Simi Barr:
“We had a lot of fun today. We first went to a seminar on co-existence—Jews and Arabs-- and we got to talk to Israeli Arab teens. This was really cool because we saw how much they are like us. We then went to a Druze home and learned about the Druze religion and had home hospitality and lunch. We went to Akko and saw the prison used by the British. In Akko we had free time in the open market. It was really cool and I am having a fun time on the trip.”
For more information about Akko visit: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vie/Acco.html
For more information about the Druze visit: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Society_&_Culture/druze.html
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Monday, July 7, 2008
Updates from Israel
Ronald Rubin:
“Yesterday was our last day in Poland. We had a tour of Lodz. We saw a lot of memorials and some of them were dedicated to children and we learned how children lost their innocence and how unfair it was for children. We received letters from our parents and it was really nice because we were definitely thinking about them. We saw cattle cars and it was interesting to see how real everything was and it was also suffocating to think that hundreds of people were in one car.”
Josh Levine:
“Right now we are in Tiberias in the hostel. We are in the northern part of Israel. It is only the first day in Israel but we are having a lot of fun so far. We had a great dinner and breakfast. Happy Birthday to my dad! I know it is a little late but I cannot control that.”
Ali Krause:
“We started off yesterday morning in Lodz. We were in the cattle car at the Lodz Memorial and held a ceremony in the Lodz Cemetery where we sang Hatikvah. We had dinner and f arewell ceremony in Warsaw. I am really tired because we got up so early but I am also so glad to be in Israel!”
Joanna Kaissar:
“Today we arrived in Israel. WE WERE VERY TIRED! We went to the top of a wishing well in Jaffa and danced. After that we went to the Independence Hall and watched the history of how Israel became an official country. After that we had lunch and finally went back to the hostel and got to rest which was good because we were extremely exhausted. We then walked around the Market Place in Tiberias for about 45 minutes and I bought some stuff. I really enjoyed the market place. We then came back to the hostel and played an ice breaker game. I am really happy to be in Israel!”
Daniel Makutonin:
“I had a great day today. We met out tour guide Chuck. He is a great guy and very funny. Dinner was the best we had all week I really enjoyed our day in Israel even though we were all tired and I am really looking forward to the rest of the trip.”
Sarah Schneider:
“We landed in Israel today. We were pretty tired from the flight but we went to look out at the water and performed a shehechyanu ceremony. We read about what it was like for us to come to Israel by sharing our own thoughts and we did Israeli dancing. We visited Independence Hall and learned about how Israel became a state. This was interesting! We later came to Tiberias. It is really, really beautiful here by the water of Tiberias (the Knerret) and I love the Palm Trees. We had good Israeli food and it is so nice to finally be here in Israel. I am looking forward to spending time here.”
“Yesterday was our last day in Poland. We had a tour of Lodz. We saw a lot of memorials and some of them were dedicated to children and we learned how children lost their innocence and how unfair it was for children. We received letters from our parents and it was really nice because we were definitely thinking about them. We saw cattle cars and it was interesting to see how real everything was and it was also suffocating to think that hundreds of people were in one car.”
Josh Levine:
“Right now we are in Tiberias in the hostel. We are in the northern part of Israel. It is only the first day in Israel but we are having a lot of fun so far. We had a great dinner and breakfast. Happy Birthday to my dad! I know it is a little late but I cannot control that.”
Ali Krause:
“We started off yesterday morning in Lodz. We were in the cattle car at the Lodz Memorial and held a ceremony in the Lodz Cemetery where we sang Hatikvah. We had dinner and f arewell ceremony in Warsaw. I am really tired because we got up so early but I am also so glad to be in Israel!”
Joanna Kaissar:
“Today we arrived in Israel. WE WERE VERY TIRED! We went to the top of a wishing well in Jaffa and danced. After that we went to the Independence Hall and watched the history of how Israel became an official country. After that we had lunch and finally went back to the hostel and got to rest which was good because we were extremely exhausted. We then walked around the Market Place in Tiberias for about 45 minutes and I bought some stuff. I really enjoyed the market place. We then came back to the hostel and played an ice breaker game. I am really happy to be in Israel!”
