Anyone been to the camp ?

Interested is going there sometime, probably via motorcycle, although looks a bloody long way from any ferry port.

Go. That is all.

I have been. Grim and upsetting with a macabre fascination.
Lest we forget.

Did they ever recover the "work sets you free" gate/sign?

They got the sign back, but it was cut up into three bits, so I don't think it's back up yet. And yes you should go.

I went and was numbed by the scale, brutality and inhumanity.
A must see – for very different reasons.

its one of the last places on this planet I would choose to visit but for that very reason I intend to go one day (probably when the kids are old enough to understand).

you really should go

I drove there several years ago… in the winter. Very emotional and spooking place. We could only handle Auschwitz and didn't make it to Birkenau.

Ive never been but a group of students (they were college age 16/17/18) went from where I was at uni. They all said it was really moving, but the worst thing and the point of this story is , the college offered them counselling for the trauma. Is it me or is that ridiculous? Surely it should be disturbing and affect you for the rest of you life, as someone else said above 'lest we forget'?

A bit of talking it thru and putting it in context is no bad thing. I found it very disturbing and I was 30 and no one I knew was killed there. I still sat and cried and thats not something I do often.

Went a couple of years ago with wife and son. We walked from the railway station and got lost in some near by houses. As a last resort I had to ask for directions from a Kiosk selling sweets. Felt like a real dork asking 'which way is it to auschwitz please'

Still cringing now……………..

I think that having someone to talk to afterwards, a councellor or a friend or something is probably a good idea, I'd be more worried about the ones saying 'It was really moving' and walking away, although of course we all deal with the most evil ever acted out on this planet in different ways.

I never managed to go to Auschwitz but I went to Gross-Rosen when I was a kid. Well I wouldn't take kids to such a place as it's been a long time ago, and at 24 I can clearly remember the images of a big bulldozer pushing bodies down to a mass grave. Really disturbing.

It is worth seeing to know what happened there, and maybe find some information about it etc before You go. Don't really understand how some people claim holocaust never happened.

Germans were sic with all the experiments but Russians weren't any better, they just either worked people to death or just left them in the middle of nowhere.

My great grandmother was sent down to Siberia, she had some jewellery and money hidden but there was nothing there, nowhere to go, nothing to buy, just holes in the ground to live in and they were eating nettle soup, basically nettles boiled in water, and that was it.

Probably this all will be forgotten as not a lot of kids are interested in history now.

Going in June this year. Looking forward to it, if that's not the wrong thing to say. Think it's a place all should visit just to see the cruelty that man can visit upon man. Even if everyone went it wouldn't stop it happening again – Cambodia, Rwanda etc.

No idea how we'll handle it.

Everyone should go at some point in their lives.

Hard to put into words, I found the execution wall, between blocks 10 and 11 very upsetting. Also, the paintings on the walls in the wash rooms of children playing……………………..too many atrocious thngs to see (the standing cells, the hair, the glasses, the baby clothes………….)

As for Birkenau, you have to go if only just to see the size of the place.

Go.

Went a couple of years ago in deep winter. Kinda ruined by some abrasive americans (not stereotyping just the facts) and an ex-girlfriend who wanted to leave as she was cold and hadn't eaten in a while.

…yes, the irony was lost on her.

It has to be worth a trip. We visited Belsen some years back an it was an eerie place to be. The feeling was exacerbated by the military training ground up the road practicing artillery fire.

So how does one get there then

It's not like nipping doon to Thomas Cook and asking for a package holiday to Auschwitz is it 🙄

I went during a long weekend to Cracow (a fascinating place, well worth a visit, flights from the UK). A few years ago now, but I got a bus from Cracow that went to the town. I recollect that they ran pretty regularly, it was a bit over an hour I think, and the bus journey itself was an interesting experience.

Not been to Auschwitz, but went on a school trip to Berlin when in the 6th form & we went to Sachsenhausen concentration camp….

