Auschwitz??

Question

Hey I'm goin to Poland in September and I'll be visitng Auschwitz while I'm there. I study History and I know it'll be a truely once in a lifetime experience, it's just I don't know what to expect, can it b a really emotional experience like everybody says?

Answer 1

I visited Auschwitz-Birkenau a year ago, if you are familiar with WWII and holocaust history, you will feel very strong emotions that can hardly be described.
You can expect to be breathless (in a good way), impressed, and you can help to be sad for all the people that died horribly in that place 65 years ago.
Don't forget to touch the walls and to always have present that you will be standing in a place that was a synonymous of suffering.
Overall is a great profound experience.

Answer 2

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

I am living im Poland for 4 years now and can say that it is worth visiting the German concentration camps located in Poland because you can SEE and LEARN many things there.(Almost every High School in Poland organizes a trip to the concentration camps).
In the concentration camps you can see what kind of clothes ,glasses shoes,etc the prisoners wore.You can also see where they ate,slept.Also you have access to see the gas chambers and crematories where prisoners were killed.
There have been many German concentration camps in Poland yet I think you best plan to visit the city OSWIECIM(Auschwitz-Birkenau) which is probably the most "popular"and know camp.
Yet this is not the only place that you can visit about 15kilometers away is a town WADOWICE the birth place of the FIRST POLISH POPE JOHN PAUL THE II KNOWN AS KAROL WOJTYLA.WADOWICE are also loacted near a very big urbanized city called KRAKOW where there is the best known university in Poland the UNIWERSYTET JAGIELLONSKI.
Also about 30kilometers from OSWIECIM is a city called WIELICZKA,where a salt mine is located(it's a nice place,it too is worth visiting).
If you weren't planning to visit the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp I can provide information about the camps located near the Baltic Sea but i would need more time to write about them(and ask if they are even open to tour)
In OSWIECIM you will have an english speaking tour guide so everything will be explained about the camp(I forgot to mention that earlier)
I hope that my knowledge has been useful!In my opinion i think you should visit the WWII camps!
Also if you plan to visit Poland this MAY in a few days the new Pope Benedict the XVI is visting Poland for the first time.
Hope that my information has been useful

Source(s):
4 YEARS OF LIVING IN POLAND!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 3

Yes, it is a really moving experience. They start off with a movie of what happened and then you go on to see the warehouses with the spectacles/suitcases/human hair... piled high...

From Auschwitz, you then go to Birkenau where the actual camps and "chambers" are. You can really feel the goose bumps and sense the sadness...

While you're in Krakow, do cheer up with a visit to the underground Salt Cathedral nearby. There's the cathedral that can be converted into a concert hall as well as into a basketball arena. It's definitely worth visiting.

I really like the old town in both Warsaw and Krakow. The one in Warsaw has artist selling their paintings and beautiful windy cobbled streets while the one in Krakow has a splendid market in its centre.

Answer 4

I have a friend who went on a study trip to Auschwitz and came back a completely different person. It was so strange. It really affected him emotionally. He now is a really active human rights campaigner.

Answer 5

It depends on how you are,
I went with my wife to Dallas and whilst we were there we went to the "School Book Depository" where the shooter shot JFK.

It was a museum, but when we watched one of the documentaries in there, my wife was crying her eyes out...
So yes even if you wasn't around that era, the atmosphere and surroundings might get to you... especially if you are to visit inside the actual camp ............

Just thinking about the place makes me very angry at what happened.... Bas***ds !!!

Bring some Kleenex.....

Answer 6

Be prepared to be emotionally overwhelmed. Most people who go there are. You cannot help but feel the horror of what went on there. It may be a very disturbing experience but it is one which will open your eyes and make you feel humble about yourself and your troubles

Answer 7

i can't imagine it NOT being emotional. there were millions of poor massacred souls there. I'm sure there is a residue of that there (i do not believe in ghosts). besides, all you have to really do is think about what happened there and i get all messed up. most us remember the terrible things that have happened in the past. we need to keep remembering them or we will be doomed to repeat history.

Answer 8

i'd say it depends on how old you are like if you were alive during the war and knew people that died then probably so but when i went i wasnt just breaking down in to tears but im only 16 ( 14 when iw as there )

Answer 9

Yes it will. I found the reactions of people finding records of family members particularly upsetting.

Do not plan on doing anything later on that day.

Wait til you see it, the site is huge. : (

The birds did not sing while I was there.

Answer 10

yes it will certainly - everyone who I have spoken to who has been there has said that it is very moving and sad. But I hope that you find it the same as that is what makes us remember the sacrifices made during the pre-war Nazi and war periods.