Auschwitz-Birkenau

The complex of Nazi Germany's concentration camps and extermination camps located in Oświęcim and nearby villages in 1940-1945. It consisted of two main camps: KL Auschwitz and KL Birkenau (Auschwitz II). During World War II it witnessed the biggest process of Holocaust in the history of mankind. It caused death of thousands of people.
Today, thanks to the former prisoners, the site of the camp serves as Auschwitz-Birkenau National Museum in Oświęcim, covering 191ha: 20ha in Auschwitz I and 171ha in Auschwitz II. The museum's area includes the buildings and ruins of the former camp, ruins of the gas chambers and crematoria, parts of the camp's wall and roads, and the train ramp in Birkenau. In 1971 the area of the former KL Auschwitz-Birkenau was declared UNESCO World Heritage Site.