How to see Holocaust sites in Poland and Germany

First, list all of the places you want to visit.

Second, list the closest nearest city where you'd likely stay - e.g., Krakow to visit Auschwitz.

Third, plot the cities on a Google Map.

Then figure out the logistics. Where to start, where to end?

Yes, you definitely need to list the sites you want to visit. Many of them can be reached by public transportation or day tour from nearest city. Also where is your cruise ending? That will be helpful for transportation advice.

I would make a list of the camps I would want to visit and then look on line for tours that might be offered. I doubt tours would be any longer than a few hours.
-Use the Rome2rio app and plug in each site with the city/town you use for lodging to see transportation ideas and distances.
-If you don’t have a good handle where each site is in relation to others, get a good map of Europe and use it to plot your route.

I see someone else offered same advice while I was creating my post !

Have a great trip.

"...how to begin planning?" I would suggest decide on which camp sites you intend to see and their locations closest to which towns... Dachau, Neuengammen, Buchenwald, Belsen, Nordhausen, Sachenhausen, for example in Germany. They are all accessible by public transportation.

Dachau...regional train from Munich Hbf, Neuengammen from Bergedorf near Hamburg, ie take S-Bahn from Hamburg Hbf to Bergedorf,

Buchenwald...take the bus from Weimar at the Goetheplatz on the edge of the Zentrum . The signs there indicate which bus goes to Buchenwald.

Sachsenhausen is in the town of Oranienburg, north of Berlin, the RB train from Berlin Hbf with the terminus Strasund stops at Oranienburg.

Belsen is north of Celle, I think a bus goes out there but check in Celle, which is north of Hannover.

I doubt tours would be any longer than a few hours...

Actually, for Auschwitz-Birkenau, you should allow the better part of a day. Assuming you will be based in Krakow (which is the most logical place to stay), it's going to take most of an hour just to get there and another to get back, and the sites themselves deserve some time to see all and reflect. So you will need to plan for most of the day, and after returning to town you may not feel in the mood to go out and be a happy tourist right away either.

Also do note: you need to plan ahead and book your ticket well in advance of your visit - do not wait until you are there to do that (do it months in advance during the busy summer season). More posts with details on how to manage that in the Poland forum.

The train planner of the German railways also does bus connections. Use Google Maps or OpenStreetMap for the name of the nearest bus stop or street. The train planner also has a map function under »Show details«.

You will really need to travel by car to be efficient on such a trip. You don't want to be stifled by a bus or train schedule once you get to the sights, and they can be difficult to get to without wheels.
I'd be starting at Dachau and then go over to Linz, Austria to Mauthausen. Of course Auschwitz is northeast of Prague.
WWII history is still there, but many places are pretty quiet about what went on such a short time ago in history. The work and concentration camps with tours are reminders of what can happen in society without laws and a judicial system to follow them. We took our 11 year old daughter to Dachau and also to the Anne Frank haus, and it impacted her.

We have been to Dachau and Auschwitz. After Auschwitz we had nightmares and my wife didn't sleep well for a while. Still, visiting these places is important to remember that evil can do tremendous damage to humanity.

Still, visiting several Holocaust sites may be a bit too much of a shock. Be prepared for a shock, even though you have likely read about the Holocaust, this experience is chilling.

Yes, are you sure visiting five different Holocaust sites in one week will be good for your mental health?

May I recommend as a woman, that you visit Ravensbruck KZ near Berlin? This was a KZ mainly for women only. There were many Jehovah Witnesses, Socialists, Communists, and Resistance fighters from many countries here. For me, it had a very different aura about it from the other KZ I have visited. The cabins on the hillside here were for the women guards and the place almost looks like a summer camp when you pull up to it, with a lake in front. Plan on spending a good part of the day here.

If you are in Berlin, you can have your fill of sites. Wannsee Villa, Track 17, Topography of Terror, Olympic Stadium, Sachenhausen KZ, the memorials to the various persecuted groups of people.

Please come back and tell us where you want to visit, where you are starting from, and how long your trip is. All the answers you've been given so far are based on speculation and may or may not be helpful.

Thanks to all of you! The cruise ends in Budapest and I was hoping to start from there. Heading to Auschwitz-Birkenau for a day or two, then making a trek through Poland and Germany to hit most of the sites.

I’ve already been to:
Neuremburg Courthouse,
Dachau,
Eagles Nest,
Mauthausen,
Terezin,
Schindlers Factory/Museum,
Auschwitz-Birkenau,
House of the Wannsee Conference ,
Ravensbrück ,
Bergen-Belsen.

As you can see, I’ve been very blessed. I would revisit each of these to see them thoroughly. I’m a deep-diver traveler so I’m wondering if anyone has suggestions for a few base locations or? Thanks for sharing ideas and wisdom.

It occurs to me it might seem strange to visit so many Holocaust sites....I’ve been drawn to their history since I taught sixth grade and we read a book called “A Fathers Promise”. I hope to someday be a presenter to high school kids, or somehow be a reference for others. And lest you worry, I’ve had the same approach to American Civil War sites/history. I’m known in my family as “Hysterically Historical”😊

Oops! Forgot to add the ones I want to see....all of them! If they are on the map for Poland or Germany I want to visit.

