Auschwitz - the topography and the logic of extermination.
Our visit to Auschwitz begins with a short documentary film about the liberation of the camp in 1945. Than we move on to the main camp - Auschwitz I - Stammlager. In the camp's buildings, known as blocks, there is an exhibition about administrative structure of the camp, its topography, the daily live of prisoners and the Nazi torture system. After a short break we move on to the second camp - Auschwitz II - Birkenau, which was the main camp from 1942-1945. From the former SS watch tower there is a clear view of this vast field of barracks. We visit one of the barracks and stop at the Rampa (railway platform), where the sorting of prisoners arriving at the camps took place. Finally we see the ruins of the gas chambers and crematoriums.
Highligts
- Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum
- Krakow - the former royal city of Poland
1st day
Arrival to Auschwitz. Check-in your hotel and dinner.
2nd day Auschwitz morning The topography and the logic of extermination
Part I - Orientation Tour of the concentration camp Auschwitz I - Stammlager
afternoon The topography and the logic of extermination
Part II - Visit to Auschwitz II or Auschwitz-Birkenau (Providing that the invasion of the USSR would bring many prisoners, Himmler ordered the construction of a new camp in October 1941, 3 km from the first one, near the village of Brzezinka).
evening Dinner in the hotel. Panel discussion on visiting the camps.
3rd day Auschwitz morning Work in the Archives (selection of documents from the museum, identity cards of SS members, reports of witnesses, etc.).
afternoon Tour of the museum or individual work as a volunteer in the camp.
evening Meeting with a witness (ex-prisoner in the camp at Auschwitz). Dinner at the hotel.
4th day Krakow
Drive to Krakow.
Visit to the Old Town including the Market Square, the Cloth Hall - a medieval market hall, St. Mary’s Church, one of the first European universities – the Jagiellonian, the Royal Route, the Wawel Cathedral. Walking to the former Jewish district Kazimierz - the best preserved in Europe. Here you can admire the oldest synagogue in Poland (Stara Synagoga), which hosts now the Museum of Judaism, and the famous Remuh Synagogue with its 16th century cemetery.
evening Dinner in a restaurant in the Old Town.
