Day 4: 14 hours and still going

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Today (Monday) was one of the longer days that we had here in Poland. We woke up fairly early, picked up Uncle Bronik and drove to the Polish town of Oswiecim. Oswiecim is about 1 hour away and is the home of Auschwitz-Birkenau. My grandfather’s older brother Bolek was a prisoner at Auschwitz and he wanted very much to see what the camp was like. It was a very hot day and very difficult to make it through, but my grandfather was adamant that we finish the 3.5 hour tour of both camps. Often, people do not realize how many non-Jews were held prisoner at Auschwitz. Just like the Jews, Poles had to wear gold squares on their clothing indicating their low stature in society. They were to be the target following the Jews in the final solution. Everyone in my family had to wear the gold squares. Bolek was one of a very small number of individuals who were able to escape Auschwitz. At the time, our family was quite well off and owned a lot of the small village of Targanice. They were in a position to have bargaining chips. They were able to bribe a few of the German officers and Bolek came home. After Auschwitz, Uncle Jacek met us to drive us back to Uncle Janek and Aunt Olenka’s house for dinner. Dinner was made up of wonderful food - much of which we remembered from childhood. After Janek’s, we returned to Bronick’s for dinner (we eat CONSTANTLY here!!). We had magnificent food at Bronick’s as well. Bryan has amazed everyone with his ability to eat. We looked at our cousin Paulina’s brilliant artwork and we spent time looking at some old photographs before heading home late in the night. When we arrived back at the hotel, we discovered a problem with the car. The radiator was leaking. We stayed up most of the night working on it and preparing Dad and Bryan to leave in the morning. Teri had a family emergency and also left early in the morning. It is now just Grandpa, Julie and I for the rest of the trip, but we are still going strong!

(Janek talking to himself) "Have a seat Jan. Thank you, don't mind if I do!"

(out of a moment of silence)
"Okay, hands up if you're in favor" -Grandpa
"In favor of what?" -Bryan
"You have to know everything don't you?" -Gpa

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Photos

Uncle Bronick's Home
Aunt Irena, Aunt Eva, Uncle Marek and Paulina also live here

Janek, Grandpa and Bronick
The 3 Stooges