There is a particular silence at Birkenau. It is not the absence of sound. It is the presence of everything that happened there, pressing on you. I have stood in that silence many times with many groups, and I have never once gotten used to it. I hope I never do.
If you are reading this, you are preparing to lead your community through Auschwitz-Birkenau. I want to speak with you carefully, because this is the most demanding thing a group leader is ever asked to do, and there is a right way to carry it. This is not a place to visit. It is a place to bear witness at. The distinction governs everything that follows.
Before You Speak the Word “Tourism,” Don’t
Let me begin with the frame, because the frame is everything.
This is a place where more than a million human beings were murdered, the overwhelming majority of them Jews, along with Poles, Roma, Soviet prisoners, and others. It is the largest cemetery in the world, though there are no graves, because the dead were turned to ash. When you bring your group here, you are not sightseeing. You are entering ground that holds the remains of the murdered.
So we do not use the language of tourism here, not in our preparation, not on the coach, not on the ground. We do not say “see the sights.” We do not say “the next attraction.” We come to bear witness, to remember, and to honor. Set that frame with your group before you arrive, and hold it for them, because some of them will not know how to hold it for themselves.
Preparing Your Group for the Day
The day at Auschwitz cannot be improvised. The preparation you do beforehand is what allows your people to be present rather than overwhelmed.
Prepare Them in the Weeks Before
Long before this day, your group should know the world that was destroyed: a thousand years of Jewish life in Poland, the communities, the learning, the ordinary lives. A group that arrives knowing what was lost grieves something specific rather than a faceless horror. The full preparation arc is laid out in preparing your group spiritually for Poland, and I would ask you to do that work before this day, not in place of it.
Prepare Them the Night Before
The evening before, gather your group. Speak plainly about what tomorrow asks of them. Tell them the range of responses is wide and all of it is human: tears, silence, anger, numbness, the urge to leave. Tell them no one needs to feel any particular thing, only to be present and to be gentle with themselves and each other. Name that some will struggle and that struggling is not failing. This conversation, held the night before, settles a group in a way nothing on the morning of can.
Prepare Them Practically
Dignity has practical requirements. Tell your group to dress with respect and for the weather, because Birkenau is vast and exposed, with little shade in summer and biting cold in winter, and the visit involves a great deal of walking over uneven ground. Ask them to eat beforehand, carry water, and use the facilities before entering, because there are long stretches with no opportunity. Confirm in advance who in your group has mobility limitations, because the distances are real and you do not want anyone suffering physically on top of everything else. The site has its own visitor regulations regarding bags and conduct, and our local team will brief your group on these before entry.
Conduct and Behavior on the Ground
How a group carries itself at Auschwitz matters. It matters to the memory of the dead, to the other visitors present, and to your own people, who take their cues from you.
The Bearing You Set
Speak quietly. Move slowly. Keep the group together and unhurried. Your own bearing sets the register for everyone: if you move through the day with gravity and stillness, your group will too. Let there be silence. Resist the instinct to fill every moment with words. Some of the most important things that happen here happen in the quiet.
Photography, Phones, and Restraint
This requires honest guidance from you in advance. Many areas permit photography and some do not, and our guide will tell your group clearly where it is forbidden, including spaces where photography is simply not done out of respect. Beyond the rules, ask your group for restraint. This is not a place for posed photographs or smiling pictures, for anything that turns the ground into a backdrop. Phones should be silenced. If someone wishes to photograph, ask them to do so quietly and sparingly, never with themselves posed in front of what they record. In certain rooms, the only fitting response is to put the phone away entirely and simply stand.
Following the Site’s Guidance
Auschwitz-Birkenau is a memorial and a museum with its own educators and rules, and we follow them fully. Do not let anyone in your group touch artifacts, take anything from the ground, or stray from the guided route. These are not bureaucratic rules. They are how the dignity of the place is preserved for those who come after you. Your local educator-guide is not a generic tour guide but a trained witness to this history, and they will lead with a care your group will feel.
Caring for Grieving Travelers
This is the heart of your work as the leader. Logistics belong to us. The people belong to you. If you want a fuller picture of that division of labor, I have written about what a pastor does on the ground across a heritage journey.
Watch Your People
Throughout the day, keep your eyes on your group, not on the exhibits. You are their leader, not another visitor. Notice who has gone pale, who has fallen silent, who has drifted to the edge, who is breathing hard. Grief shows itself differently in each person, and the ones who worry me most are often the quiet ones, not the weeping ones. Position yourself and any co-leader to be near those who may need you. Seat them close on the coach. Stay within reach.
