Poland

POLAND

My trip to Poland was one of the most incredible trips I have ever been a part of. I had to come back from my winter break plans early, but then (I think) 27 Nativers, 2 staff members, and our director made our way to Poland for an 8 day trip. We had I believe 4 learning sessions regarding different things about the Holocaust, Jewish history, and anything else that might be applicable to our trip, so we were already a bit more knowledgeable than we would have been had we just jumped into the trip. The tour guide for our trip was Jules Gutin, the director of USY who has been the tour guide for the Nativ Poland trip for a couple years now.

We started right away after we landed in Warsaw by going to the Warsaw Jewish Cemetery, and we were there for a few hours. We walked through it for a bit and learned things regarding the cemetery itself as well as those who were buried there. While it was not the most taken care of cemetery, its sheer size was incredible to be around. We also had an amazing thing happen. One of the people in the group, her and our director went to look for her great grandfather who was buried there. She didn’t know where, but knew that he was there. All of a sudden, they happened to stumble upon the plot. While I wasn’t with her at that moment, it must have been truly incredible to find the plot. After we left, we then did the couple hour drive to Lublin where we stayed for the night.

The next day we went to Majdanek, one of the death camps in Poland. Supposedly there was one time where a tour guide said to a group that Majdanek is so well preserved that it could in fact be up in running in only a few hours. While that is an incredibly eerie thought, there is no way that it is true. Yes, the camp was preserved well, and it was incredibly creepy how well it has been kept, but I think that adds a lot to the experience. We were able to walk inside a couple buildings, and see insides of others. We saw bunk houses where people slept. We walked through a gas chamber, and right near the gas chamber outside, you can see pits where bodies were placed and then burnt; the fact that the ground is still so clearly defined like that is incredibly weird to me. We also just walked throughout the camp and saw towers, fences, and other basic parts of the camp. There were also two memorials. One that sticks out though is one where there is this huge monument with a pit of sorts inside of it, and in it are ashes. Right then, when we got there at the end, that was what finally made the Holocaust personal to me. Just being at the camp itself didn’t do it for me, but the ashes, that for sure did.

After Majdanek, we went to a Lublin cemetery where the Chose (Seer) of Lublin was buried, and we learned a little about him. Next we went to the Yeshivat Chacmei Lublin, what was a prominent yeshiva in Lublin where we learned more about the yeshiva. The building is quite impressive actually. It is large and kept together well.

The next day we made our way to Krakow. During that day we went the Oskar Schindler’s factory (Schindler’s List, the same place) where, unfortunately it is not much a history of Oskar Schindler or what he did, but more of a history of Krakow in WWII. While that was interesting, it wasn’t much new for us, and also not at all what we were hoping to be learning from going to the factory. We then had some free time in Krakow before Shabbat. Most people, including myself, went to Wawel hill (I think that is the spelling) where there is a castle and huge cathedral. The hill itself was also interesting because there were many cool buildings there, and it was a good way to spend the last time before Shabbat started.

We then had Shabbat where we saw a couple different synagogues, and prayed in 2. Friday night we prayed in one shul, but it was just Nativers, and on Saturday we prayed at another shul with some other people there, and it was incredibly difficult to follow. That Saturday night after Shabbat let out, we had free time in Old Krakow. Some friends and I just walked around for most of the night, until Steph G. and I were told of this chocolate emporium of sorts. Naturally we had to go, and it was incredible. We each got a different type of chocolate drink and truffle and they were incredible. Unfortunately, we did not have a watch with us, so we did not know when we were supposed to meet back with the rest of the group in the center of the square, so our director and the person who told us came to get us, but naturally, we then got more truffles. All in all, we had a good experience in Krakow.

The next day, was a much harder day. We went to Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II (Birkenau). First we went to the town of Auschwitzien where we prayed at the history center there, and then we were off to Auschwitz.

