Exit from the Visitor's Center
Rear of administration
building with exits from theater
The photograph above, taken in 1998,
shows the rear of the administration building with the exit doors
from the movie theater. This building was called die Aufnahmegebäude
(Building to Receive Newcomers).
The 1998 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
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 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
Camp kitchen to the
right of the Arbeit Macht Frei gate
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.
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
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