Daniel Makutonin:
“I had a great day today. We met out tour guide Chuck. He is a great guy and very funny. Dinner was the best we had all week I really enjoyed our day in Israel even though we were all tired and I am really looking forward to the rest of the trip.”
Sarah Schneider:
“We landed in Israel today. We were pretty tired from the flight but we went to look out at the water and performed a shehechyanu ceremony. We read about what it was like for us to come to Israel by sharing our own thoughts and we did Israeli dancing. We visited Independence Hall and learned about how Israel became a state. This was interesting! We later came to Tiberias. It is really, really beautiful here by the water of Tiberias (the Knerret) and I love the Palm Trees. We had good Israeli food and it is so nice to finally be here in Israel. I am looking forward to spending time here.”
They are in Israel!!
Dear Friends and Family:
The group arrived in Israel at 4 a.m. today! They went straight from the airport to Old Jaffa. Yuliya, Josh Levine, Josh Katz, Simi Barr, Sarah Sterner and Lauren Marmer prepared a few words about how they felt about being in Israel after Poland. Following their presentation they lit six torches to represent the six decades of Israel’s existence and the six million Jews who were lost in the Holocaust. This ceremony occurred as the sun rose over Tel Aviv. Together they learned Israeli dancing and danced to Eretz, Eretz, Eretz taught by their Israeli tour guide, Hadas. They tasted the sweet foods of the land of Milk and Honey and ate the seven species of Israel (dates, figs, olives, grapes, wheat and pomegranates). Following this they went to breakfast and enjoyed e bit of free time at the Tel Aviv beach.
At Independence Hall they learned about the declaration of the State of Israel hearing the recording of Ben Gurion’s announcement just as it occurred in 1948, and witnessing the miracle of Israel just three years after the war ended. They then had lunch together in Tel Aviv, drove to the north, and now are in Tiberias. Tonight they will get a good night’s rest to begin their day hikes in the beautiful northern part of Israel.
To learn more about Old Jaffa and Tel Aviv visit:
http://www.tel-aviv.gov.il/English/Tourism/Sites/Jaffa.htm
To learn more about Tiberias visit:
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vie/Tiberias.html
Thanks,
Barb
The group arrived in Israel at 4 a.m. today! They went straight from the airport to Old Jaffa. Yuliya, Josh Levine, Josh Katz, Simi Barr, Sarah Sterner and Lauren Marmer prepared a few words about how they felt about being in Israel after Poland. Following their presentation they lit six torches to represent the six decades of Israel’s existence and the six million Jews who were lost in the Holocaust. This ceremony occurred as the sun rose over Tel Aviv. Together they learned Israeli dancing and danced to Eretz, Eretz, Eretz taught by their Israeli tour guide, Hadas. They tasted the sweet foods of the land of Milk and Honey and ate the seven species of Israel (dates, figs, olives, grapes, wheat and pomegranates). Following this they went to breakfast and enjoyed e bit of free time at the Tel Aviv beach.
At Independence Hall they learned about the declaration of the State of Israel hearing the recording of Ben Gurion’s announcement just as it occurred in 1948, and witnessing the miracle of Israel just three years after the war ended. They then had lunch together in Tel Aviv, drove to the north, and now are in Tiberias. Tonight they will get a good night’s rest to begin their day hikes in the beautiful northern part of Israel.
To learn more about Old Jaffa and Tel Aviv visit:
http://www.tel-aviv.gov.il/English/Tourism/Sites/Jaffa.htm
To learn more about Tiberias visit:
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vie/Tiberias.html
Thanks,
Barb
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
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
More Information About Warsaw
The students will visit several cities seeing remnants of the Ghetto of: Warsaw, Krakow, Lublin and Lodz. During their visit to Warsaw they learned about not only life in the ghetto but the uprising of the Warsaw Ghetto. Here is additional information about the Warsaw Ghetto, the uprising and Jewish resistance.
