Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum

The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum is a preserved former Nazi concentration and extermination camp complex near Oświęcim, Poland, now maintained as a memorial and museum since 1947 and designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Exhibition and visible remains at the site include prisoner barracks, watchtowers, crematoria foundations and original administrative buildings. The complex covers Auschwitz I (the original camp) and Auschwitz II-Birkenau, with Birkenau containing the large railway ramp and ruins of gas chambers; guided tours generally cover both main areas.

The camps were built and operated by Nazi Germany between 1940 and 1945 as part of the Holocaust and other mass persecution policies. An estimated 1.1 million people, predominantly Jews, were murdered at the Auschwitz complex before liberation in 1945. The postwar museum was created to preserve the site and to educate about the crimes that occurred there.

Located in Oświęcim in southern Poland, the museum sits outside the town and is commonly visited from Kraków and other regional centres; Birkenau lies a short distance north of the original camp area.

• Museum status and protection: The site was established as a state museum in 1947 and is on the UNESCO World Heritage list for its historical significance and preserved evidence of Nazi crimes.
• Visitor logistics: Birkenau is roughly 3 kilometres from Auschwitz I along a preserved route; most visitors allocate two to four hours to a standard guided visit.

What to See #

• Auschwitz I: Auschwitz I is the original camp where administrative buildings, prison blocks and some preserved exhibitions are located, including the camp gate with the 'Arbeit Macht Frei' sign.
• Auschwitz II-Birkenau: Birkenau (Auschwitz II) lies about 3 kilometres north of Auschwitz I and contains the large railway ramp, foundations and ruins of gas chambers and crematoria and wide barrack fields.
• Auschwitz III and ancillary sites: Auschwitz III and associated labour facilities are outside the main museum complex; the State Museum oversees preserved sites and exhibits across the whole camp system.