Writing about Auschwitz isn’t easy. It never should be. But this is extremely important to preserve the complex and remain respectful, no matter our background or beliefs.
It holds real traces of human suffering, loss, and cruelty on a scale that still shocks. The way we speak about it, visit it, and share it with others matters.
But how does Auschwitz handle mass tourism? This is what we discuss here. How people behave, how the site manages millions of visitors each year, and why remembrance depends on how we act when we walk through the gates.
The Importance of Auschwitz as a Memorial
Auschwitz opened in 1940 as a prison for Polish civilians. By 1942 it had become the largest killing centre of the Holocaust, where Jews, Roma, Soviet prisoners, and others were murdered on an industrial scale.
When Soviet troops arrived on 27 January 1945, they found only a few thousand starving survivors and piles of evidence.
Two years later, in 1947, the new Polish state turned the complex into a museum so evidence would never be lost. Blocks that once held prisoners now hold thousands of shoes, glasses, prayer shawls, and suitcases. The items prove the crime in a way that no list of numbers can.
The gas-chamber ruins at Birkenau were stabilised, not rebuilt, so visitors would see the original destruction. In 1979, UNESCO placed the site on its World Heritage List, calling it a universal warning.
Remembrance is urgent. Fewer than fifty survivors could attend the 80-year liberation ceremony in January 2025. When living voices fade, the site itself must speak.
Education is, of course, the core task. School groups come from across Europe. Tour guides have a very important job: linking what happened here to signs people recognise today: hate speech, racist laws, leaders who strip rights from minorities. Learn these patterns now so we never repeat them.
Observations on Modern Tourism at Auschwitz
According to the European Jewish Congress, Auschwitz saw 1.83 million visitors in 2024, up ten percent from the year before.
The largest groups come from the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, and Germany. Of course, motives differ. Some visitors lost family in the camp. Others study World War II in school. Many travellers add the site to a city break in Kraków, often booking tours to Auschwitz from Kraków that run daily and include transportation, guides, and time at both camps.
Most people move with care: heads bowed, voices low. Yet, we also see behaviour that feels out of place. A teenager grins for a selfie on the railway tracks. A visitor answers a loud call inside Block 4.
Each time, staff remind us of the house rules posted at every entrance, which ban food, loud talk, and poses that turn the space into a backdrop.
Social media can amplify both respect and disrespect. In 2023, a photo of a woman posing on the tracks went viral; the museum issued a public warning asking users to keep dignity in mind when sharing images. Many travellers now post thoughtful captions, yet the risk of turning tragedy into content remains. Tour guides remind tourists when joining day tours to Auschwitz from Warsaw or Krakow, but it’s sometimes (yet rarely, thankfully) not enough.
Balancing Memory and Tourism
Now, considering the past two elements we discussed above, it’s important to balance them.
Every day, staff juggle a hard task: protect the quiet of a grave site while guiding crowds through spaces built for six hundred prisoners, not thousands of visitors. They use timed tickets, which cap group size at about thirty and stagger starts every fifteen minutes.
Auschwitz I and Birkenau are three kilometres apart. There’s a shuttle bus that spreads people out, so that eases pressure on the tighter brick blocks.
Rules do the rest. Bags must stay under 30×20×10 cm, flashes are banned, and any commercial shoot needs written approval. Tour operators open each tour with a short briefing: stay silent in certain rooms, no selfies in spots that hold human remains, respect the “no-photo” signs posted on two exhibitions.
Most visitors nod and follow along, yet guards step in fast when someone forgets.
Behind the scenes, preservation teams keep the place standing. Yes, they’re the people tourists don’t see, but they’re extremely important.
They fix old watchtowers so they don’t collapse, clean the bricks with special tools that won’t damage them, and keep fragile papers in rooms where the temperature and air stay just right.
This kind of work isn’t cheap, and entry tickets don’t cover it. Most of the money comes from donations and grants, which is why the museum can still let people in for free.
Security and staff who help visitors also cost money. Without them, things could quickly turn messy or disrespectful. It takes real planning to keep the complex calm and respectful, even with thousands of people coming through each day.