When I hear from the kids, I will send you their direct quotes, too.
Thanks,
arb
********************
In September of 1939 Poland’s total population was about 33 million. Ten percent were Jews. Jews had lived and thrived in Poland for hundreds of years. Nazi Germany’s Blitzkrieg and the partition of Poland brought two million Jews under German rule. For Hitler, this “Jewish Problem” was one of enormous proportions. According to Nazi racial ideology, Poles were much inferior to Germans. Eastern European Jewry—Polish Jews among them—ranked even lower. Nazis referred to the Jews as sub-humans. Polish Jews therefore were given even less respect than the German Jews had received. Although the development of the Nuremberg Laws in Germany was a gradual process, allowing some German Jews the opportunity to leave; in Poland it was quite different. Things happened almost overnight.
The Nazis established their first ghetto on October 8, 1939. It stood in the Lodz district of Occupied Poland. A year later 500,000 Jews in Warsaw, Poland, struggled to survive in constantly deteriorating ghetto conditions. Severe hunger, overcrowding, disease and despair caused the Warsaw ghetto and other ghettos like it in cities such as Lodz and Lublin (Poland) Lvov and Minsk (Soviet Union), Kovno and Vilna (Lithuania) and Riga (Latvia) to become places of horrible suffering and death.
The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest of the ghettos organized by the Nazis in Poland. A tiny section of the city, an area of 3.5 square miles, imprisoned half a million Jews. It covered almost 2 percent of the city’s area but contained 30 percent of its population. With the fall of Poland the Nazis forced Jews to wear identifying armbands, confiscated their properties, and forced them into hard labor. They concentrated Warsaw’s Jews in the northern part of the city, the most heavily Jewish populated district. Each building in the ghetto housed an average of 400 people; rooms held an average of six to seven people. Many took refuge in courtyards, under stairways, or in cellars of bombed out houses.
The walls of the Warsaw Ghetto were sealed on November 16, 1940; and from that time until the final liquidation, the traffic to and from the ghetto was tightly regulated. The barbed wire and wooden fences originally erected gave way to an 11 foot high brick wall topped with broken glass. At first the ghetto had 22 gates and openings in the wall. By April 1941 only 13 remained, all of which were guarded by police: German, Polish and Jewish. Today all that remains is one small portion of the wall and a few old tenements which your children viewed.
The Nazis provided only minimal food supplies, rationing them in exchange for the output of forced labor and products that were produced by the ghetto craftsmen. The food allocations equaled 200 calories per person. The Nazis permitted no fresh fruits, vegetables, meat, fish or milk. Safe drinking water was scarce. Food allocations were distributed through the Judenrat, the Jewish council appointed by the Nazis. The Council was responsible for housing assignments, meeting roundup quotas, and other “choiceless choices” that were forced upon the Jews by the Nazis. Some people were part of this Council because they thought it would save themselves and their families; others thought they could be kinder to the Jewish residents than the Nazis. Either way, they often were despised by the residents of the ghetto and in the end they met their deaths as well.
During the winter, when sewage pipes froze, human excrement was dumped in the streets. Many ghetto residents died on a daily basis. Old people and children simply lied down in the streets and died. About 500,000 residents of Warsaw lost their lives during the Nazi occupation.
Jewish children were a particular affront to the Nazis as they were the “future of the Jewish race.” Furthermore they were useless because few of them could work. Therefore they usually were the first among the victims of Nazi pogroms. Children of the ghetto were particularly vulnerable to the harsh treatment of the Nazis. Without proper food, shelter and clothing, childhood death rates were extremely high. In addition with schools closed and parents dieing, the traditional family structures were shattered, and children of the ghettos were deprived of education and their innocence. Many of the children of the ghettos became the “smugglers”. Because of their small size, they were able to squeeze through cracks and holes in the walls, meet up with the underground through the sewer system, and bring back food, weapons, and other items needed to survive within the ghetto walls. There is an actual sewer or manhole in the middle of the Warsaw Cemetery where many of these children of the Warsaw Ghetto ended up escaping to in order to meet up with the underground and receive goods to smuggle back into the ghetto.