Majdanek
Belzec
Treblinka
Sobibor
Strutthof
Gross Rosen
Plaszow
Chelmno
Buchenwald
Neuengamme
Flossenbürg
Sachenhausen
Dora-Mittebau

Hi,

To continue from my post above: From Lublin you can get to Majdanek. Last year I know a friend living here who did just that by public transport.

From Gdansk you can reach Strutthof by public transport.

Fred, thanks so much! Those are great concrete places to begin planning.

Hi,

You're welcome! I can see that you intend to see the extermination sites in Poland, those six...Majdanek, Sorbibor, Auschwitz-Birkenau, Belzec, Treblinka, Chelmno. The first to be liberated by the Soviets was Majdanek when their offensive reached into eastern Poland. Seeing the horrors they waited a week before announcing to the world what they had come across.

Flossenbürg is in southern Bavaria, the US Army troops didn't overrun the place quick enough to prevent the execution of some top military and civilian officials involved in the Resistance, eg. W Canaris of the Abwehr (the German Army Military Intelligence.)

On the liberation of Dachau and the American response/reaction to encountering the horrors: see R Atkinson's third volume of his trilogy on WW2. Quite different from the British Second Army's response upon encountering the horrors, far worse horrors, at Belsen.

I can see that you intend to see the extermination sites in Poland, those six...Majdanek, Sobibor, Auschwitz-Birkenau, Belzec, Treblinka, Chelmno.

I commend you for seeking out the "real" Holocaust sites usually missed, but I think Sobibor, Belzec, Treblinka, and Chelmno will require a car rented from Warsaw and some days of driving through remote non-touristed Poland where English won't be spoken. I'd suggest your taking one of the tours organized from Israel to reach these sites, which will provide a guide and plenty of context, but I see you are date-inflexible since it has to follow cruise. Here's one I found online, no personal experience https://kenes-tours.com/group/poland-jewish-highlights/

As to the train, Auschwitz-Birkenau and Majdanek have regular service, I read online that Belzec has Saturday train service in the summer, pretty sure the remaining 3 have no train access. As to Chelmno, the train station, processing, gassing, and cremation took place at 4 unique locations so you will really need a car there. Chelmno was the prototype, the later sites were more efficient.

It would be a pity to go all the way to Belzec without seeing Lviv, Ukraine, but all reports on the border crossing here are bad news.

Treblinka is manageable without a car. You take the train to Malkinia Gorna and a taxi from there. It's over 5 miles, so a long walk, and I think part of the way you'd be walking on the narrow shoulder of a 2-lane highway. There wasn't much traffic, but it's not something I'd want to do. I was worried about the cost of the taxi because there was a reference to some horrendous fare online, but I paid 80 zloty (including a 10% tip) for the round-trip. The driver didn't wait; that would certainly have cost a lot more. He gave me his card, and the staff person at the camp museum was kind enough to call for me at the end of my visit.

When doing something like this it's important not to dilly dally when you get off the train. Though a taxi or taxis will often be waiting, they won't hang around long. They'll head off to earn money somewhere else if no customers materialize.

Edited to add: I'm not sure there was as much as a water-vending machine at the museum or the MG train station, though there may be. Take at least some water with you.

The camp, "Muzeum Walki i Męczeństwa w Treblince" in Polish, is not particularly near the little town of Treblinka. Any taxi driver picking up a foreigner at the MG train station should expect his fare to be headed to the camp, but it won't hurt to say "Treblinka -- Moozeum". That should get the point across.

"..upon encountering the horrors, far worse horrors, at Belsen."

Yes, indeed. As an aside, when the BBC's own war correspondent Richard Dimbleby's recorded report on the Belsen liberation by the british army arrived back at London (no live satellite links in those days, of course), the BBC decided not to broadcast it since it appeared to report things too unbelievably horrible and instead demanded corroboration before repeating. They got the corroboration and did broadcast the next night.

His broadcast is well known in Britain, together with the newspaper photographs and newsreel footage, which is perhaps why Bergen-Belsen is/was a particular symbol of Axis horror, at least for people my age, with references to the Bitch of Belsen and the Beast of Belsen for example. More so, perhaps until relatively recently, even than Auschwitz.

I'm not sure whether I should be shocked the BBC were cautious about the report or, on the other hand, admire that even after all that war-time, they still couldn't believe the Germans had really been that evil and wanted confirmation before giving out "fake news".

Here's one version of the report on YouTube (some of the photos are not from Belsen, but the words are Dimbleby's)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VP9BLKZENbc

When British troops came upon Belsen, Lt. Alfred Hitchcock (the famed future movie director ) recorded on film the horrors seen in the camp. That Hitchcock film was for years left " unseen," stored at the IMW museum in London.

The BBC's reticence was probably due to memories of some of the entirely false extreme anti-German propaganda put out by the British government during WWI, one notorious example of which was an eerie anticipation of the Holocaust.