Personal Reflections and Experiences
We still remember our first time we walked through Block 4. We froze, we couldn’t speak. Behind the glass was a huge pile of human hair. It hit us in a way no book or film ever had.
We saw a father gently put his hand on his son’s back at the gas chamber ruins. Two students hugged each other without saying a word. A woman raised her phone to take a photo, then stopped and slowly put it away, as if she’d felt that it wasn’t the right moment.
On one visit, our then guide pointed to the spot at Birkenau where people were separated. Some sent to work, others straight to death. He said, “One step this way, you lived. One step that way, you didn’t.” It was just a short sentence, but it stayed with everyone in our group.
Every time we return, we notice something new. These visits remind us that silence can be powerful, that history becomes real when you stand where it happened, and that memory doesn’t last unless we make an effort to keep it going.
Why Continued Remembrance Must Never Stop
Since late 2023, hate crimes against Jewish people have gone up fast. In 2024, more than 10,000 cases were reported in the U.S. The most ever recorded.
In Europe, surveys show that many Jewish people feel less safe and even hide signs of their faith in public. Online, it’s even worse. People spread lies and twist facts, trying to make others doubt what really happened.
That’s why places like Auschwitz are still very, very important. When you stand in front of a gas chamber or see a pile of children’s shoes, there’s no room for denial. These things are real. They speak for themselves, even if no one is left to tell the story in person.
People take those images home with them. A teacher might talk about the visit in class. A traveller might tell their family what they saw. A teenager might share a respectful post online.
All these small actions help keep the truth alive. Memory only lasts if people keep it moving from one person to the next.
Conclusion: The Impact of Mass Tourism at the Auschwitz Concentration Camps
Mass tourism at Auschwitz brings both risk and responsibility. On one hand, it means more people are seeing the place with their own eyes. Standing on the same ground where so many were murdered, learning what happened, and hopefully carrying that knowledge home.
On the other hand, crowds, photos, and rushed visits can sometimes shift the focus away from reflection and toward routine.
It’s up to each visitor to choose how they experience the site. Respectful behavior, quiet attention, and a willingness to learn help preserve the meaning of the memorial. The more people who come and truly understand what they’re seeing, the stronger the memory stays.
The site doesn’t just teach history. It asks something from everyone who enters. That’s the real impact of mass tourism here: it spreads memory, but only if people treat the place not like a stop on a trip, but like the warning it’s meant to be.
If you read this as a future visitor to Auschwitz, please remember the words in this publication and stay respectful. We will be forever grateful.
Auschwitz Etiquette: FAQ
What should I know before visiting?
Reserve your free timed ticket on the museum’s website several weeks ahead, especially from April to October, when slots sell out quickly. The standard guided program lasts about three and a half hours and covers both Auschwitz I and Birkenau.
Wear sturdy shoes and clothes for open fields; Birkenau offers little shelter from the sun or wind. Bags larger than 30×20×10 cm must stay in lockers outside. The day can feel heavy, so plan some quiet time afterward for reflection.
Is photography allowed?
Yes, but only for personal use. Flash, tripods, and drones are banned. Two indoor exhibits that show human remains forbid any photos; clear signs mark them.
Avoid playful poses or smiles that can read as disrespectful. In 2023, a smiling track-pose went viral, and the museum publicly asked visitors to “respect the memory.”
How to prepare emotionally?
Watch a movie or read a book about Auschwitz. One survivor memoir, such as Primo Levi’s If This Is a Man or Elie Wiesel’s Night, to anchor the scale in a single human story. Talk with your travel partner about why you’re going and what reactions you might have.
If you feel overwhelmed on site, step outside; staff and guides are used to helping visitors who need a moment to breathe.
Are guided tours available?
Absolutely, there are tours to Auschwitz from Krakow and Warsaw. Licensed guides lead groups in multiple languages every fifteen minutes. A radio headset lets you hear without raising voices.
Guides frame timeline, context, and personal stories, and manage pacing so no area feels rushed. Private tours cost more but allow more questions and longer pauses whenever you need them.