During 1942 and 1943, the Nazis “liquidated” the ghettos by deporting and murdering their inhabitants. Those in Warsaw were sent mostly to Treblinka. Round ups became a daily occurrence in the ghettos.
The tragic history of the Warsaw Jewish community can be heard in the word, Umschlagplatz (transfer point). During the deportations that began in July 1942; an average of 7,000 Jews per day were forcibly marched to the Umschlagplatz, a way station to the Treblinka extermination camp. German police, the SS and their Latvian and Ukrainian helpers would search the streets of Warsaw, rounding up Jews to send to this way station. Jews of Warsaw knew that it was imperative to their survival to avoid this holding place of death. (See the film The Pianist)
Today there is a small memorial to the Umschlagplatz. Your children went there and saw what basically looks like a box car structure made of marble, with the first names of ghetto residents inscribed on it. In the middle of this structure is a small opening with a tree in eye view. Students are asked to reflect on this memorial. Some will find their own names inscribed on the wall; others will find their Hebrew Names. The horrible circumstances of the ghetto, coupled with the appalling conditions on the trains, caused many of those who began the journey of death to die here at this point and even before they reached their final destination. And of course, those who survived the trains or the conditions of the ghetto or the brutality of the Nazi guards were ultimately murdered in the gas chambers of Treblinka.
One cannot leave the city of Warsaw without remembering the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. In the summer of 1942 the Nazis removed 300,000 Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto. Most went to Treblinka. Approximately 700 to 750 Jewish men and women armed themselves as best they could. They were determined to resist the roundups and the Nazis who were intent on destroying the nearly 60,000 Jews who remained in the ghetto in the early spring of 1943. On April 19, the eve of Passover, the Germans entered the ghetto to liquidate it for good. They met up with the first “urban uprising” in German-occupied Europe. It lasted from April 19 to May 16, 1943. Although the poorly armed Jewish fighters were outnumbered 3 to 1 by Nazis who had tanks and cannons, it was not until May 8 that the Germans destroyed the Jewish Fighting Organization’s headquarters bunker at 18 Mila Street, where Mordecai Anielewicz, the organization’s commander, died.
Although on May 16 General Stroop declared victory over the Warsaw Ghetto, and although only 16 Germans were killed and 85 were wounded, the Warsaw Ghetto uprising remains highly important as another example of heroic Jewish resistance against ENORMOUS ODDS. Furthermore it prompted Poles to revolt and others in other places to do the same.
The Rapoport Memorial of the Warsaw Ghetto can be seen both in Warsaw and at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. It stands as tall as the rubble of the Warsaw Ghetto did in the year 1948 -- piled 16 feet high covering hundreds of acres. When your children come home, ask them what they remember about this memorial and what was different about the memorial as seen in Poland versus the one at Yad Vashem in Israel. Both are a memorial to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
When I hear from the kids, I will send you their direct quotes, too.
Thanks,
arb
********************
In September of 1939 Poland’s total population was about 33 million. Ten percent were Jews. Jews had lived and thrived in Poland for hundreds of years. Nazi Germany’s Blitzkrieg and the partition of Poland brought two million Jews under German rule. For Hitler, this “Jewish Problem” was one of enormous proportions. According to Nazi racial ideology, Poles were much inferior to Germans. Eastern European Jewry—Polish Jews among them—ranked even lower. Nazis referred to the Jews as sub-humans. Polish Jews therefore were given even less respect than the German Jews had received. Although the development of the Nuremberg Laws in Germany was a gradual process, allowing some German Jews the opportunity to leave; in Poland it was quite different. Things happened almost overnight.
The Nazis established their first ghetto on October 8, 1939. It stood in the Lodz district of Occupied Poland. A year later 500,000 Jews in Warsaw, Poland, struggled to survive in constantly deteriorating ghetto conditions. Severe hunger, overcrowding, disease and despair caused the Warsaw ghetto and other ghettos like it in cities such as Lodz and Lublin (Poland) Lvov and Minsk (Soviet Union), Kovno and Vilna (Lithuania) and Riga (Latvia) to become places of horrible suffering and death.
