Birkenau, or Auschwitz II. Brick main entrance with SS watch tower, a familiar scene from films and history books.

Birkenau contained more than 300 buildings, of which 45 made of brick and 22 of wood have survived almost intact. The wooden buildings once served as field stables for 52 horses each. They were minimally modified for use as barracks, each housing up to 1,000 prisoners.

May 2007, Photo 909

Birkenau, main brick gate with watchtower, from the inside

Tracks are the originals from which deportees were unloaded from transports — usually cattle cars — and the selections made as to whom would be gassed immediately (or almost so) or be allowed to work for the Third Reich until, typically, they died of starvation, overwork, appalling sanitation, and physical and psychological abuse. As many inmates were told outright, "escape from Auschwitz was only up a chimney". From 1943, prisoners were tattooed and Auschwitz was the only camp where inmates labeled with identifying tattoos.

May 2007, Photo 921

Birkenau, small memorial where the train tracks enter the camp

May 2007, Photo 902

Birkenau; complex of RR tracks used for transporting prisoners, and platform used for unloading the trains

Not visible in this photo, but att the end of unloading platform, near the end of the railroad tracks, are the remains of two of Birkenau's four crematoria and of gas chambers that were blown up by the retreating SS in early 1945. Amidst the ruins, the footprints of an underground changing room where the doomed undressed prior to going to 'take a shower'; a gas chamber; the rails along which corpses were pushed; and five large hollows left by furnaces (of a crematorium) are still discernible.

May 2007, Photo 904

Birkenau; a guard's observation tower beside fence that would have been electrified

May 2007, Photo 905

Birkenau; barracks and a fence that SS would have electrified

May 2007, Photo 907

Birkenau; primitive toilets in typical barracks

May 2007, Photo 911

Birkenau; prisoners shared the 3-tiered bunks 4 persons to tier

It was then that our guide (young but excellent, likely because Auschwitz tour guides must train for a year) told us of a man who'd been on a tour while she was in training who'd pointed out his bunk while imprisoned at Birkenau. He came back!!?? Guide then explained that survivors who attend January 27th Liberation Anniversary ceremony often say they have to gird themselves "for years" to be able to return.

May 2007, Photo 914

Birkenau, air raid shelter for guards

May 2007, Photo 919

Birkenau; International Monument to the Victims of Fascism

Between the ruins of Crematoria II and III (Crematorium I was partially destroyed by Jewish prisoners in October, 1944.) Unveiled and dedicated in April, 1967. Each plaque, in the ground, is in the language of a nationality or ethnic group that was persecuted at Auschwitz. English was added as the 20th (or 22nd, depending on the source) recently.

From one source, The inscriptions on the plaques under the monument were done in 19 languages: (1) Polish, (2) English, (3) Bulgarian, (4) Gypsy, (5) Czech, (6) Danish, (7) French, (8) Greek, (9) Hebrew, (10) Yiddish, (11) Spanish, (12) Flemish, (13) Serbo-Croatian, (14) German, (15) Norwegian, (16) Russian, (17) Romanian, (18) Hungarian and (19) Italian. At first glance, these multilingual plaques seemed to categorise the victims according to their ethnicity. In actual fact, they expressed the official nation-state categorisation, as almost all of them were done in the languages of the states whose citizens perished in the camp.

May 2007, Photo 924

Birkenau, part of the International Monument to the Victims of Fascism, with barbed wire and watchtower in background

May 2007, Photo 930

Birkenau; the ruins of a crematorium blown up by the SS as the Soviet Army closed in.

The demolished remains of the crematorium have been untouched since the war's end. Poland designated the camp complex as a national [historic] site in the late 1940's and the Auschwitz complex was designated a UNESCO site in 1978.

May 2007, Photo 937

Birkenau; Memorial markers to those who suffered here.

In background, barely discernible in this photo, is a pond into which human ashes were dumped after cremation; just past demolished crematorium (Photo 937). There are many such ponds and pits at Birkenau. It is assumed that much of the land in Birkenau, particularly at this end, has been accordingly touched.

May 2007, Photo 938