Remembering and learning about the Holocaust reveals the dangers of antisemitism, discrimination and dehumanization. UNESCO emphasizes the importance of understanding and addressing the legacies of violent pasts to help develop the knowledge and values to prevent future atrocity crimes.
The "Auschwitz Birkenau - German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp (1940-1945)" was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979.
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The Judenrampe, November 2024
© Olivier Mériel/Mémorial de la Shoah
Referred to by the Nazis as the Judenrampe, this railway siding received deportation convoys of European Jews between 1942 and May 1944.
Beyond the Abyss - Auschwitz-Birkenau
The Judenrampe, November 2024
© Olivier Mériel/Mémorial de la Shoah
Upon arrival, a "selection" process was conducted by an SS physician, who directed a minority of deportees into the camp while sending the vast majority to their deaths. Of the 1.1 million Jews deported, 900,000 were immediately murdered.
Beyond the Abyss - Auschwitz-Birkenau
Entrance Gate of Auschwitz-Birkenau, November 2024
© Olivier Mériel/Mémorial de la Shoah
Photographed from outside the camp, this image shows the central watchtower of Auschwitz-II, constructed in 1942, with wings added later. Convoys passed beneath it starting in mid-May 1944.
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Watchtower at Auschwitz-II Birkenau, November 2024
© Olivier Mériel/Mémorial de la Shoah
The camp perimeter was surrounded by watchtowers, 11-meter-high wooden structures where SS guards monitored detainees. The 170-hectare camp was enclosed by 16 kilometers of electrified barbed wire.
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The Ash Pond, November 2024
© Olivier Mériel/Mémorial de la Shoah
Behind Crematorium IV at Auschwitz-Birkenau lies a body of water where the Nazis disposed of the ashes of murdered victims. Memorial plaques honor their memory.
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Lagerstrasse Gate, November 2024
© Olivier Mériel/Mémorial de la Shoah
A gate controlling access to the wide avenue between sectors BIIc and BIId of Auschwitz-Birkenau. This path was used by victims heading to Crematoriums IV and V and those directed to the Zentralsauna.
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Towards Crematorium II, November 2024
© Olivier Mériel/Mémorial de la Shoah
To the left of the Bahnrampe (railway siding) stands Crematorium II, a brick building containing an undressing room, a gas chamber, and five cremation ovens. It became operational on 31 March 1943.
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Inside a Barrack in the Quarantine Camp, November 2024
© Olivier Mériel/Mémorial de la Shoah
No original wooden barracks from Auschwitz-II remain. The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum decided to reconstruct sector BIIa, initially made of prefabricated barracks housing over 400 detainees.
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International Monument at Auschwitz-Birkenau, November 2024
© Olivier Mériel/Mémorial de la Shoah
Initiated in 1957 by the International Auschwitz Committee, the International Monument at Birkenau was inaugurated in 1967 between the ruins of Crematoriums II and III. Twenty-three plaques inscribed in all languages spoken at the camp commemorate the 1.1 million victims of the Auschwitz complex.
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Entrance Gate of Auschwitz-I, November 2024
© Olivier Mériel/Mémorial de la Shoah
The entrance gate to the Auschwitz-I concentration camp, also known as Stammlager, is topped with the inscription "Arbeit macht frei" ("Work sets you free").
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Perimeter of Auschwitz-I, November 2024
© Olivier Mériel/Mémorial de la Shoah
Beyond the camp's perimeter lies the "former theater," initially part of a Polish army barracks repurposed by the Nazis in spring 1940. It is now home to the International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust, part of the Auschwitz Birkenau Memorial and Museum in Oświęcim.
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Pathway Inside Auschwitz-I, November 2024
© Olivier Mériel/Mémorial de la Shoah
The Auschwitz-I detainee camp covers six hectares. It initially consisted of 22 brick buildings. By August 1944, approximately 16,000 detainees were held there.
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The Courtyard of Block 11, November 2024
© Olivier Mériel/Mémorial de la Shoah
Located between Blocks 10 (used for medical experiments on detainees) and 11 (a prison block), this courtyard was the site of thousands of executions by shooting and acts of torture carried out by the Nazis.
Beyond the Abyss - Auschwitz-Birkenau
Gas Chamber at Auschwitz-I Crematorium, November 2024
© Olivier Mériel/Mémorial de la Shoah
The first gas chamber, operating with Zyklon B, was installed by the Nazis in a former munitions depot converted into a morgue with cremation ovens. It was used from autumn 1941 to December 1942.
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Cremation Ovens at Auschwitz-I Crematorium, November 2024
© Olivier Mériel/Mémorial de la Shoah
This same building housed three cremation ovens installed in 1940. After the Auschwitz-Birkenau crematoriums became operational, two of the three ovens were reconstructed post-war.
Beyond the Abyss - Auschwitz-Birkenau
Towards the Light, November 2024
© Olivier Mériel/Mémorial de la Shoah
A new pathway to Auschwitz-I was inaugurated in 2023. After passing through a tunnel where the names of Auschwitz deportees are heard, visitors emerge into the light before entering the former camp, now a museum and memorial site.