Oświęcim

Worth seeing in and around Oświęcim

10 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.

1. 01
   Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum

   The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum is a museum on the site of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Oświęcim, Poland, which was operated by Nazi Germany. The site includes the main concentration camp at Auschwitz I and the remains of the concentration and extermination camp at Auschwitz II-Birkenau.

   3.1 km · museum and memorial · Wikipedia
2. 02
   Block 11

   Block 11 was the name of a brick building in Auschwitz I, the Stammlager or main camp of the Auschwitz concentration camp network operated by Nazi Germany. This block was used for executions and torture.

   1.9 km · building in Auschwitz I (main camp); central camp torture and execution facility · Wikipedia
3. 03
   Oświęcim Synagogue

   The Oświęcim Synagogue, also called the Auschwitz Synagogue and officially called the Chevra Lomdei Mishnayot Synagogue, is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at Plac Księdza Jana Skarbka 5, Oświęcim, in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship of Poland. Completed in 1918, the synagogue is now part of the Auschwitz Jewish Center, which includes a Jewish museum, a cafe in the house of Shimson Kleuger, and an education center.

   200 m · synagogue · Wikipedia
4. 04
   Great Synagogue in Oświęcim

   The Great Synagogue was a former Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, that was located in Oświęcim, in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship of Poland. Designed by Carl Korn and completed in 1873, the synagogue served as a house of prayer until World War II when it was destroyed by Nazis in November 1939.

   100 m · Synagogue in Poland · Wikipedia
5. 05
   The Great Synagogue Memorial Park in Oświęcim

   The Great Synagogue Memorial Park is a memorial park devoted to the Great Synagogue in Oświęcim, Poland. The Synagogue was destroyed at the beginning of the Second World War.

   100 m · Memorial park in Oświęcim · Wikipedia
6. 06
   Oświęcim Castle

   Oświęcim Castle is a castle raised in the Medieval Ages on the top of a hill, on the right bank of the River Soła in Oświęcim. The castle comprises a thirteenth-century early-Gothic defence tower covered by a roof, a two-floor building built around a courtyard and additional connections between the wings built in 1929–31.

   300 m · Medieval Polish Castle · Wikipedia
7. 07
   Auschwitz Jewish Center

   The Auschwitz Jewish Center is a non-governmental organization whose mission is to preserve the memory of the Jewish community of the city of Oświęcim and educate about the dangers of anti-Semitism, racism and other prejudices and intolerance. The Center runs the Jewish Museum in Oświęcim highlighting the history of the local Jewish community, looks after the only preserved synagogue in the city, the Khevre Loymdei Mishnayos Synagogue, and the home of the last Jewish resident of Oświęcim, Shimson Kleuger, which now incorporates a café along with exhibition and educational space.

   200 m · Jewish museum and cultural centre located at Jan Skarbek square, Oświęcim · Wikipedia
8. 08
   Jewish cemetery in Oświęcim

   The Jewish cemetery in Oświęcim, Poland, was destroyed by the Germans during World War II and partly restored by returning Jewish survivors after the Holocaust. In Communist Poland it fell into disrepair and was fully restored in the 1990s.

   900 m · cemetery in Oświęcim · Wikipedia
9. 09
   Auschwitz cross

   The Auschwitz cross is a cross in front of the Auschwitz concentration camp, in Oświęcim County, Poland, which was erected to commemorate the spot where 151 prisoners were shot by Gerhard Palitzsch on 11 November, 1941.

   2.3 km · memorial for 1941 Auschwitz mass execution · Wikipedia
10. 10
    International Monument for the Victims of Fascism

    The International Monument to the Victims of Fascism is a commemorative monument in the Auschwitz II–Birkenau concentration camp in Birkenau in southern Poland.

    3.8 km · memorial in Auschwitz II-Birkenau · Wikipedia

Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.

What Wikivoyage says to see

See Auschwitz for details of the two extermination camps on the west edge of town:

1. 01
   Auschwitz I is 2 km south
2. 02
   Rynek Główny

   This is the main market square, with most of the town amenities and sights clustered around.

3. 03
   Castle Museum in Oswiecim

   Local history museum within the town hall, which was built in the 1870s.

4. 04
   Oświęcim Castle

   13th century Gothic defence tower with 16th and 20th century extensions, near the river - too near, as many of the fortifications have been washed away.

5. 05
   St Maximilian

From Wikivoyage: Oświęcim, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Things to do

Ice hockey: TH Unia Oświęcim play in Polska Hokej Liga the top tier. Their home rink is 500 m east of town centre.

1. 01
   Cultural Centre has a cinema

   It's at Śniadeckiego 24, corner of Tysiąclecia.

2. 02
   Energylandia

From Wikivoyage: Oświęcim, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Where to eat

Rynek the market square and vicinity has several eating places. These include Restauracja na Rynku, Mała Czarna, Manufaktura Zapiekanek, Antalya at Romana Mayzla 5, Itamae Sushi at Klasztorma 2, and Da Grasso at Solskiego 2. Portobello is 200 m south of Rynek at Jagiełły 27, open daily 12:00-22:00.

1. 01
   Chata na Zaborskiej

   Zaborska 40,.

2. 02
   Rapsodia Cafe

   Good Italian pizzas and ice-cream, reasonable prices.

3. 03
   La Rossa

   Konarskiego 3,.

From Wikivoyage: Oświęcim, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Getting to Oświęcim

Airports

Kraków John Paul II (KRK), 40 km · Katowice Wojciech Korfanty (KTW), 50 km · Leoš Janáček Ostrava (OSR), 88 km

• Balice → Oświęcim

  42 km · quickest by road, 1h 14m · zł13–17
  GuideToday
• Katowice → Oświęcim

  28 km · quickest by road, 58 min · zł9–12
  GuideToday
• Łódź → Oświęcim

  194 km · quickest by road, 3h 16m · zł50–70
  GuideToday
• From anywhere

  The planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
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Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.

No local-transport research exists yet for Oświęcim

Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Oświęcim. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.

If you know how people move in Oświęcim – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.