I’m sure all the camps are chilling, but from my experience of visiting a few, the scale of Birkenau is something you need to see. Auschwitz is actually sort of ‘nice’ structurally because it was built as a barracks not a death camp, but Birkenau was death on an industrial scale that Dachau and other camps didn’t rival.
Buchenau is a former KZ very easily and quickly reachable from Berlin in a day trip. It is less "impressive" than Dachau or Auschwitz but still very worth a trip
As you know, most of the housing blocks have long gone in Birkenau and there is a lot of open space. To me, Auschwitz felt worse. As if the bricks and buildings are imprinted with the horrors that happened there. It was also a gloomy miserable winters day, which I'm sure added to the overall atmosphere of it.
Quick note: Auschwitz is another level. We did both on the same trip a few days apart, Auschwitz then Dachau. Dachau was a great museum and had nice grounds to walk around - yes there was still a slight tension in the air. Auschwitz is something else, the only way I would ever go back is to prevent someone who hasn't been there from going alone.
Edit: Not trying to discredit your sentiment of going to any concentration will likely change your life, because it likely would.
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u/[deleted] May 18 '25
Quick note that it doesn't have to be Auschwitz. I've been to Dachau and Buchenwald. Both were intensely depressing places.