Outside of the Auschwitz - Birkenau Museum 

The "Judenrampe"

As part of an extended visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum it is also possible to visit the “Judenrampe” (Jewish ramp) –  a railway siding about a kilometre to the south of the railway station in the town of Oświęcim, between the camps Auschwitz I – Stammlager and Auschwitz II – Birkenau. This ramp received transports of Jews designated for extermination in the gas chambers of Birkenau. It was here that the selection of these Jews took place, into those capable of slave labour and those condemned to immediate extermination. Here families were split up, belongings were plundered, and victims selected for the pseudo-medical experiments of the SS doctors. In 1944, in connection with plans to murder hundreds of thousands of Hungarian Jews in Birkenau, a new ramp was built inside the camp at Birkenau, in the immediate vicinity of the gas chambers. The first “Judenrampe” has now been restored and is open to visitors. Two authentic wagons from the period of the war stand in the siding.

 Auschwitz III – Monowitz

The largest of the more than 40 sub-camps of KL Auschwitz was at the opposite end of the town of Oświęcim. It was set up to meet the construction needs of the Buna Werke factory owned by the IG-Farben concern, which exploited the Auschwitz prisoners as slave labour. This camp has not survived. It is commemorated by a memorial that may be seen on a tour of the town of Oświęcim.

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