In contrast to Auschwitz, there is not much to see at first sight – while Auschwitz is meticulously reconstructed and located in a cultural landscape with historic traditions, Treblinka is in an ‘outback’ site with no big cities nearby, only fields and woods. Auschwitz involved immense terrors, but also cynical camouflage games, while Treblinka was solely a desperate death factory. In Treblinka, there is space for your imagination and thoughts. Many people say that this is where the power of the place lies.

It is necessary to outbalance Treblinka – so you will travel to the east to reach Tykocin, a pretty small town with a distinctive shtetl character. Like Treblinka it is not a tourist place. Today Tykocin resembles an ethnographic museum with its charming wooden houses, a synagogue and a majestic baroque church. There is also a memorial to the White Eagle Order – the most prestigious Polish award and which was established here in Tykocin in 1705. A Jewish community was founded here in the 16th century and it quickly became an important centre of both Polish and Jewish cultures. You may think time stopped here, and catch a glimpse of what Poland looked like before the Holocaust. An additional attraction is the setting of beautiful Narew River, nicknamed the Polish Amazonia.