In 2019, a record 2.32 million people visited Auschwitz and Birkenau, the sites of Nazi concentration camps in Poland. The 2019 number of visitors exceeded the 2018 number by 170,000.

According to data in the online reservation system, which tracks organized international groups, the memorial was visited by about 396,000 visitors from Poland, 200,000 from Great Britain, 120,000 from the United States, 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. Many other groups did not declare a country of origin.

The museum also said that as many as 900,000 users follow its account on Twitter, and more than 300,000 use the museum’s profile on Facebook, and 80,000 on Instagram.

Analysis by The Shofar seems to indicate that interest in the camps as part of Holocaust history is rising as the number of Holocaust survivors is lessening. This trend reinforces the theme, “Never forget.” [Photo: Wikimedia Commons]