Oswiecim town square

Arriving in Oswiecim from Warsaw felt like stepping back to a simpler time. We walked from the train station to the center of town where we were greeted with kids playing in a large fountain, couples drinking beer on patios overlooking the square and families enjoying the nice evening with ice cream. Our surprisingly nice guesthouse, Pierrot, was perched right next to the town square, so naturally we joined in the festivities. We enjoyed the square as we ate dinner at Max Cafe known for its delicious pizza. Still unable to understand polish, we ended up ordering a pizza with corn as a topping.

Our real reason for being in Oswiecim was not to enjoy the town square, beautiful weather or summer nights but something much more somber; visit Auschwitz-Birkenau, Nazi concentration camps where more then 3 million Jews were killed by the Germans. Continue reading →