We went to bed at 8 pm Monday night, to get up at 1:15 to drive to the airport for Warsaw. We drove to Ben Gurion Airport and got there at 2:30. Once we checked in through security, we took a shuttle to the plane. It felt really weird getting on a plane with everyone during our program. The last time we were in the airport was when we were just meeting each other for the first time. The flight to Poland was 4.5 hours long. I slept the majority of the ride.
Day 1:
We arrived in Poland at 9:30 am, Tuesday morning. When I wasn't sleeping on the plane, I was thinking about what Poland was going to be like. I always imagined it Poland as an old and dreary country because of all the deaths and tragedies that occurred there.
Okopowa Cemetary
Once we landed in Warsaw we went straight to the Okopowa cemetery. Many of the graves before the Holocaust were fitted to the peoples names and things that they enjoyed or were known for. Before the war they also had whether they were a Cohen or Levi on the stone. The people who were buried in another section in the cemetery that had perished in the Holocaust, weren't buried with much dignity to their names.
Ghetto Heroes Trail
We sat in front of two monuments. One facing the road, and the other facing the newly built 'Museum of the history of Polish Jews'. The one facing the street is an example of unknowing what is going to happen next, whereas the monument facing the museum is an example of heroism. People who pushed throughout the entire time; carrying strength and hope to the atmosphere. They looked very familiar. We saw the copies of the monuments at Yad Vashem.
Umschlagplatz
Umschlagplatz was a deportation camp for children and families. The ghetto police put people in the boxcars to take them somewhere else. We learned about Janusz Korczak who ran an orphanage and was killed at Umschlagplayz with his orphaned children. What people went through, throughout the Holocaust is completely unimaginable. We went for mincha at the Nozyk synagogue in Warsaw. It is one of two synogagues out of forty that survived (that the nazis didn't destroy). It was a beautiful synagogue with vibrant chandeliers and stained glass windows with decorations on the walls. It was an orthodox synagogue. We had the Chief Rabbi of Poland speak to us about how he moved from the US to Poland and his experience with the Jewish community and people figuring out their Jewish heritage in Poland through their customs. The mincha we did at the synagogue brought a lot of ruach to this otherwise 'quiet and lonely' synagogue. We sang and danced. For dinner we walked down the street to a kosher restaurant. Who knew that there would be a Kosher restaurant in Poland, let alone in Warsaw. It was a great three course meal. We checked in at the Hotel and fell asleep right away after a tiring day.
Day 2:
Tykochin
We went to the Tykochin synagogue. Is is now a museum showcasing talitot, Torahtot, and siddurs. We did Shacharit there. We sang and danced to מזמור לדוד after splitting apart for the Amidah. There is no Jewish community in Tykochin anymore. The Synagogue and cemetery are still there and many Magen Davjds are scattered around on buildings around the Shtetl. We walked to a cemetery where many of the Jews were buried. It wasn't kept very well and the stones were very dirty so the letters were unclear.
Lupochowa Forest
We stood in the Lupochowa forest while our teachers recited a testimony that was read at the Eichmann trial in Jerusalem. There were many people shot in this forest in one day. The people were both young and old. No one should live the misery of seeing anyone being killed or die. There were many יזכור candles. Many Israeli flags were there too. They didn't get the chance to go to Eretz Israel. All you could hear was the wind blowing and the birds chirping. We stood in front of green gates forming a square. We said mourners Kaddish for all of those who perished.
Treblinka
There wasn't much left of Treblinka. It was 500 hectares which was heavily interwoven with barbed wire. The nazis destroyed everything there and built a farm thinking that no one would find the site. There is now a memorial where the farm stood before. Hundreds of towns where the people were from who were transported to Treblinka. People who got to Treblinka were sent either to the left or right. The people sent to the right were "the lucky ones", meaning a labour camp. While the people to the left were sent to the death camp. We had a reeks (closing ceremony) here. We all felt emotionally stressed and were all leaning on each other. We sang many songs of hope including Ani Meamim.
Day 3:
Yeshivas Chochmei Lublin
Rabbi Meir Shapira who was the Rabbi of Lublin created the concept of 'Daf Yomi', which is learning one page of Talmud everyday. We carried this on where it all started in Yeshivas Chochmei Lublin. We studied Talmud with a partner on different topics around the topic of Passover. The Yeshiva is now a hotel called 'Hotel Ilan' and their slogan is carry on the tradition. This couldn't be a coincidence because this hotel kept the yeshiva as a museum on the top floor.
Majdanek
This goes without saying; everything seems unimaginable, yet it happend. It was real. The remainds of the buildings, survivors from different camps pass on their stories. There was a bunker that I went into filled with thousands of shoes. The tiny shoes that probably belonged to a baby. They were real people that were treated as if they were useless. We were able to freely walk in and out of Majdanek , they went in and never came made it out.
