Belzec (July 14)

BELZEC

A field of stones

Remembrance of lives

Remembrance of death

Death too soon

Death too unexpected

Death too unimaginable

We walk silently down the "tube"

Holding onto each other

Footsteps echo with each step

At the end,

we stand together and cry.

Auschwitz (July 12)

THE PATH TO CREMETORIUM #5

Raw

Stripped away

Emotions churning

And yet,

we who follow the path

can never know

the horror, the shock, the dread

you felt as you held the hands

of your small children

and stumbled along.

How can one truly express the enormity and complexity that is Auschwitz/Birkenau?  How can one even attempt to make sense of such systematic, organized death?  Standing in the guard tower at the entrance to Birkenau, the incredible vastness - the row after row after row of rectangular barracks (or in some cases, the outline of them) stretch on and on.  And, the Nazis wanted to double the size...

Walking the path -- the uneven, rock strewn endless path from the train to death.  We were all overcome with dread, and we were just observers...How many thousands, hundreds of thousands came this way -- exhausted, starving, and hoping upon hope that they could just live.  On either side of the path, on the other side of the fence were the emaciated prisoners in the striped uniforms.  

The heroics of simply putting one foot in front of the other do follow that path to where it led...Astounding.

Thoughts Before Auschwitz (July 12)

This is the day.  The big day.  Is this the reason (one of them, anyway) that we are even here?

This is the day we travel to Auschwitz.  This is the place that so many think of when they think of the Holocaust.  Auschwitz - the place where my own great-aunts, great-uncles, and cousins perished (transported from Hungary in 1944).  It will be overwhelming (not that every other day of this trip has not been overwhelming) - and it will be personal.

People who have been to Auschwitz come away with mixed feelings and mixed emotions.  (How could you not??)  I've heard comments that they museum atmosphere and large numbers of tourists takes away the "realness" of the place.  Is there a place that could be any more "real"?  Our group has now been to several authentic sites, and each is unique.

As we leave the hotel, the day is gray and rainy.  We've been told it will be muddy with many mosquitoes at Birkenau.  This is strangely (or not) appropriate.

I go with an open mind and no expectations.  I do not want to experience Auschwitz as others have.  I just need to experience it.

THE ROAD TO AUSCHWITZ

Fields of corn, farms, forests

Houses, small towns

New homes and some untouched by time

The past and the present will meet

We leave the present

and enter another world

Jewish Poland: Krakow (July 11 & 13), Lublin (July 14), & Warsaw (July 16 & 17)

Legend says that Jews were wandering Europe after being expelled from Spain.  They came to a peaceful forest, and the birds called to them, "Poh Lin" (Rest Here in Hebrew).  Here they knew they would find a good place to live.  For centuries, Poland welcomed and encouraged Jewish settlement.  It is said that King Kazimir the Great (14th century) had a Jewish mistress named Esterka.  Jewish history, culture, and stories seem to float in the air of Poland.

We wandered the streets of Krakow, Lublin, and Warsaw, and drove for hours through the Polish countryside.  Stories were everywhere.  The Seer of Lublin, a great visionary and miracle worker called to me as we approached his city.

Before the Holocaust, there were 3 million Jews in Poland.  Today, there is a small community, but it seems to be slowly gaining strength - reviving and revitalizing.  Krakow has two synagogues (and the only female rabbi in Poland) and a lovely JCC that was built due to the efforts of Prince Charles and Camilla.  There is an annual Jewish Festival in Krakow, but, unfortunately, we missed it by several days.

The Nazis made Krakow the seat of the General Government of occupied Poland, and the notorious Hans Frank was the Governor General. Kazimierz,  the main Jewish section (named for Kazimir the Great) and the home of the oldest Jewish cemetery in Poland, was not made into the Jewish ghetto.  The ghetto was created across the river in the area called Podgorze, and a poignant memorial of empty chairs fills the main square. Oskar Schindler's factory, Emalia, was in Krakow, and the factory is the site of a wonderful museum on the History of Wartime Krakow.  Some scenes from the film Schindler's List were filmed on the streets of Kazimierz.

