Oswiecim (Auschwitz)

Pros: Stands as a shameful monument to man's intolerance and hatred.
Cons: Can be just too much to bear.

The events at New York and Washington earlier this month (Sept 2001) have been so unbelievable and horrific, that all who witnessed the television reports unfold on television will never be able to forget the havoc and damage that the human species...

Pros: a very meaningful and moving experience you'll never forget
Cons: a very meaningful and moving experience you'll never forget

I am the daughter of a Holocaust survivor. I do not remember when I first learned of Six Million Jews who died during this time. I do remember later learning of the other Five Million whose lives were robbed from them by the Nazis. For Jews, Auschwitz is...

Pros: Thought provoking, well preserved
Cons: That it existed in the first place

The State Museum in Oswiecim. Doesn't sound too sinister, does it? But use the German name for the city - Auschwitz - and it doesn't sound quite so cozy. It conjures up images of terror, unspeakable cruelty, bestiality and genocide. It is ...

Pros: It's an overwhelming reminder of what can not be allowed to occur again
Cons: that human beings allowed such horrors to happen at all

When I planned out my recent trip to Europe, I knew I was going to Krakow. That meant that I would invariably find myself making a trip out to Auschwitz. This was something that I felt was important to do although I knew it would not be pleasant. ...

Pros: Proof that the Holocaust happened.
Cons: Proof that the Holocaust happened...

This epinion is a long time in coming. It’s taken me many years to fully think about what it all means. In this review, I've tried to structure it so you can see the things I saw, and hopefully feel the emotions I felt as I walked ...

Pros: Visual evidence of Holocaust
Cons: None

Krakow is usually the home base for anyone visiting Oswiecim or Auschwitz--its infamous German name. It is a day trip certainly worth taking. There are several ways to get to Oswiecim from Krakow. I recommend the last one on the list.
...

Pros: Auschwitz can give one an understanding of the events that can’t be put into words.
Cons: This can be an overpowering experience for the unprepared.

A good friend of mine traces his family roots as a hobby. He can find direct ancestors back as early as the 1400s, in England. I don't know anything about my family before the 1880s, even though my cultural heritage goes back some 3300 years. I am Jewish, ...

Pros: Educational and provides a focus for us to pay our respects
Cons: Not for everyone - a truly chilling place

While on holiday in Poland, we decided that we would make the trip to Auschwitz. I had seen documentaries on television showing what it is like today but nothing could really prepare me for it. The History In 1939, the Germans invaded Poland and ...

Pros: Gives you some perspective.
Cons: May be extremely distressing for some people.

An estimated 1.5 Million people died in the camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau. This is an overwhelming figure for the human mind to reconcile, and I spent most of the hour and a half bus journey from Krakow to Oswiecim (Auschwitz) trying to grapple with ...

Pros: A place to remember the unimaginable.
Cons: Sorrow casts its spell on those who visit.

I have avoided writing about my visit to the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp because to do so is unsettling. Yet, to ignore writing about this camp is tantamount to ignoring history and that, God forbid, could allow it to seem that some of...

Pros: Fascinating, Essential travelling.
Cons: sad & upsetting. Cold.

I was, like many I'm sure, deeply interested in going and also completely disturbed at the thought of going. But in the end, I could see no alternative, I had to go. It's easy for us to turn a blind eye to what happened in Auschwitz (or any other camp ...

Pros: good educational tour
Cons: may be too emotional for some visitors

Oswiecim is the Polish, original name of the city that the rest of the world knows as Auschwitz. It is a medium sized industrial town about an hour outside of Krakow. The city is home to two Nazi run concentration camps: Auschwitz (or Auschwitz I) and...

Pros: A testimony to cruelty of man
Cons: Some documents should have been translated

If you are in Warsaw, Krakow or for that matter Prague, i.e. anywhere not too far from Oswiecim, make sure you go there! This is a place you do not have the right to ignore if you are nearby!

I went to Auschwitz together with a couple of...

Pros: Historical landmark
Cons: Can be challenging to get to.

Oswiecim the home of Auschwitz is a disturbing place to visit. The town itself could probably best be described as a blue-collar industrial hamlet. There is little to see and do in the town away from Auschwitz its main attraction.

Oswiecim...

Pros: Preserved in good shape, yet sparce and stark
Cons: Not enough emphasis on Polish aspect of Nazi Lebensraum policy

Most extraordinary about Auschwitz for those who know and love Poland is the horrific fact that the nation was invaded, the Germans began exterminating Poles to make "Lebensraum" for their own people, began executing the Polish intelligentsia,...