The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest of the ghettos organized by the Nazis in Poland. A tiny section of the city, an area of 3.5 square miles, imprisoned half a million Jews. It covered almost 2 percent of the city’s area but contained 30 percent of its population. With the fall of Poland the Nazis forced Jews to wear identifying armbands, confiscated their properties, and forced them into hard labor. They concentrated Warsaw’s Jews in the northern part of the city, the most heavily Jewish populated district. Each building in the ghetto housed an average of 400 people; rooms held an average of six to seven people. Many took refuge in courtyards, under stairways, or in cellars of bombed out houses.
The walls of the Warsaw Ghetto were sealed on November 16, 1940; and from that time until the final liquidation, the traffic to and from the ghetto was tightly regulated. The barbed wire and wooden fences originally erected gave way to an 11 foot high brick wall topped with broken glass. At first the ghetto had 22 gates and openings in the wall. By April 1941 only 13 remained, all of which were guarded by police: German, Polish and Jewish. Today all that remains is one small portion of the wall and a few old tenements which your children viewed.
The Nazis provided only minimal food supplies, rationing them in exchange for the output of forced labor and products that were produced by the ghetto craftsmen. The food allocations equaled 200 calories per person. The Nazis permitted no fresh fruits, vegetables, meat, fish or milk. Safe drinking water was scarce. Food allocations were distributed through the Judenrat, the Jewish council appointed by the Nazis. The Council was responsible for housing assignments, meeting roundup quotas, and other “choiceless choices” that were forced upon the Jews by the Nazis. Some people were part of this Council because they thought it would save themselves and their families; others thought they could be kinder to the Jewish residents than the Nazis. Either way, they often were despised by the residents of the ghetto and in the end they met their deaths as well.
During the winter, when sewage pipes froze, human excrement was dumped in the streets. Many ghetto residents died on a daily basis. Old people and children simply lied down in the streets and died. About 500,000 residents of Warsaw lost their lives during the Nazi occupation.
Jewish children were a particular affront to the Nazis as they were the “future of the Jewish race.” Furthermore they were useless because few of them could work. Therefore they usually were the first among the victims of Nazi pogroms. Children of the ghetto were particularly vulnerable to the harsh treatment of the Nazis. Without proper food, shelter and clothing, childhood death rates were extremely high. In addition with schools closed and parents dieing, the traditional family structures were shattered, and children of the ghettos were deprived of education and their innocence. Many of the children of the ghettos became the “smugglers”. Because of their small size, they were able to squeeze through cracks and holes in the walls, meet up with the underground through the sewer system, and bring back food, weapons, and other items needed to survive within the ghetto walls. There is an actual sewer or manhole in the middle of the Warsaw Cemetery where many of these children of the Warsaw Ghetto ended up escaping to in order to meet up with the underground and receive goods to smuggle back into the ghetto.
During 1942 and 1943, the Nazis “liquidated” the ghettos by deporting and murdering their inhabitants. Those in Warsaw were sent mostly to Treblinka. Round ups became a daily occurrence in the ghettos.
The tragic history of the Warsaw Jewish community can be heard in the word, Umschlagplatz (transfer point). During the deportations that began in July 1942; an average of 7,000 Jews per day were forcibly marched to the Umschlagplatz, a way station to the Treblinka extermination camp. German police, the SS and their Latvian and Ukrainian helpers would search the streets of Warsaw, rounding up Jews to send to this way station. Jews of Warsaw knew that it was imperative to their survival to avoid this holding place of death. (See the film The Pianist)
Today there is a small memorial to the Umschlagplatz. Your children went there and saw what basically looks like a box car structure made of marble, with the first names of ghetto residents inscribed on it. In the middle of this structure is a small opening with a tree in eye view. Students are asked to reflect on this memorial. Some will find their own names inscribed on the wall; others will find their Hebrew Names. The horrible circumstances of the ghetto, coupled with the appalling conditions on the trains, caused many of those who began the journey of death to die here at this point and even before they reached their final destination. And of course, those who survived the trains or the conditions of the ghetto or the brutality of the Nazi guards were ultimately murdered in the gas chambers of Treblinka.
