This is the gates to Auschwitz I, displayed the motto Arbeit Macht Frei ("Work brings freedom"). - Auschwitz (Polish: Oświęcim) concentration camp was a network of German Nazi concentration camps and extermination camps built and operated by Nazi Germany in annexed Polish areas during World War II. It consisted of Auschwitz I (the original camp), Auschwitz II–Birkenau (a combination concentration/extermination camp), and Auschwitz III–Monowitz (a labor camp). - Auschwitz I was first constructed to hold Polish political prisoners, who began to arrive in May 1940. Then, the first extermination of prisoners took place in September 1941. Soon, Auschwitz II–Birkenau went on to become a major site of the Nazi Final Solution to the Jewish Question and Auschwitz I eventually became the administrative center for the whole complex. - In 1947, Poland founded the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum on the site of Auschwitz I and II, and in 1979, it was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It is devoted to the memory of the murders in both camps during World War II. The museum performs several tasks, among them research into the Holocaust. The areas of remembrance are Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II-Birkenau, the train ramp between Auschwitz and Birkenau, which was used as a "debarkation-stop" between 1942–1944. The three kiclometres between Auschwitz and Birkenau are within walking distance. The museum is situated in several original buildings. - (22/09/2017) #auschwitz #auschwitzi #oswiecim #auschwitzmuseum #arbeitmachtfrei #poland #latepost #throwback #europe #eurotrip (at Auschwitz Memorial / Muzeum Auschwitz)
