Exit from the Visitor's Center
Rear of administration
building with exits from theater, 1998 photo
The photograph above shows the rear of
the administration building with the exit doors from the movie
theater. The exit doors are shown on the right side of the photo;
the wide doors on the left were doors into the disinfection chambers
where the clothes were deloused with Zyklon-B to prevent the
spread of typhus. This building was called die Aufnahmegebäude
(Building to Receive Newcomers).
The photo below shows the street that
runs along the outside of the original camp. Organized tours
start on this street, then turn right at the first intersection
and go through the Arbeit Macht Frei gate, which is to the right,
but out of camera range in this shot. The street that is shown
in the photo below goes straight ahead to the gas chamber, and
the former Political Section. The SS hospital, which is across
from the gas chamber, can be seen on the right; it is the light-colored,
two-story building.
Visitors enter the
Auschwitz main camp on this street, 1998 photo
The photo below shows the view from the
rear of the administration building, looking towards the Arbeit
Macht Frei gate. The brick building in the center of the photo
is Block 24, the former brothel and library building, which now
houses the camp archives. The black-painted wooden building to
the right is the camp kitchen. The black building on the left
is the Blockführerstube or Block Leaders Room, where the
camp guards lived.
View of Arbeit Macht
Frei gate after exit from the movie, 1998 photo
Camp kitchen to the
right of the Arbeit Macht Frei gate, 2005 photo
The photo above shows a view of the camp
kitchen, which is to the right of the gate into the main camp.
The thing on the left of the birch tree, in the center of the
photo, is a one-man air raid shelter. The Allies targeted Auschwitz
for bombing because of the important munitions factories there,
which used prison labor.
To take a shortcut to the gas chamber
in the main camp after you enter through the Arbeit Macht Frei
gate, turn left on the street that is just inside the gate. Go
to the end of the street and turn right. You will soon see an
opening in the fence, shown in the photo below, which leads to
the gas chamber building, located outside the camp.
Path leading to the
gas chamber in the main camp
The photo below shows the road back to
the administration building after completing the tour of the
main camp. When I visited in 1998, there were rose bushes in
this area, but they were gone in 2005.
Road back to visitor's
center after tour of the barracks, 1998 photo
This page was last updated on July 28,
2009
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