Krasnik Synagogue
We got to the Krasnik synagogue and entered a freezing cold room with nothing in it. To my surprise, we walked further into the building singing מה טובו and we saw a beautiful poster mounded onto the wall with the מה טובו prayer on the way to the main sanctuary. In the main sanctuary we saw where the ark would have been in the wall. We formed a circle and our counsellor, Sara shared an essay she wrote with us about her connection to the town of Krasnik. Her grandfather grew up in Krasnik and went to the Krasnik synagogue. It was the only place in the town that her grandfather had fond memories of. We lit 6 candles there and placed them where the ark would have been. We then sang Am Yisrael Chai!! It made the synagogue come back to life again.
Lezajsk
We went to the town of Lezajsk which is known for being an important Hassidic centre because of Rabbi Noam Elimalech who was the originator of the concept of Tzaddikism. We seperated into boys and girls. The boys went to the mikvah and we had a 'Seudat Amenim', where we wrote our own prayers and shared them. The concept is to say amen as many times as possible. We all joined up after to go the the Ohel of Tsaddik Elimelech which was located in the cemetery. We then drove to our next hotel.
Day 4:
Zbylitowska Gora forest
I took part in a tekes (closing ceremony) in Zbylitowska Gora forest. My part was to read the lyrics of 'Sounds of Silence', by Simon & Garfunkel. It was a very meaningful tekes. We lit a candle in the centre of the circle, read poems, songs, we sang Hatikvah and we handed out pictures of kids during the Holocaust to hang on the memorial fence. Many people/groups come here everyday to hang flags and lite יזכור candle to remember the many children who were killed in the forest for no reason at all. There were Israeli flags hung up everywhere too. My ICC teacher, Betsalel, blew bubbles onto the mass grave memorial site. I thought it was a nice tribute to their ruined childhood. Just as we were walking to the bus on a residential street, I saw kids playing in their backyard on a swing set. The kids whose childhoods were ruined by the Nazis. They probably started their short childhood memories with playing in their backyards with family and friends.
Krakow
We went to the ghetto square in Krakow. We learned about a pharmacist who risked his life to help the Jews in the Krakow ghetto. He snuck in medicine and food to help the Jewish people. There is now a museum where the pharmacy stood. The original buildings are still in existence and show up in
'Schindlers list'. People like the pharmacist are an example of how people should help others in times of need.
We then stood outside of 'Schindlers factory', where he saved 2500 Jewish kids. Outside of his factory were pictures of people that he saved. 2500 people doesn't seem like many at all compared to the 6 million people that perished in the Holocaust. In Judaism, 1 life is like saving the whole world. We went to the hotel and got ready for Shabbat. We walked to synagogue for Kabbalat Shabbat services. There were over 150 people there-different groups, Holocaust survivors. It was a beautiful synagogue. We sang and danced there too. After Kabbalat Shabbat we walked to a kosher restaurant for Shabbat dinner. The restaurant was in the first Bais Yaakob where women can study Torah and Talmud.
Day 5:
Krakow
We walked to the Isaac synagogue and there wasn't a minyan (they don't count girls). The boys from our group made a minyan and lead the service. We had a lot of ruach along with the girls school from Kfar Saba. We danced and sang together. Our teacher taught us the Krakow song that we used during the service. After synagogue we went back to the restaurant for lunch. We had a local speaker come to speak to us at lunch about Jewish life in Krakow and her personal story. Her name was Olga. She didn't find out until 7 years ago that her paternal grandmother was Jewish. She explained to us that it is difficult living a completely Jewish life in Krakow. After, we had a few hours of free time. We had a tour of Kazimierz (a part of Krakow). We walked around Wawel castle where there is a legend about a dragon. We walked on to see the old city which is made up of many Jewish sites. There were restaurants their that you'd think are kosher because of the names (ex. Rubinsteins, Israeli bat). They were definitely not kosher serving pork and meat and milk together, and shrimp we passed by stores with mezuzah engravings on the sides of the doors. They used to all be Jewish shops. We went to the old city square in Kazimietiz got Havdalah. We had a beautiful and meaningful Havdallah there. Once we finished, other groups joined in singing.
Day 6:
Auschwitz
Auschwitz was the largest concentration and extermination camp. The camp was located near the town of Oswiecim. We went into the museums that are now in all of the bunkers. There were thousands of hairbrushes, shoe polish, toothbrushes and shoes on display.
Birkenau
When we got to Birkenau I felt so mad that the grounds of Birkenau were as beautiful as they were. I felt almost guilty. The place deserves to be dreadful and dark, at the same time it should be beautiful to commemorate the people who perished and to prove that Hitlet did not entirely win because the next generation is learning about the Holocaust and making their memories alive. The grass was so green, the flowers were blooming and the smell of ashes and fire were in the air. We saw the remains of 5 gas chambers. 2 million people were innocently gassed in Birkenau. The thought of why must have gone through their minds and the cry of helps. It was a lot to take in for one day. Auschwitz and Birkenau are completely different. Birkenau is extremely large. There are also a lot of remains on the ground. We found toothbrushes and a screwdriver. After, we drove for half an hour to the Krakow airport to catch a flight to Warsaw. From Warsaw we took a flight to Tel Aviv. I was so glad to be back in Israel!!
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