Not every attraction can make you smile or please with the beauty of architecture. Some places, on the contrary, are shocking and cause tears. These include one of the most terrible Polish sights – the Auschwitz concentration camp.
Initially, it was created as a prison for political prisoners, but very soon it turned into a real death factory. According to historical documents, up to 2 million people were killed here, most of which were Jews.
Despite the fact that the Nazis, fleeing from the Red Army, tried to destroy all traces of their atrocities, part of the first concentration camp still survived. Auschwitz, “welcome” with the teaching that labor is the only thing that can liberate, now represents 30 blocks. Previously, there were more than 300 barracks, 5 gas chambers, a crematorium.
A historical museum was placed in one of the wounded rooms. UNESCO, awarding the title of a historical monument to the concentration camp, tried to destroy all hints of Poland’s involvement in its creation. The walls of Auschwitz still keep terrible exhibits: shoes, broken glasses, suitcases and tufts of human hair.
Everyone can see the execution wall, near which prisoners were shot, but it is not recommended for the faint of heart to visit this place. Also in the walls of the camp show a documentary about the atrocities of the Nazis. And at the end of the tour, they list the names of those who did not leave the concentration camp alive.
3 kilometers from one camp, it was ordered to build another – Auschwitz II. It appeared when Hitler moved from the destruction of political prisoners to massacres. More than half of the brought Jews were immediately sent to the gas chambers. It was almost impossible to leave this place alive.
Visitors can go up to the second floor of the central building. The observation tower, from which the Nazis once observed the work of their prisoners, offers a view of the surroundings of the camp. The back part was chosen to create an unusual monument: it is covered with inscriptions made in 20 languages.
The Germans, retreating, destroyed most of the camp, but the vast territory, fenced with barbed wire, speaks best of the scale of the Holocaust. This place is more frightening than the first concentration camp, so there are much fewer tourists here.
