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2 million 320 thousand visitors at the Auschwitz Memorial in 2019
In 2019, 2 million 320 thousand people from all over the world visited the sites of the former German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz and Auschwitz II-Birkenau, under the protection of the Museum. It is about 170,000 more than in the record-breaking year - 2018.
As much as 81 per cent of visitors learned about the history of the camp with one of the 340 guides-educators of the Museum conducting tours in 21 languages.
'Many individual visitors to the Museum also decide to tour the Memorial with a guide. Last year, over 368,000 people were guided around the Memorial in specially organised groups in 9 languages,' said Andrzej Kacorzyk, director of the International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust.
More than 14,000 people in organised groups decided to explore its history as part of study visits, which is approximately a 20% increase compared to the previous year. In addition to visiting the Memorial in various specialised options, they also include educational activities, lectures or workshops organised by the ICEAH.
'Over the past few years, the mode of visits to the Memorial has changed dramatically. We observe a very dynamic increase in the number of individual visitors who visit the Museum in international groups, which are organised by various tourist offices. For this reason, the analysis of statistical data concerning the countries from which the visitors come from has become a serious challenge,' - said Andrzej Kacorzyk.
According to data provided by the visitors in the online reservation system, in 2019 the Memorial was visited by at least 396,000 visitors from Poland, 200,000 from Great Britain, 120,000 from the USA, 104,000 from Italy, 73,000 from Germany, 70,000 from Spain, 67,000 from France, 59,000 from Israel, 42,000 from Ireland and 40,000 from Sweden.
'However, these data are not complete, because, in relation to the 730,000 visitors who came to the Memorial in international groups, the organisers of the trips did not declare a particular country. Consequently, we are undertaking actions aimed at making the statistical data more detailed through the electronic system for booking entry cards,' added Andrzej Kacorzyk.
In addition to guided tours for a considerable number of visitors, an important part of the Museum's educational activities are specialised educational projects. In 2019, more than 18,000 participants attended all programmes of the International Centre for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust. The Centre also coordinated the activities of over 470 volunteers, trainees and interns from all over the world who explored the Memorial and its history by assisting in the daily work of the Museum.
Guides of the Auschwitz Memorial continuously deepen their knowledge through various programs and training courses. 50 guides of the Museum participated in a unique five-day training organised for the first time at the German Sinti and Roma Documentation Centre in Heidelberg. In addition to the history of Roma and Sinti genocide, the training was also devoted to the slow process of its recognition by the international community and contemporary examples of human rights violations. The seminar participants also visited the former Natzweiler-Struthof camp museum. Other training seminars were held in Austria, France, Israel, Poland, and Ukraine.
Given the huge interest, we encourage all those who wish to visit the authentic site of the Memorial to make reservations well in advance - both for tours with an educator and without an educator (free of charge) at visit.auschwitz.org.
The new terms and conditions for visiting and making reservations at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial will come into effect as of 2 January 2020. 'One of the most important changes is the introduction of personal Entry Cards for group tours. It is aimed at eliminating illegal trade in entry cards by some companies that bring visitors to the Memorial,' said Piotr Cywiński.
Social media portals with their growing power of information are also an important part of direct communication. Thanks to social media, historical information, photographs and descriptions of the most important events, in the Memorial, appear in the virtual space every day. Over 900,000 follow the Museum’s account on Twitter, more than 300,000 use the Museum’s profile on Facebook, and 80,000 on Instagram.
