Auschwitz - Birkenau

During our time in Cracow, we took a day-trip to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp. They are actually two separate camps officially called Auschwitz I and II. There were plans to build a third, but it never happened. Birkenau is a much larger camp. Since most people are well aware of the events that happened here, I have decided to use my photos to share the stories of the few who survived and the many who perished. 

Arbeit Macht Frei

Gas chamber and crematorium

Door to the gas chamber

Surviving gas chamber in Auschwitz

Empty canisters that held the gas pellets

Birkenau

There are 1.5 million cobblestones, one for each victim murdered at Auschwitz-Birkenau

The guards tried to destroy all the evidence before the Soviets reached the camps.
This is all that remains of the large extermination chamber. 

This chamber and crematory could handle 2,000 people per day.

The chamber has been untouched since the Soviet liberated the camps
as a memorial to the victims.

Standing quietly in a block house that housed women in the last week of their lives.
I closed my eyes and could feel the energy of their spirits still present.