Warsaw has a new museum on the History of the Jews of Poland.  Though the museum opened in April of 2013, the main exhibit won't be ready until next year.  Even without the main exhibit, the museum is vibrant, and there have been many, many groups visiting.  (http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=tLeFIEg4z7U&feature=share)  The museum is located in the former Warsaw Ghetto.  While the ghetto was burned down by the Nazis following the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of April-May, 1943, markers and memorials to the many heroes - those whose names we know and honor and those whose names we have forgotten but whose memories still must be honored - are found throughout the area:  Mordecai Anielewicz and all the brave fighters and resistors of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (including Vladka Meed who was the founder of the Holocaust and Jewish Resistance Teachers' Program);  Janusz Korczak, the famous "Dr. Seuss" of Poland, who stayed with the children of the ghetto orphanage as they were sent to their deaths at Treblinka; Jan Karski, the courier who risked his life to bring news of mass murder to President Roosevelt.

Poland is complex.  The history of Jews in Poland is long and complex.  Understanding how it all fits together is even more complex....

Thoughts on Little Jewish Men Statues

Throughout Prague and Krakow, little shops have statues, toys, magnets, and even puppets of Jewish.  At first glance, they are cute, but they are disturbing, haunting even.  Little rabbis.  Little Klezmer musicians.  Little money changers.  Toys of a people who once lived here and are no more (The present day Jews of Prague and Krakow do not resemble these little men.).  In Prague, one shop had rabbi puppets hanging above Pinocchio and other fairy tale characters.  In Krakow, there are figures of saints and angels near the men.  The saints and angels are venerated.  What of the little Jewish men?

Trains

How oddly appropriate that we entered Poland by train.  We arrived tired, dirty, kvetching....  This was our third (and last) train ride.  On this trip, we were three to a sleeper car.  We had small bunks, a smelly bathroom down the hall, and even coffee or tea and rolls in the wee hours of the morning.  Sleep was difficult for most of us - impossible for some.  I tried to let the movement of the train lull me.  Yet, no matter how much we complained, many of us thought of the relative luxury in which we arrived as we mimicked the lives of some German Jews - Germany east to Prague/Terezin and then farther east ....

Terezin (July 10)

I have been intrigued by the camp/ghetto of Terezin (Theresienstadt in German) for some time.  This was a place like no other.  Founded as a military city in the late 1700s as defense against the Prussians and named for the Austrian Princess Maria Theresa (the "Grandmother of Europe"), the Nazis expelled the local population and brought the first transport to Terezin in November of 1941.

The Small Fortress was used (for the most part) for political prisoners, and life was brutal.  It was almost like an execution camp.  Of the 32,000 prisoners to pass through the Small Fortress, 1,500 were Jewish.  Our guide, Petra, was excellent.  She led us through the buildings and calmly explained the horror that had transpired.

When we went to the Museum in the main fortress city, I was quite surprised to find that the whole place is not a memorial/museum.  Some of the buildings were stores and homes.  I wasn't sure what to make of this.  I'm still sure what to make of this....

Terezin was the only camp/ghetto.  Families were resettled to Terezin, many from Prague, but Terezin was also a transit camp, a stopover before being sent on to Auschwitz and other killing centers.  Also unique to Terezin was the rich cultural life.  The art and poetry that was created here is amazing.  Such talent.  Such a waste.  In the museum housed in the Magdeburg Barracks, I was drawn to the many dolls that the children had created.  The dolls seemed to have a life of their own, almost as if they were carrying on the lives of their creators.

In June of 1944, the Red Cross inspected the camp/ghetto.  It was great propaganda for the Nazis.  They could show off their "model" camp.  Before the visit, many were deported from Terezin.  The streets were beautified:  buildings were painted, flowers were planted, a playground set up, etc.  As soon as the Red Cross left, everything went back to the way it had been.