Places of Memory · KL Auschwitz I

Oświęcim, Poland
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Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau are in Oświęcim, Poland which is about an hour from Kraków.

I took these photos at Auschwitz I.

These brick buildings comprise the majority of Auschwitz I. There are 28 of them. They are referred to as blocks. Many of them have underground areas.
© 2026 Bryan R. Hinton

This is a photo of the stairwell that leads to the underground area in Block 11. Block 11 was a punishment block and the basement contains different types of punishment cells. I will not be going into any detail regarding the punishment methods and activities that occurred in these areas as it is sensitive material.
© 2026 Bryan R. Hinton

The discussion of the things that occurred within this block at Auschwitz I is sensitive to many people. But just as important, there is an equal or greater amount of dismissal, denial, and distortion of what really happened. Remembrance is important, and an acute awareness of what is going on now – in and across our world – will prevent such atrocities from ever happening again.

If you can't make it to Poland, I recommend visiting the Washington DC United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. As of a few weeks ago, a new exhibit was announced in a partnership between the United States and Auschwitz for an exhibit. Here is the press release page.

The Wall of Death between Block 10 and Block 11 at Auschwitz I
© 2026 Bryan R. Hinton

Suitcase with the name "Anna Kraus" behind glass at Auschwitz I
© 2026 Bryan R. Hinton

Suitcase with the name "Sara" behind glass at Auschwitz I
© 2026 Bryan R. Hinton

Systematic renaming of Jewish individuals and families occurred before, during, and after the war. This persecution continued. These people were told they would begin a new life with work. Here is the luggage they brought with them on the train.

Index card issued to Anne Frank by the Jewish Council in Amsterdam – Arolsen Archives.

Jewish victims were often forced to do administrative work. Those who were were spared, were renamed as nazis.

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© 2026 Bryan R. Hinton. All rights reserved. All original text, photographs, and processed imagery on this page, including hyperspectral reconstructions, abundance maps, classification maps, anomaly maps, and any other algorithmically derived visualizations, are the sole intellectual property of Bryan R. Hinton. The underlying spectral data, latent representations, and intermediate pipeline outputs are likewise reserved. No portion of this material may be reproduced, redistributed, modified, displayed, or used to train, fine tune, or evaluate machine learning models without prior written permission. Brief quotation for the purposes of criticism, scholarship, or review is permitted under standard fair use principles, provided attribution is given.