Auschwitz is in southern Poland, on the outskirts of the town of Oświęcim, about 60–70 km (around 40 miles) west of Kraków.

Basic location

  • Auschwitz is the German name for the Polish town of Oświęcim in the Lesser Poland region.
  • The former camp complex lies just outside the town and is now the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum.

Main parts of the site

  • Auschwitz I (the original camp) is near the center-south side of Oświęcim and today serves as the main museum.
  • Auschwitz II-Birkenau is a larger site in the nearby village of Brzezinka, about 3 km from Auschwitz I.

If you are visiting

  • The site is roughly a 1–1.5 hour drive from Kraków, which is the most common starting point for visits.
  • The memorial preserves barracks, watchtowers, and ruins of gas chambers as a place of remembrance for the victims of the Holocaust.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.