One cannot leave the city of Warsaw without remembering the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. In the summer of 1942 the Nazis removed 300,000 Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto. Most went to Treblinka. Approximately 700 to 750 Jewish men and women armed themselves as best they could. They were determined to resist the roundups and the Nazis who were intent on destroying the nearly 60,000 Jews who remained in the ghetto in the early spring of 1943. On April 19, the eve of Passover, the Germans entered the ghetto to liquidate it for good. They met up with the first “urban uprising” in German-occupied Europe. It lasted from April 19 to May 16, 1943. Although the poorly armed Jewish fighters were outnumbered 3 to 1 by Nazis who had tanks and cannons, it was not until May 8 that the Germans destroyed the Jewish Fighting Organization’s headquarters bunker at 18 Mila Street, where Mordecai Anielewicz, the organization’s commander, died.
Although on May 16 General Stroop declared victory over the Warsaw Ghetto, and although only 16 Germans were killed and 85 were wounded, the Warsaw Ghetto uprising remains highly important as another example of heroic Jewish resistance against ENORMOUS ODDS. Furthermore it prompted Poles to revolt and others in other places to do the same.
The Rapoport Memorial of the Warsaw Ghetto can be seen both in Warsaw and at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. It stands as tall as the rubble of the Warsaw Ghetto did in the year 1948 -- piled 16 feet high covering hundreds of acres. When your children come home, ask them what they remember about this memorial and what was different about the memorial as seen in Poland versus the one at Yad Vashem in Israel. Both are a memorial to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
Today's Quotes about the Student's Visit to Majdanek
Cody Selker:
“Today we went to the concentration camp and I have to say it was the hardest day we have had so far. Everything was so unbelievable. We went and saw the barracks where everyone slept so close together and packed together; and we saw the showers and the ovens—or fireplaces where they were put into and burnt. It was just horrible. The one thing that got me the most was seeing all the shoes of everyone in the Holocaust, and that wasn’t everyone—it was unbelievable. It gave me a real visual of just how massive it was. I have read books but this gave me a much more realistic vision of what really happened. It was so hard to imagine all the people who were killed here; just because I did not want to imagine all of them being murdered. Later we saw a humongous pile of ashes and the bones inside of it were still there. It was horrible to think that that many people could be killed in one small place.”
Josh Katz:
"I want to thank you for letting me come on this tremendous trip because today really let me realize just what the holocaust is all about. Thank you! Bye!”
Chad Miller:
“I just wanted to say this trip has really been surprising given the emotions I have felt in the camps and the ghetto. It is so hard to imagine how these horrible things could happen. But I have been feeling really more angry than sad that this could have ever happened—I don’t try to control my emotions; I let myself feel what I feel. I just want to say hi to my family. I hope all is well as things are going well here. Tomorrow we go to Auschwitz and I think that is something that really will be life-changing and I really look forward to going to Israel
Rachel Barr:
“Today we visited Majdanek. I was really shocked having seen concentration camps before. We saw the gas chambers and a barrack that was filled with piles and piles of shoes and I cannot imagine how one human being could do this to another human being and how someone could even build a gas chamber specifically to kill others. How could Nazis believe that shoes, clothes, and the hair of people were more important than the people themselves? It was really weird to be walking around a place where so many people had been murdered.
When we saw the ashes of the victims there was a bouquet of flowers that had also turned to ash and there were even bones. I could not imagine just how many people had been turned to ash—and for what.?
Finally I was really surprised with how close the town was to the camp. The people (of the town) had to know what was going on in the camp and yet they did absolutely nothing. The entire city of Lublin had to know what was going on in this camp.”
