After I finished seeing the first camp I took a short bus to Auschwitz II-Birkenau. This camp was huge and I couldn’t take a picture to really show how large the place is. Many of the buildings here were blown up or burned by the retreating Germans but the outlines of the buildings are still here. You can see the chimneys that fill the field. I walked across this camp and then I walked around 1 side of it, the right side of the picture.

This last picture is of one of the 4 or 5 gas chambers. They are smaller than you would think would be used but comfort was not a concern of the Gestapo or the SS during WWII.

I always thought that if you are to visit one of the concentration camps it would be best to go when it is REALLY hot or REALLY cold. That way some of what the victims went through could be understood but those of us visiting. I picked the hot day. I drank 2-3 liters of water and never had to go to the bathroom. My face, arms, and the back of my neck were all very sunburned. Some of the housing for the prisoners were barns and 4 of them are open so that you could walk around and go inside of them. I couldn't go inside. It was so hot that I took 1 step inside, couldn't breath, and then went right back outside. I was hot, sweaty, tired, thirsty and icky while I was here for 1 day. I was only there for 1 day and not even a whole day. The reflection that it makes someone do....