Lech Kowalski travels the oldest highway in Poland, built by Hitler as an invasion route to the east. As the road literally crumbles into history he discovers that it is now a vital link to the west and encounters people and locations that connect it to the present. A hooker from Bulgaria under an umbrella scared her pimp may show up and see that business is horrible in the rain. A one legged man in a wheel chair selling mushrooms in the tornado like wake of speeding trucks describing the best way to cook what he sells. Destitute Ukrainians hiding on a former Warsaw Pact Nuclear air base serve tea to a former cop still patrolling the property. Young people escaping the glare of reality in underground bunkers built by the Nazis. Bombed out ruins still guarding stretches of the concrete road. Gypsies on a pilgrimage in Auschwitz twist the plot and suddenly we are in a candle lit hut, in a gypsy village listening to a man describe how he lost his father to the Holocaust. We journey with him along the highway to visit an old friend, perhaps for the last time in his life. The people on Hitler's Highway make it evident that it is more than a remnant of history and that it does not stop at the Polish border.

"While making On Hitler's Highway I asked myself where do I belong in this story? Do I need to explain more than what is on the screen? How do I deal with the question of the context of, the story? How can I make this story a visceral experience outside the culture it was filmed in? Every answer to these questions pointed to me. I am the solution. It is my responsibility to bridge gaps and to solve these problems. I must transcend cultural barriers by using the language of film. The fiction about documentaries is that they are real. The only thing real about a documentary is the filming itself. After that it is all fiction. If understood, this concept can be very liberating for the filmmaker. An excerpt from my published diaries, written while shooting:

The film, it seems depends on two dynamics; one is the forward momentum of the traveling where the discovery of new things, new places new people and the odd things in life keep the film interesting. The second is information about history and about the country and peoples lives. The style of the film is what I bring to the story. These interweave to hopefully create an interesting film. I also hope that all of these when added together will add up to something unusual. I keep looking at scenes from the point of view of the audience. I personally am removing myself from the scene as I film it. I react purely instinctually; meaning that when a situation presents itself I quickly analyze what is taking place and how to film it. This happens very quickly in my mind and then I try to shoot in a consistent style and find some little unusual aspect in what is going on and a way to film it. The forward momentum of the story however is not natural. I need to create this illusion. This is something that I am perfecting and learning how to do as we progress with the filming. In many situations I need to go back to something in order to fully develop the potential of a particular situation I discover. There is the first level of something, but then the next level that I hope to develop is the exciting one for me. The first level is for instance complete if it is an action that cannot be repeated or takes place in a given moment, like an auto accident for instance."