AUSCHWITZ
In 1947, a few years after the wars end, The Soviet Union handed the Auschwitz concentration camp over to Poland. The summer of that same year it the camp was declared to be a museum. To this day people from all over the world flock to this horrific monument of the past. What is it that brings these people to this camp? It is curiosity and to some it could be closure. Some of the most horrific events of human history took place at this camp, and being able to physically see what hell looks like up close is something that attracts people. The Museum cover Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II, with many different exhibitions going on in each part of the camp. The camp has been preserved so people can see and really feel the authenticity of where they are standing. The museum currently offers guided tours throughout the whole facility so spectators can understand first hand what Auschwitz was like. 1 There are now millions of people coming to see this museum and understand more about this time during the war.
BERGEN-BELSEN
After the liberation of Bergen-Belsen the SS guards were ordered to collect all of the bodies of those who were killed and bury them. eventually the British had to bring in bulldozers to push thousands of remaining bodies into mass graves. Soon after the camp was evacuated due to an outbreak of typhus and the camp was burned down barrack by barrack. This was done to try and combat the typhus. in 1946 Belsen served as the largest DP (Displaced Person) camp and was exclusively for Jews. After about five years all of the displaced people had left and the remaining camp was left empty. Today all the remains of the former camp is a graveyard with a monument to remember all of those who were lost at camp, including the Anne and Margot Frank. 2
PLASZOW
After World War II, the Plaszow concentration camp area has been left undeveloped with very little commemoration to those who had died there. Now the place where the camp used to be has been long gone. Almost no traces of the Plazsow camp remain except for a few uninteresting buildings with no real way to connect them to the camp. In the fall of 1944 the Nazis had the inmates destroy and dismantle all of their living quarters and all other facilities. Later the bodies were removed and cremated on the site of the destroyed camp and taken away. Today the place is a wasteland and is not kept up with. However there are plans to build a commemorative park eventually. 3