The Birkenau camp is less visited than Auschwitz, although it was here that the majority of prisoners lived and died. Covering some 170 hectares, the Birkenau camp consisted of 300 buildings, of which over 60 brick and wood buildings remain. The rest were burnt down or demolished after war, but you can still see their traces on the ground - visible from the top of the tower above the entrance gate. Walking through the site, stretching into distance are row upon row of barracks, fenced off by barbed wire and interspersed with watchtowers. Over 100,000 prisoners (August 1944) lived there in unimaginably terrible conditions. The huge gas chambers located at the end of the camp, were erected to gass and later cremate over 60,000 people a day. Prisoners were arriving to Birkenau in trains (cattle trucks). You can still visit the original rail lines, ramp and sidings. Wandering round the barracs can help you to imagine the crazyness and paranoia of the Nazi terror.
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