This was my second Concentration Camp experience and my hubby's first. He didn't really want to go,…read morebut ended up being fascinated by everything he saw.
It's a large camp. Very large, with a lot of walking. You purchase your tickets and then walk down a long lane to the actual entrance. The entrance is flanked on one side by house that once housed the commandant of the camp and his family, and is now a small museum. The other building is an exhibit type of hall.
Of course, you walk through a gate with the infamous words ARBEIT MACHT FREI (work sets you free). Once inside the camp, barracks, offices, the morgue, the kitchen, the crematorium, the roll call area and a cemetery (not to be confused with a larger cemetery located down the road from the camp), are among the sites you can tour. It literally took us the entire time the camp was open to see everything. In fact, we actually got locked it the cemetery at closing and a gruff man, who feigned not being able to speak English, was upset that he had to retrieve us. We weren't happy about it either, sir! Of course the cemetery was across the entire property from the entrance, so we had to not only hoof it through the gate, but back to the area where you purchase tickets. Did I mention it was raining and we were soaked to the bone?
My one regret is not being able to pick up a book about the camp while there.
If you've never been to a camp, this is a good one to go to. Although large, it is extremely informative and does a good job educating the public about what went on inside the camp. I do recommend bringing tissues, just in case.
87/2025
