In 2022, the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum was visited by more than 1 million 184 thousand people. Compared to the previous two years, this is a huge increase, but it must be remembered that in the period before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Museum had more than two million annual visitors.

„The number of visitors is roughly half of what it was before the COVID-19-related lockdowns, but the post-pandemic situation is slowly beginning to normalise. It is particularly important that more than 90 per cent of visitors learned about the history of Auschwitz while visiting with Museum educators”, said Museum Director Dr Piotr Cywiński.

“This makes the visit not only an experience of passing through an authentic place. It also provides an opportunity to gain knowledge, but above all, to reflect personally on the meaning of this history today, for all of us”, emphasised Director Cywiński.

Currently, 332 guides in 20 languages are providing guided tours at the Memorial. The largest group of visitors in 2022 were Poles. The next most popular countries of visitors were the UK, Czech Republic, Germany, USA, Spain, France, Italy, Slovakia, and Ukraine. Two-thirds of bookings are made through visit.auschwitz.org, where it is also possible to make a financial contribution to the mission of the Memorial through the pay what you want system.

Although overall attendance has not returned to pre-pandemic levels, there has been a significant increase in the number of participants in study stays – an extended form of visit with additional educational activities. Compared to 2019, it has increased by almost 20 %. This was heavily influenced by funding programmes for the arrival of schoolchildren. In total, the International Centre for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust organised more than 780 various types of educational activities as part of those visits.

Adrian Andrzejewski