Sarah Warren said the group had lots of deep discussions tonight so that they could process what they saw. She said everyone is doing great and they are a very bright and sensitive group of students.
All the best,
Barb
“Today we went to the concentration camp and I have to say it was the hardest day we have had so far. Everything was so unbelievable. We went and saw the barracks where everyone slept so close together and packed together; and we saw the showers and the ovens—or fireplaces where they were put into and burnt. It was just horrible. The one thing that got me the most was seeing all the shoes of everyone in the Holocaust, and that wasn’t everyone—it was unbelievable. It gave me a real visual of just how massive it was. I have read books but this gave me a much more realistic vision of what really happened. It was so hard to imagine all the people who were killed here; just because I did not want to imagine all of them being murdered. Later we saw a humongous pile of ashes and the bones inside of it were still there. It was horrible to think that that many people could be killed in one small place.”
Josh Katz:
"I want to thank you for letting me come on this tremendous trip because today really let me realize just what the holocaust is all about. Thank you! Bye!”
Chad Miller:
“I just wanted to say this trip has really been surprising given the emotions I have felt in the camps and the ghetto. It is so hard to imagine how these horrible things could happen. But I have been feeling really more angry than sad that this could have ever happened—I don’t try to control my emotions; I let myself feel what I feel. I just want to say hi to my family. I hope all is well as things are going well here. Tomorrow we go to Auschwitz and I think that is something that really will be life-changing and I really look forward to going to Israel
Rachel Barr:
“Today we visited Majdanek. I was really shocked having seen concentration camps before. We saw the gas chambers and a barrack that was filled with piles and piles of shoes and I cannot imagine how one human being could do this to another human being and how someone could even build a gas chamber specifically to kill others. How could Nazis believe that shoes, clothes, and the hair of people were more important than the people themselves? It was really weird to be walking around a place where so many people had been murdered.
When we saw the ashes of the victims there was a bouquet of flowers that had also turned to ash and there were even bones. I could not imagine just how many people had been turned to ash—and for what.?
Finally I was really surprised with how close the town was to the camp. The people (of the town) had to know what was going on in the camp and yet they did absolutely nothing. The entire city of Lublin had to know what was going on in this camp.”
Sarah Warren said the group had lots of deep discussions tonight so that they could process what they saw. She said everyone is doing great and they are a very bright and sensitive group of students.
All the best,
Barb
July 3, 2008: Auschwitz-Birkenau and the Old City of Krakow
Today the group toured Auschwitz-Birkenau. Here are comments from Justin Kirschner and Briana Pecsok.
Justin Kirschner:
“Today we went to Birkenau and Auschwitz. The words I can tell you to explain my experience there was just WOW! To see it in the movies is one thing but to see it in real life is definitely another; and be here it totally different. I got a first hand experience of what Jews went through. Auschwitz was different than what I expected it to be. I am really glad I came on this trip just for that. Thank you! Bye!”
Briana Pecsok:
"Today we experienced a lot of things on a very wide spectrum. We went from Birkenau to Auschwitz and it evoked a lot of questions and was really emotional. It was a good day. It is hard to put into words the things we saw and what went on there. What we did see was horrible. We went to the Old Town of Krakow which was really cool because we went from something so dark to something so lively."
Below is a description of Auschwitz which they visited today and also nearby Krakow which they will visit this weekend.
Auschwitz
Auschwitz was divided into three camps. Each camp housed thousands of prisoners and each camp had a different function.
Auschwitz I remained a concentration camp, housing political prisoners and “criminals” as defined by the Germans.
Auschwitz II or Birkenau was built between the end of 1941 and the middle of 1942 and became the death camp.
Auschwitz III—Monowitz, where slave laborers were constructing what was to be the largest synthetic rubber factory in the world, was the I. G. Farben Buna plant. (I.G Farben was the largest chemical-industrial conglomerate in the world. Buna was the name given to the synthetic rubber that was produced to make Germany self-sufficient in the war.) For those of you who know Werner Coppel, local holocaust survivor, he spent most of his time in Buna.
