Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps.

A Sobering Day at Auschwitz and Birkenau

It was a 6.00 am start for me (Rob) on a bright but chilly morning. My van arrived on time, and along with six other guests, we began the one-hour drive to the Auschwitz Memorial and Museum.

As we arrived, we started our walk into the former camp, passing beneath the infamous “Arbeit Macht Frei” — “Work Sets You Free” — sign. It was a sobering moment, knowing the terrible history behind those words.

Our guide then took us through a number of the original barracks, explaining what life was like for the prisoners held there. The stories painted a horrifying picture of overcrowding, starvation, disease and unimaginable suffering.

We walked around the perimeter of the camp, much of it still enclosed by the original electric barbed-wire fencing. As we moved from one building to another, the reality of what had happened here became increasingly difficult to take in.

Inside the museum, some of the exhibits were particularly distressing. Personal belongings and other artefacts brought home the sheer scale of the human tragedy, and it was clear that some visitors were visibly upset.

We finished the Auschwitz part of the tour by visiting the gas chambers and crematorium. Standing inside these places was truly awful and, for me, probably the most difficult part of the morning.

After a short break, we took the fifteen-minute drive to the second camp, Birkenau. The first thing that strikes you as you arrive is the railway line running directly through the main gates. It is an image that has become synonymous with the Holocaust and one that is difficult to forget.

Once again, our guide showed us around the camp, including the wooden huts where prisoners were crammed together in horrific conditions, with little food, warmth or basic sanitation.

By the end of the day, it felt as though we had been given a salutary lesson in the terrible things that human beings can do to one another.

It is difficult to put into words exactly how I felt as we left the camps and began the journey back to Kraków. It was a deeply moving and emotionally draining experience, and certainly one that I will never forget.