Visit to Czernichów 4-7 July 2025
Over the weekend of July 4th to 7th Debbie Pickford and Nick Mawer, as representatives of Bicester, visited our twin town in Poland for its annual “Festival of the Sea”. Here is their report:
On the Friday we were met at the airport by Maciej Krakowinksi from Czernichów’s Twinning Committee and taken to our accommodation in Międzybrodzie Bialskie, one of the villages within the Commune of Czernichów, located on the western shore of Lake Międzybrodzkie. It is a tourist and holiday destination and a centre for water sports.
Photo © Debbie Pickford
This year was different as we, along with the German visitors, stayed in accommodation provided by the local Work and Education Centre. The Społecznik could be described as not entirely unlike a youth hostel together with a restaurant, facilities for meetings, workshops and international exchanges. We each had our own room, even though there were four or five beds per room. Here is the website for the Społecznik https://www.spolecznik.org.pl/ – choose the English version.
Photo © Debbie Pickford
Previously, visitors from Bicester have stayed in family homes. Both types of accommodation have their advantages but, on the whole, we very much liked the Społecznik and felt it was easier for the hosts!
Photo © Społecznik
Saturday, as appropriate to the theme of the weekend, we spent the morning sailing on the lakes and had a lovely lunch.
Photo © Nicholas Mawer
We rested in the afternoon ready for the festival in the evening, which started off with folk music performed by local children, and then moved into rock music which was very loud! One of the star performers was the local celebrity Julia Mreńca, who you can follow on Spotify or YouTube.
Photo © Nicholas Mawer
On Sunday we drove through Bielsko Biala to Szyndzielnia, a peak with an elevation of 1028m in the Beskid Range of the Carpathian Mountains. We ascended the mountain in cable cars which were modern and very efficient automatic cars with special cycle hooks, but you could see examples of an earlier kind of car at the bottom – after you I insist.… https://kolej-szyndzielnia.pl/
Photo © Nicholas Mawer
We then had a light lunch washed down with Polish beer at the top of the mountain, at the Schronisko PTTK na Szyndzielni. This Schronisko is the oldest brick built mountain refuge in the Silesian Beskids, having been opened way back in 1897.
Photo © Nicholas Mawer
We had a short hike to get to and from the restaurant that was easier on the way back down, and not just because of gravity – we found a better path. Debbie found the hike up somewhat heavy going!! [Doubtless it was worth it for the stunning views. – Ed.]
Photo © Nicholas Mawer
In the evening we had a BBQ with much vodka at the Społecznik and we were introduced to an Armenian spirit by our host Petros. We also learnt that Anoush means cheers in Armenian. Over the weekend we were confronted with at least six different brands of vodka.
Photo © Nicholas Mawer
On Monday we had a little meeting regarding the way forward with our Polish partners, and then Maciej took us to Auschwitz and Birkenau.
Here are some thoughts about this visit from Nick:
“I’ve thought long and hard about posting this from my recent trip to Poland and I really hope these words don’t offend. I’m still trying to process my thoughts about my visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau. At times you feel like a voyeur intruding on private grief, at other times the sheer magnitude of the holocaust feels overwhelming and yet the sheer number of visitors and the efforts made to accommodate them, makes the site feel like a “tourist attraction”. Whatever the reason visitors come, it is important, especially at a time where anti-history and denial is on the increase, to bear witness to the systematic, industrial murder of millions of human beings, the vast majority of whom were Jewish.“