself take some time to relax and process what you just experienced. Everyone will need it.
I am not Jewish, but I was born and raised Catholic. I am a person of color who has faced discrimination in my life. And I have many close family members who consider themselves queer. Experiencing and learning about the Holocaust has always been important to me because I am afraid of it happening again. I think we need to learn from history so we never repeat it. While difficult, visiting and experiencing Auschwitz was important for all of us to understand what horrors mankind is capable of. I see politics in the US today and I see how it is following the same pathways it did in the 1920s and 30s in Germany. But now we have a history lesson that people are aware of. I just hope that enough people take the time to learn, and never let that lesson repeat again.
“First, they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”
—Martin Niemöller
* Starred Photos taken by Atma Photography
Edited by SKS
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