Anyone who has seen the movie "Schindler's List" must be impressed by Auschwitz. In concentration camps like purgatory on earth, millions of Jews were tortured to death. The infamous camp, just 60 kilometers southwest of Krakow, Poland's second-largest city, was dubbed the "Death Factory" by poles. After Auschwitz was declared a World Heritage Site in 1979, it was soon opened as a world-class disaster museum, offering free tours to visitors from all over the world, attracting more than 2 million visitors each year.
On the second day of arrival in Poland, according to the itinerary, we will visit Auschwitz near Krakow's Old Town. The tour guide said that he hoped that all foreign tourists coming to Poland should visit the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp and personally touch the bloody history of more than 70 years ago, only then can they feel how shocking the Polish "death factory" really is!
During World War II, Auschwitz in Krakow, southern Poland, was one of the largest Nazi concentration camps in Germany. In the words of the tour guide, tourists who can walk into this infamous "hellish" attraction have an extremely strong heart, and those who are psychologically vulnerable can easily collapse into tears during the visit. But the entire concentration camp museum tour process is also a very strong educational experience, and its appeal far exceeds books and film and television works.
In the eyes of many, Auschwitz is synonymous with "anti-humanity.". Although I have seen the movie "Schindler's List" on the screen before, I have a full psychological preparation for the environment inside, but when we are in it, we are still strongly shocked inside.
The docent told everyone that Auschwitz was the largest concentration camp for civilians, prisoners and prisoners of war built by Nazi Germany during World War II, and a total of 1.3 million people were transported here from all over Europe, and 1.1 million people were eventually killed here, of which the vast majority of the victims were Jews, as well as some Soviet prisoners of war and a small number of Poles and Roma.
Auschwitz was originally just an undisputed and quiet village on the outskirts of Krakow, but if it were not for the German fascists who built concentration camps here, conducted human chemistry experiments, and built terrible facilities such as gas baths, grid fences and crematoria, it would still be a small village with a pleasant climate.
As we walked through the camp gates, we found the grid fence and skull motif hanging from the long-standing German Nazi slogan "Arbeit Macht Frei" (Labor Creates Freedom). Who would have thought that behind this grandiose propaganda slogan there are thousands of bones piled up, which makes people shudder.
Before I came, I thought that Auschwitz was a separate monolithic camp, but in fact it could be divided into three separate camps: Auschwitz, Auschwitz-Birkenau, and Monowitz. They were all concentration camps built by the German Nazis. Built in 1940, Auschwitz was originally used for the SS front command and as a detention center for Polish political prisoners, but soon became the "final solution" for all opponents by the German Nazis. Today, it is the main exhibition area of the Auschwitz Museum.
After 1941, as the wars waged by fascist Germany escalated, Auschwitz could no longer meet the growing number of prisoners, so in 1942 the Nazis built a second concentration camp three kilometers away, Auschwitz-Birkenau. More and more people were being transported by train from all over Europe to the newly built camp, most of whom died in the camp's gas chambers. Today, the old railways that transport prisoners are still there, as if a constant reminder to visitors to see the harsh reality.
Monović was also part of Auschwitz, but its main role was to hold prisoners of labor, which has now been completely destroyed. Nowadays, tourists visit Auschwitz concentration camp, the first two camps are must-visit places, although there is a distance of 3 kilometers between the two places, but the scenic spot is free shuttle bus. After referring to the old photographs of the museum, I found that it was like the Germans had just evacuated, although after more than 70 years, the camp had hardly been passive, but some of the barracks of that year were now mostly "museums".
In the concentration camp exhibition area, each building that visitors pass by is given a specific display content, and when they walk into an exhibition area, visitors can see the atrocities or terrorist incidents of the German Nazis through pictures or objects. Real photographs, groups of real torture devices, prisoners' supplies, costumes, representing the tragic stories that really happened, Auschwitz concentration camp, can be said to be one of the two most hell-like attractions I have visited in my lifetime!
During the four hours of the visit, several of our Chinese tourists and two other groups of European tourists walked together, and most of the time, everyone was consciously silent, which was also the reaction of normal people. Maybe visiting such "hellish" attractions is really like the guide said, you have to have an extremely strong heart or you will only collapse. Although today's Auschwitz concentration camp has long been less cruel than it was 70 years ago, the sad atmosphere has taken root and has been stationed in the camp for a long time.