Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum: Visitor Centre

The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum is located on the site of two parts of the former German Nazi concentration and extermination camp in Poland. Now works are underway to develop a new Visitor Centre, to help cope with the ever-growing number of visitors to the site. The relocation of the Visitor Centre to the new location will enable the creation of a new introductory exhibition in the post-camp building. It aims to provide visitors with an insight into the history of the 1930s, the development of Nazism, propaganda and the totalitarian system, and finally the outbreak of war and German policy in occupied Poland. The new centre shall be established near the former Auschwitz I camp, on the site of the former ammunition bunkers of the Polish Army barracks before the outbreak of the war. During the occupation, the area belonged to the Auschwitz camp. Initially, it was the site of a gravel pit, and in the years 1941-43, the Germans built a slaughterhouse there that supplied the camp crew with meat as well as a dairy. In August 2021 the project announced they were seeking contractors to undertake the construction of the visitor service centre. Once complete in mid-2023, the new facilities will include additional parking, a new entrance to the museum, added exhibition space, a cinema and a hostel for educational purposes and volunteer work. The total cost of the project is estimated to be roughly €12.8 million (PLN 59 million). (Updated 11 August 2021)