A horrific place

I visited Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in April 1993, on Easter of all days. The first thing I noticed was the inscription over the gate: "Arbeit macht frei" (in English: Work will set you free.) The obvious irony is that this was far from the truth, as prisoners were worked to death or executed.

Arbeit macht frei:  "work will set you free"

Camp layouts

Auschwitz (Oświęcim) was Nazi Germany's largest concentration camp and extermination center.  Approximately 1.3 million people were deported to Auschwitz. Of those, it is estimated that 1.1 million lost their lives, including 960,000 Jews and tens of thousands of Poles (non-Jews), along with "gypsies" and Soviet POWs. 

1.3 million people died

The camp operated from 1940-45.

Before I went to Poland, I had wanted to visit several concentration camps. After I visited Auschwitz, I never wanted to visit a concentration camp again. I understood why our Polish translators stayed in the car while we toured the camp. I did visit the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC shortly after returning from Poland, but the experience (fortunately) was not similar. 

Schindler's List was filmed in Poland the same year I was there (in 1993). The filmmakers were denied permission to film inside the camp, but some exterior shots were filmed outside the gate of Auschwitz II-Birkenau. It was a difficult film for Steven Spielberg to make, as he is Jewish.