A question for anyone who’s been to Auschwitz

[AI41]

Are you pleased you went, or do you regret going?

We’re going to Krakow on Boxing Day for a few days, and inevitably will need to discuss whether to visit Auschwitz. I’m going with two friends and obviously they can make their own decision. One of my friends is very interested in the war so I suspect he will want to go.

I was once told by someone who visited in the 80s that he regretted going because the horror has never left him. I am erring towards not going. But other people who’ve visited said to go and they don’t regret it at all.

There was no-one taking selfies when I went a few years ago. The weight of being there was felt by everyone. I knew a lot about the holocaust before I went, but being there was a totally different feeling. It was, of course, unspeakably awful, but I felt it was important to bear witness to it, and to remember what was done. It was hard to see and hear it all, but not going would have made me ashamed.

It didn’t give me nightmares, but I still think about it. It opened my eyes to the potential depth of evil in people. I’ll never forget it. I see it both as a warning and as a memorial to all those people lost. Nothing got the message of the horror across like being there.

I’ve been several times and each time there is something new or different to see.
No matter how many books you read or documentaries you watch, you’ll never know Auschwitz until you go.
You wear your own headset as you walk around with the guide so it still feels solitary even though you’re in a group.
I would also recommend a guided tour of the Jewish quarter and a visit to the Galicia Jewish Museum.
Please read Eli Weisel’s ‘Night’ before you go

He's 43 now and has no memory of it.

You should go oskar schindlers factory in krakow too. Its a museum now and very moving.

I’ve lived in Poland on and off and first went there in the 80s with my parents. It’s harrowing. I went there for the anniversary of the liberation as well, and met some of the survivors. You should go.

I actually found Majdanek more shocking because of its location in the town - there’s no way people didn’t know what was going on there.

I would like to do this.

I went to auschwitz as a teenager. Everyone should go at least once

I went as an adult. I’ve always been interested in that aspect of the war, so knew a lot of the horror before visiting. I genuinely can’t imagine trying to process all that as a young teen on a school trip with little or no prior context, but I know it’s important that schools are educating young people about it given the current political climate. I think of you have the opportunity, it’s important to do it.

For weeks afterwards I had very intense vivid dreams about being there during the holocaust. I’ve never reacted that way to other very serious, harrowing events in my life or other memorials I’ve visited. It does stay with you.

That sounds horrendous! I have extremely vivid dreams and sometimes sleep paralysis. Another reason not to go I think.

I had a conversation with someone, years ago, about whether I would go to Auschwitz or not.

I genuinely don’t think I could do it, not because I don’t understand/care about what happened there or because I think I already know enough about it, but because I honestly feel the weight of it would utterly devastate me.

I visited the 9/11 Memorial 14 years ago, before the museum was open, and sobbed the whole time I was there, to me it feels like visiting somewhere like Auschwitz would feel a hundred times worse.

The person I spoke to, who was Jewish and had lost distant relatives in the Holocaust, said something that stuck with me. He said “you don’t need to go, it’s not something you have to prove, if it doesn’t feel right then don’t go.”

I feel awful saying I can’t bring myself to go. I WANT to go, I want to honour the dead and bear witness to their suffering, but the thought of it terrifies me and I feel like an utter coward for admitting it.

I don’t know if that makes any sense, but maybe it might feel familiar to others.

I'll never go. It would feel wrong. It was so horrific, so devastating. I will not diminish that by visiting it as a tourist. It is important that it is not forgotten but I will not go for entertainment and feel a little horrified by others going.

I was another who went on a school trip in year 10, so aged 14/15. We went in February so it was absolutely freezing and covered in snow. Auschwitz itself does look more like an army barracks and is more ‘museum’ style - absolutely harrowing though and I remember being in tears for lots of it. The pictures on the walls in the corridors are haunting. We then went to birkenau which is vast (and mostly destroyed). But by then I think we were emotionally drained and exhausted. In hindsight I think we were too young for the weight of it to be honest! But I would definitely recommend going - just set yourself the whole day aside as like others have said, I don’t think many people could go and do anything else afterwards.

A monument to human brutality 1000x worse than anything I'd imagined. It was the giant wire cages of shoes that got me, including children's shoes, baby shoes. Those little shoes haunt me, thousands of pairs. I mean, I should have known. What was I expecting fgs?
It's vitally important we remember, as PPs have said. We must learn from history, good and bad (but we don't, do we?). Either way, such an outing will in no way be enjoyable, but it will be different from anything else you've experienced. Be prepared, OP.

Yes, I understand this.

I went years ago and yes, it’s stayed with me. When I went it was a beautifully sunny autumn day and I thought it was very well set up and and a really considered memorial/ museum. People were respectful and it was almost “pretty”, with the leaves and the well maintained buildings. The sense of history and foreboding is intense, but there’s still a museum feel to it, as it has sign posts and displays.

However, the trip included a visit to Birkenau, which hadn’t been maintained (on purpose) and that was incredibly bleak. No one spoke on the coach, the whole way back to Krakow. I wouldn’t go again, but I think everyone should go once.

Yes, this is familiar, and makes sense. I went to Madjanek in Poland and I bitterly regret it. I shouldn't have gone.

I'm really glad we visited Auschwitz and Birkenau. We had an amazing tour guide and learnt so much. It was definitely harrowing but I'm so glad we went. It's important.

I would respect anyone’s decision to go, but I think it is reasonable not to, and I have already said to dp that I would prefer not to when we visit Krakow.

Go. We all owe it to the millions that suffered. It's harrowing but I felt I had to pay respect. As others have said, be prepared for some people to act like disrespectful, ignorant cunts.

I felt that if I didn't go, it would be disrespectful to not only those that died there but also the multitudes who have maintained the site as a monument to those who lost their lives. I visited to show that the events that happened there still meant something to me living in the 2020's.
The same reason I visited the WW1 battlefields.

I’ve been several times and each time there is something new or different to see

You're making it sound like Disney World.

Meanwhile there is a far right resurgence in Poland and Germany ...

That's odd as the trenches near Ypres are from WW1.

I'm a bit puzzled about the relevance of students in trenches to the Menin gate though.

Agree with this. So many Ps on here are saying they're GLAD they went....
How? You are basically visiting a site where a handful of crazed humans orchestrated the brutal torture and annihilation of other humans. I don't get it. It's not interesting or enlightening. It's awful.

I went to Terezín, I actually felt on visiting that it was ghoulish to visit what has become a tourist attraction, it was sad, bitterly cold and almost surreal - I certainly didn't take in any of the history etc. The only thing I can remember is the shoes.

I went last year and didn’t make it all the way through. It felt commercialised and hugely disrespectful. The first thing you see when you arrive is vending machines by the car park and the restaurant on the way in.
You can only really visit as part of a tour group unless you’re prepared to go for one of the last slots of the day.
The groups are very busy, often with people who don’t speak the language of the tour as they were just desperate to get in, and so fellow visitors are often breaking the rules of silence or no photos.
Seeing huge groups of tourists traipse through the camp did not feel right. Seeing tourists take photos of the real people’s belongings was deeply upsetting.
If you do decide to go, please only book directly with Auschwitz and you do need to book early.
However in contrast I visited Sachsenhausen the previous year and that felt like it was honouring the horrors in a much more considered way.
Auschwitz felt like a visitor attraction first, a memorial second, and it was deeply uncomfortable.