Pawiak Prison Museum, Warsaw

Pawiak Prison is somewhere I pass nearly every day on my way to my son's flat in Dzielna. It's somewhere I never fail to stop and stare at - a building and area I never take for granted. Depending what mood I am in or what time of day, or even what season it is - this desolate building and courtyard produce so many different emotions from within me; very similar to the feelings when visiting Auschwitz. The prison built by the Russians in the 1830s was named after the adjacent street Pawia Street. In the times of the Tsar, political opponents were imprisoned there, however the most disturbing ... more

Pawiak Prison Museum is somewhere I've always wanted to visit, it's only about 200 metres from my house but I never got round to it.. until this weekend. The dead tree right by the entrance (from Ul. Dzielna) has obituaries in the form of shields on, there's also various head stones dedicated to numerous inmates following the outside wall. I've walked past it 1000s of times but never until now dipped down into the underground entrance. I was surprised to find out that the museum was in fact free. The prison was originally set up in 1835 by the Russians and was used to detain so called ... more