It was quite disturbing, but I'm definitely glad to have gone.
It had a really strange atmosphere that you can't quite explain. It's 'just' some land and some buildings…. but you could really feel something there….and I don't normally get 'vibes' like that….

The DBF – Member

So how does one get there then

The DBF – Member

probably via motorcycle

probably with a map? Sat nav? 🙄

The DBF – Member
So how does one get there then

It's not like nipping doon to Thomas Cook and asking for a package holiday to Auschwitz is it

I flew into Krakow with Easyjet and then got a train. The visit was not the main purpose, but it has to be done. Krakow is a very interesting place. Especially in the winter months where its nice and snowy. This was 5-6 years ago tho i think and i understand it may have gone the way of other cheap destinations and become a stag/hen hotspot, i.e ruined.

Went by bus from katowits (sp?) then got the train out again.

Things to note:
The hotels are 'retro'
There is a great bar/restaurant opposite the station
Auschwitz is enormous, Birkenau is beyond coprehension.

probably with a map? Sat nav?

Aye, probably not via bike now I think about it 😆

I went to Krakow on a stag do, but went over a day earlier than everyone else so that I could visit Auschwitz. You can get the train there from the main station in Krakow and then it's a short (<5 minutes taxi ride) to the main camp.

I actually spent more time getting annoyed with people there as they failed to acknowledge what had gone on. Examples of people laughing and joking, posing for photos in front of the death wall with smiles and hand gestures. I likened it at the time to them treating it like a death camp attraction at Alton Towers or something and it rather took something away from the vist knowing people could be so stupid.

It must be said it was mostly school kids, but certainly old enough to know better. There was plenty of adults not much better too…..

Having said all that when you find a quiet corner (the Romany hut for example) away from all the idiots, it really is moving and terrifying in equal measures.

I visited whilst in Krakow a few years ago.

What sunk in the most with me was how cold it was (visited in February or March). We were there in multiple layers of modern, thermal man-made fabrics and I was still cold. Was hard to imagine living in thin pajamas.

I have been and I echo the 'prescence' of the place.

I also went to Bergen-Belsen, having family history there. Not with inmates, my great-uncle was one of the first dozen men in there to liberate the camp. He told me eyewatering stories when I was younger; but I didn't appreciate the impact of what he told me until I visited.

If you're going to go best time is winter with fresh snow and not many people around, you can almost hear the anguish. Bleak is an understatement but it certainly puts everything in perspective.

Never been there but I have visited the killing fields and S21 Tuoi Sleng. I couldn't really cope with the killing fields as piles of skulls were just a bit too much for me. S21 was chilling on another level. I didn't feel the need to speak to anyone, but I can see why some people might especially teenagers.

The DBF – Member

So how does one get there then

It's not like nipping doon to Thomas Cook and asking for a package holiday to Auschwitz is it

Yup it is. That's just what we are doing. Booked a week's package to Krakow, and one a trip to Aushwitz is included as a free optional extra.
Riviera Travel are doing it. Google them.

Scottchegg – who was your great-uncle with? My uncle was also one of the first in, he was a tank driver and similar to yours in terms of the stories.

I'm not sure as to his regiment or if it applies. He was a chaplain, Rev. TJ Stretch.

I took a party of school kids there in June.Aushwitz was hard,especially as a Father and seeing the piles of childrens shoes and being aware of what happened to the children they were made for.HOWEVER, it is all a little bit too slick and polished at times.Birkenau on the other hand was awful,it was pure and simply a camp from which you were to be processed as quickly as possible,and the size of it is staggering.The fact that the train platform is still there is creepy,as it was where victims were sorted.I would suggest taking mars bars/sweet drinks as it can get harrowing.

– I'm not sure as to his regiment or if it applies. He was a chaplain, Rev. TJ Stretch.

Thanks. Will ask my uncle.

Its good to go and see but properly heartbreaking, even the toughest of men might need to take himself aside and have a word with himself at certain points.