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1 million 830 thousand people visited the Memorial in 2024
In 2024, over 1.83 million people visited the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum. Compared to 2023, this is an almost ten percent increase. However, attendance has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels, influenced by factors such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East.
“A visit to the authentic Memorial is not the same as a visit to any other museum, even one dedicated to similar issues. This experience should change a person. Our mission is not only to show the past but also to enable every visitor to undergo their own personal rite of passage, which serves as a reflection on our own responsibility today,” said Dr. Piotr M. A. Cywiński, the Director of the Museum.
The largest group of visitors, some 25 percent, came from Poland. According to declarations made in the reservation system, the next most frequent visitors came from the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, and Germany. Slightly over half of the reservations are made through the visit.auschwitz.org website, where more than 17,500 people have chosen to financially support the mission of the Memorial through the pay-what-you-can system.
90 percent of visitors learned about the history of Auschwitz with the help of a Museum guide. Among them, more than 60 percent were organized groups. Currently, 320 guides lead tours of the Memorial in 20 languages.
“Guides continuously gain new knowledge about the history of the camp, but thanks to the support of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation, it has been possible to start a special training program, including sessions with specialists in voice emission, communication, safety, as well as workshops with psychologists. This makes them better prepared for the very responsible work they do with visitors,” said Andrzej Kacorzyk, Director of the International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust.
“It is largely thanks to them that a visit to the authentic post-camp site becomes a space where memory is shaped, which can translate into our choices today,” emphasized Andrzej Kacorzyk.
From January last year, for the first time, two types of Museum visits have been available. In addition to the traditional tour of the authentic post-camp space, it is also possible to visit online.
The uniqueness of this solution lies in direct contact with a guide who, through the "Auschwitz in Front of Your Eyes" platform, shows the place and tells the story of the camp live. During the pilot year, several thousand people took advantage of this opportunity. We encourage schools, universities, educational institutions, and companies worldwide to use this way of learning about Auschwitz’s history. Reservations can be made through the visit.auschwitz.org system.
In 2024, over 33,000 people participated in various types of conferences, seminars, or study visits – an extended form of tour with additional educational activities. More than half of the participants were from abroad. In total, the International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust organized over 1,400 various educational activities.
An important element of education is also the virtual memory community built on social media. Content published on the Museum’s official accounts reaches over 2.6 million people, and the Museum’s posts on the three largest platforms were viewed over 750 million times. In 2024, the Museum also created an official account on the Bluesky platform.
Online lessons are also available and can be found on the website lesson.auschwitz.org, as well as the bilingual podcast series "On Auschwitz," which is accessible on all major global platforms. So far, 53 podcast episodes have been played more than 2.3 million times.