More reflections on Poland

The following voice messages were left on my cell phone over the weekend. Hop you all had a great weekend. The group should be landing in Israel today! Will keep you informed.
Barb

Sarah Sterner:
Calling from Krakow, Poland and having a really amazing time! Even though it has only been a couple of days it already feels like we have been together for a couple of weeks. Everyone is just really nice and open minded and I can tell we will have an amazing time together in Israel. We went to Auschwitz today which I cannot even explain. I was initially prepared to be emotional because it is such a big place; up until now it has been difficult for me to connect with the camps—Majdanek or Treblinka. But I knew my great grandfather’s family perished in Auschwitz. It is really hard for me now to describe my emotions. I have lots of questions about everything. The more I learn about the Holocaust the more questions I have. The best part of this is that I feel closer to those who perished in the Holocaust I feel closer to. I realize that these are my families, my heritage. I have made a tremendous connection to the past. Hopefully this will continue to grow in my mind as I continue to absorb all of this and think about it for a while. The next time I talk to you I will be in Israel.”

Annie Brant:
“Now we are in Lodz. We started in Warsaw and met with Polish University students and learned about their lives. We saw a presentation on this woman who housed Jews during the Holocaust. We discussed the dilemma of saving a stranger over your own family—should we put them at risk—that is a difficult challenge. We visited the Krakow Ghetto. It was interesting to learn that by keeping Jews in the ghetto intimidated the Polish people. We went to a shopping mall and then drove to Lodz, a very old city which we will see more of tomorrow.”

Eva Westheimer:
“We heard a woman talk about saving 11 Jewish people during the war. She was a righteous gentile and it was very moving. Hi to my sister who is coming home today?”

Lev Mitrofanov:
"Everything is cool!"

Adam Birkan:
"We are at a cool hotel—very retro and even has wifi!"

Paula Savchenko:
“Thank you for helping to make this trip possible. I am really having a good time. I still can’t get a grasp on everything we are seeing. You learn about it in school but you never really understand what is really happening. Still can’t understand but somehow have a better grasp on it. It makes me speechless on how amazing it is to be here and actually experience all of this. Thank you for making this happen again as I really appreciate it. “

For more information about Lodz visit:
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005071