Auschwitz I was weird for me. I had always been told not to expect anything big or fancy. Well, with having been told so many times, it was actually bigger than I expected. It was weird, it kind of looked like a dorm area of a college campus, I personally thought of Princeton. Granted, Auschwitz I wasn’t a camp for Jews and other victims, but for political prisoners, and started much earlier than a lot of other camps. If I remember correctly, it was actually converted from old Polish army barracks. And then, when we went inside the buildings, it was very underwhelming. For me, the Holocaust had never been personal, and was a very fact based thing, and this trip was supposed to make it more personal for me, and until then, it had been doing just that. However, Auschwitz I is very much like a museum, and in doing so, it takes away a lot of the personal connection. Yes, there were pictures of people who were prisoners, and displays of people’s belongings. It was actually quite odd, in the room with a display of with luggage; there were 2 bags with names of people on Nativ, so that was pretty weird. There was another display that sticks out in my mind, even still. We walked into a room, and there was a display full of hair. I walked in and legitimately almost threw up. I couldn’t handle that part. It is a display of, essentially, people. Having a display of people’s belongings and then a display of parts of the people themselves have a much different impact. There was also the sign that a lot of people recognize in German, Arbeit Mach Frei, which can be translated to Work Will Set You Free. That was also pretty odd to see because for so long, for me at least, that sign has been the symbol of Auschwitz, and then finally seeing it, that did continue to make the Holocaust much more real for me. While in general, I was not a huge fan of the set up of Auschwitz I, it does do a pretty good job of at least teaching.

Auschwitz II, now that is a completely different story. You walk through the gates by the train tracks, and it opens up onto this enormous piece of land, and then you realize that about a mile out there is a line of trees, and then you realize that the line of trees is not even halfway through the camp. The train tracks are still there which is a pretty weird site. A lot of the buildings that were there are no longer there and have been destroyed. A lot still have a little brick patch, but nothing much more than that. While there, we did see a few buildings that are being preserved. There were a couple bunk houses, a “restroom” building which was essentially just holes in the ground, a place to wash hands, and more of the sort. We also saw 3 of the 4 crematoriums that were at Birkenau. They were all destroyed, but still have some part left, some more than others. There were also obviously guard towers and fences as well there. There was also one building there which was where prisoners who would not be killed right away would go through “processing”, but in the building, we also saw ovens. In this building, we were able to walk their path. There is also a huge memorial with little plack memorials for people of every country that died at Birkenau in all of the languages they spoke. At each place we visited, a group of 2-4 people had to do a presentation of sorts. I was in the group that had to do one there. I read a poem that was written about the 2 camps, Maya H. read a passage written by one of the doctors at the camp describing what happened in the gas chambers, Barry S. read a prayer for his grandfather, and Rivkah B did the same. It was quite emotional for a lot of the people there.

The next day we were in Lodz. We visited the Jewish cemetery there. The cemetery there was quite different from the one in Warsaw. Most different was the elegance and beauty of the gravestones, and just the general beauty that was put into the architecture there. We also visited a shul in Lodz. We didn’t pray there, but it was a beautiful shul that has been restored wonderfully. After the cemetery and shul we went to the umshlagplatz, or the platform where people were gathered before they were huddled into the cattle cars to be sent off to various camps. At the umshlagplatz, there were multiple memorials, a cattle car that you could go in (one of the creepiest feelings I’ve ever had), and a tunnel of different things regarding the people of Lodz, and other things to know regarding the umshlagplatz and those who departed from it. We then made our way back to Warsaw where we went to remaining walls of the Warsaw Ghetto, we saw the Nozyk synagogue, the Janusz Korczak memorial there, Mila 13 which was a base for the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, and then a huge memorial for the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

The next day had a lot of driving in it. We first started out by going to the umshlagplatz in Warsaw, which instead of having memorials to countries, had memorials for people. It was essentially a giant memorial with common names of those who were sent away. We then drove north to Tykocin, where all of the Jews were marched into the Lupachova Forest and shot into 3 pits. We first went to the shul which has been restored in Tykocin. I must add, the restoration job is magnificent. Afterwards, we went out into the Lupachova Forest to see the memorials at the pits. There were tons of candles and Israeli flags all over the place. It was quite impressive for such a small area. Afterwards we went to Treblinka. For me, Treblinka was by far the hardest to handle. There is nothing at all remaining of the extermination camp…nothing at all. There are only memorials. There is one large one, memorials for each city of people that died there, but also, there is a memorial specifically for Janusz Korczak. All the memorials, except for the main one, are just rocks in the ground with the name of the city etched into it. The emptiness and nothingness of Treblinka was something incredible, and was quite difficult for me. Outside of the main memorial area, there were also larger stones with the names of all the countries that had people perish there.

All in all, this trip to Poland was one of the most incredible experiences I have ever had. It made the Holocaust very real for me, and I learned more about the Holocaust than I had ever learned before. I can’t possibly recommend enough for people to go to Poland on some kind of program to learn and try and experience what happened. I would personally recommend going in the winter like I did because it teaches you something that going in the summer can’t. It teaches you the strength of the human spirit. We were all in nice winter clothing and were cold. We can’t even imagine how people living in camps were able to surprise with no accommodations at all. It was a true lesson that only being there can teach you. Definitely one of the most incredible weeks of my life.