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visit.auschwitz.org

Over 1.2 million people have already visited the Auschwitz Memorial and Museum in 2024. This year's numbers are expected to exceed 1.8 million. There is a great deal of interest in visiting the site of the former German Nazi concentration and extermination camp, leading many individuals to avail themselves of tour companies that provide trips to the Museum. Regrettably, there are cases of unethical practices that can endanger tourists in this context. Therefore, we want to reiterate the importance of being cautious when utilising unauthorised channels that sell entry cards to the Museum.

'The sole authorised platform for booking entry passes directly from the Museum's sales system is visit.auschwitz.org. When you book through our system, you can rest assured that you will gain entry to the Museum and have the flexibility to visit at your preferred time and in your preferred language. Free entry cards may also be obtained via the site. The Museum does not cooperate with external entities to distribute entry cards and, therefore, cannot be held liable for any cancellations of reservations made on other platforms,' said Bartosz Bartyzel, the Museum's spokesman.

Reaching the town of Oświęcim where the Memorial is located poses a problem for many individual visitors. Nonetheless, it is essential to note that there is a direct bus service from Cracow to the Museum car park. Additionally, the Museum entrance is located 1.5 km from the Auschwitz railway station and can be accessed using public transportation. There is also a car park, luggage room, and restaurant next to the Museum entrance. On average, a guided tour will last about three and a half hours. By securing a pre-booked entry at a specified time, the trip's logistics can be easily coordinated. Individual visitors with entry passes purchased directly via visit.auschwitz.org and are part of a tour may utilise the free bus service that connects the two sections of the Museum: Auschwitz and Birkenau.

Nevertheless, many visitors opt to utilise the services of travel agencies that provide entry passes, often in conjunction with travel arrangements.

'Sadly, unethical and harmful activities towards visitors occur in this scope. Lately, we have received numerous complaints regarding companies selling trips without a confirmed booking. Visitors have frequently encountered last-minute changes to their departure times or unexpected cancellations of their trips. These websites are designed in a manner that might imply their association with the Museum. Numerous visitors may be misled by the placement of the information stating that the user is not on the official Museum website, as it is located at the bottom of the page,' said Andrzej Kacorzyk, the deputy director of the Museum.

'These companies mislead customers by suggesting that any failure to fulfill the order is due to issues originating from the Museum. Also, visitors have expressed significant challenges in establishing contact with vendors. We are committed to thoroughly monitoring such incidents, and any violations of the entry pass booking rules may result in companies having their booking privileges revoked. It is important to inform individuals planning a visit to exercise caution when using external companies, considering other customers' opinions. Moreover, it should be noted that the official address for the Museum reservation system is visit.auschwitz.org,' Andrzej Kacorzyk added.

The absence of entry cards in the online booking system for a specific date and type of tour (guided or unguided) indicates that all online slots have already been reserved.

'Each day, the service desks in front of the Museum's main entrance offer additional entry passes for individual visits. Occasionally, the queueing time can be significantly prolonged, and it is possible that visitors may not gain entry due to the high visiting interest on that specific day. To prevent this, we highly recommend you make an advance online booking through visit.auschwitz.org,' Bartosz Bartyzel emphasised.

The Museum organises guided tours in various languages every day for individual visitors. For detailed information about the tour dates, please refer to our website.

Visitors can also explore the Museum online in a live guided tour. The application 'Auschwitz in Front of Your Eyes' provides individuals worldwide with direct access to educational content from the authentic Memorial. Reservations for this form of tour can also be made at visit.auschwitz.org.