Must Visit Places

AUSCHWITZBIRKENAU

“Arbeit Macht Frei” is the German phrase that greets our group as we enter the Aus-chwitz I concentration camp. As we pass under the wrought-iron gate, the local guide reveals the translation, “Work Makes You Free” a motto, which belies the true atroci-ties that took place in the Nazi concentration camp during World War II and which leaves my group and me in silence.

At first glance Auschwitz I doesn’t look like a bad place. Despite the barbed wire fence surrounding the perimeter, it’s

not a stretch of the imagination to picture the rows of bricked buildings as coveted, pricey apartments, inhabited by young professionals.

But then again, this wasn’t built as a death camp; it was origi-nally a Polish barracks. Situated in the small town of Oscwiem, (about thirty minutes drive from Krakau airport) pre-1939 it was a vibrant town with a population of 12,000, 80% of them were Jewish. It’s only

Clo

As part of our new Must Visit Places series we visited one of the most unusual yet most popular

tourist attractions in Europe, a Nazi-death camp in Poland.

by Matthew Dyas