Departing from Krakow, the journey to Oświęcim (the Polish name for the town) takes approximately 75 to 90 minutes. During this time, many guided tour operators show a documentary film titled "The Liberation of Auschwitz" on the bus. This serves as a grim but necessary primer for what lies ahead.
Part 1: Auschwitz I (The Stammlager)
Most tours begin at Auschwitz I, the original concentration camp. Walking through the gate bearing the cynical slogan "Arbeit Macht Frei" (Work Sets You Free), visitors enter a site that looks deceptively like an institutional facility, with brick barracks arranged in neat rows.
Here, the museum exhibits are housed within the blocks. You will likely see:
- Block 4 & 5: Exhibits of material evidence—tons of human hair, tens of thousands of shoes, suitcases with names written on them, prosthetics, and glasses confiscated from victims.
- Block 11: The "Death Block," housing the camp jail and the starvation cells. Between Block 10 and 11 stands the execution wall.
- The Gas Chamber and Crematorium I: The only surviving gas chamber, a dark, cold concrete room that leaves an indelible mark on every visitor.
Part 2: Auschwitz II-Birkenau
After a short transfer (usually provided by the tour bus), you arrive at Birkenau. The scale here is terrifyingly vast. Unlike the brick buildings of Auschwitz I, Birkenau is an immense field of wooden stable barracks (many now just chimneys remaining) and ruins.
The iconic Gate of Death, the railway ramp where the "Selection" took place, and the ruins of Crematoria II, III, IV, and V are located here. This is the site of the industrialized mass murder of over one million European Jews, Poles, Roma, and others. The walk from the gate to the International Memorial at the end of the tracks is approximately 1km, emphasizing the sheer magnitude of the crime.