When Someone Needs to Step Away
Some members will need to leave a building, sit down, or step out of the group for a while. This is not weakness and it is not a problem to be solved. It is an honest human response to an overwhelming place. Make it known in advance that anyone can step back at any time and that you or a co-leader will be with them. Have a quiet plan for it: a place to sit, a person to accompany them, no fuss and no shame. Never let someone who needs to withdraw feel they have disrupted the group.
Those With the Deepest Personal Connection
If members of your group are descended from those murdered here, or from survivors, this day is not like anyone else’s day. They may be standing where their own family was killed. Know who these members are before you arrive, speak with each of them privately beforehand, and ask what they need. Some will want a moment alone. Some will want you beside them. Some will want no special attention at all. Honor whatever they ask. If your itinerary can include a personal moment for them, our team can often arrange the space and time for it.
Hold a Moment Together
Before you leave, gather your group for a shared act of remembrance: Kaddish, the reading of names, a psalm, a prayer, silence held together. Decide on this beforehand so no one is improvising at the hardest moment. This shared act does something important. It turns a roomful of separate, private grief into a community bearing witness together, and it gives your people something to do with what is otherwise unbearable.
After You Leave the Gates
The day does not end when the coach pulls away, and your care should not either.
Do not schedule anything demanding for the rest of that day. Your group needs space to decompress, not another site. A quiet meal together, time to be still, room to talk or not talk. Be available that evening, because grief surfaces in waves and someone will likely need you after dark.
And know that Auschwitz follows people home. It returns in conversations weeks and months later. Plan to keep caring for your community after the trip, with a gathering some weeks after your return where people can speak what the day meant to them. This is not a day that closes. It opens something, and tending to what it opens is part of leading well. Our itineraries are built with this pacing in mind, never stacking heavy sites without restorative space, which you can see on our group heritage tours page.
FAQ: Leading a Group Through Auschwitz
How should I prepare my group before visiting Auschwitz?
Prepare them in three layers. In the weeks before, teach the world that was destroyed, so they grieve something specific rather than an abstraction. The night before, speak plainly about the range of responses they may have and assure them all of it is human. And prepare them practically, with appropriate dress, water, food beforehand, and clarity about the long distances and uneven ground at Birkenau. Preparation does not soften the place; it gives your people a framework strong enough to hold it.
What is appropriate conduct at Auschwitz-Birkenau?
Move slowly, speak quietly, keep the group together, and let there be silence. Set a bearing of gravity and stillness, because your group takes its register from you. Follow all site rules, never touch artifacts or take anything from the ground, and stay with the guided route. Restraint is the governing principle: this is ground that holds the remains of the murdered, and it is honored through quiet, respectful presence.
Is photography allowed at Auschwitz?
Some areas permit photography and others forbid it, and the site’s educators will tell your group clearly where it is not allowed, including spaces where it is simply not done out of respect. Beyond the rules, ask your group for restraint: no posed photographs, no smiling pictures, nothing that treats the ground as a backdrop. In certain rooms, the only fitting response is to put the phone away entirely and stand in witness.
How do I support someone who breaks down during the visit?
Stay near the people you have identified as most vulnerable, and watch the quiet ones as closely as the weeping ones. Make it known in advance that anyone can step away at any moment, and have a quiet plan ready: a place to sit, a person to accompany them, no fuss and no shame. Stepping back is an honest response to an overwhelming place, never a weakness, and no one who withdraws should feel they have disrupted the group.
Should we hold a ceremony or prayer at the site?
Yes, a shared act of remembrance before you leave is deeply steadying: Kaddish, the reading of names, a psalm, or silence held together. Decide on it beforehand so no one improvises at the hardest moment. A shared act turns separate, private grief into a community bearing witness together, and gives your people something to do with what is otherwise unbearable to hold alone.
Your Next Step
Leading a group through Auschwitz is a sacred responsibility, and you should not carry the planning of it alone. If you are earlier in the process, the complete guide for group leaders walks through planning a pilgrimage from the first decision to the final day. Tell me about your community and what you are preparing for through our contact page. We will build the day with the gravity it requires, support your people on the ground through educators who understand this work, and make sure that when you bear witness here, you are held while you hold everyone else. You can read more about the full journey in the group tour guide for pastors and rabbis and on the Poland destination page.