Auschwitz also included some small labor camps within a 50-mile radius.
Trains arrived regularly at Auschwitz-Birkenau carrying box cars crammed with Jews from all over Europe. The Jews were driven off the trains onto a long railroad platform and forced to line up and move toward the end of the platform where several SS men, directed by doctors (most notorious was Dr. Mengele) would determine who would work and who would die. At the selection process with a flick of the thumb, people were sentenced to death. The “Non-Productive” category automatically included children under the age of 16 and adults over age 40, also the handicapped, mentally deficient, those already sick from starvation, mothers with small children, etc.
Those who survived selection were forced to do slave labor at Auschwitz III—Monowitz, or at one of the smaller labor camps. Some were selected for the Sonderkommando jobs and were forced to clear gas chambers of dead bodies and carry them to the crematoria to be burned. Most of these men were killed after 3 months and were replaced by new prisoners. Other prisoners were given jobs in the camps such as carpenters, latrine duty, and kitchen duty. Even physicians were utilized for a certain amount of time within the hospital of Auschwitz. All prisoners were underfed and lived under miserable conditions. Food was so scarce that often this led to savage behavior—survival by any means. Only the prisoners of Auschwitz were tattooed with numbers on their arms. Upon arrival their bodies were shaved and they could only keep their shoes and their belt.
At Auschwitz-Birkenau there were 4 enormous gas chambers used to murder 15,000 people daily. By the end of 1944 more than 2.5 million Jews had died of disease or starvation, or had been worked to death, gassed, shot, hung, injected with lethal drugs or experimented upon. More than 250,000 Gypsies also were killed there. Jews and Gypsies were to be exterminated simply because they existed.
Today Auschwitz-Birkenau has been sanitized. Auschwitz I is a museum. Today the group will visit various buildings containing suitcases, children’s toys, hairbrushes, shoes, prosthetics, etc. They will see the Execution Block and the hospital. They will stand beneath the infamous sign, Arbeit Macht Frei. When you look at the sign, the B is actually inverted. The prisoners did this on purpose as a statement of resistance. One who visits Auschwitz cannot help but be struck by the fact that this “museum” actually has a gift shop and even a place to eat a picnic lunch. It is an uncomfortable feeling to say the least and no longer looks as it actually did during the war.
Birkenau, which the group toured yesterday, also has been sanitized. However, one still can recognize that this was a horrific place, an enormous camp, a factory designed to kill people. The well known gateway above the train tracks has become the symbol of one of the most evil places on earth.
Krakow
Krakow located in southern Poland was at one time the capital of Poland. There is record of a Jewish community of Krakow dating back to the 10th Century. The city fell to the Nazis on September 4, 1939 and became headquarters of the “General Government” which encompassed most of Poland. It was liberated by the Soviets on January 9, 1945.
The Jewish community in Krakow was one of the oldest in Eastern Europe. The Jewish population in 1939 was 56, 515. Krakow was a religious and cultural center for Jews. The first Jewish publishing house in Poland was in Krakow. Towards the end of the 19th Century Krakow became a center for Zionism. After World War I there was a daily Zionist newspaper. Many of the international Zionist Conferences took place in Krakow and all the Zionist youth movements were strong in Krakow and sent many olim to Israel.
With the Nazis, the Jews were moved to a ghetto on the other side of the Wisla River in Krakow. In Plashow, a special work camp was set up
(Schindler’s List). Most of the Jews of the Krakow Ghetto were sent to death camps including Auschwitz which is 45 kilometers from Krakow.
Today there are a few synagogues remaining in Krakow: The Mizrachi, the Kupa, The High Shul, the Isaac Shul, the Alte Shul, and the Rama Shul. Located next to the Rama Shul is the Rama cemetery. According to Catholic-related laws, no synagogue built in Poland could be built higher than any church. Consequently often many of the synagogues’ main floors were below ground level so that the height of the synagogue would not offend the Poles.
The pharmacy, which students will tour today, was in business from 1941 to 1943 within the walls of the Krakow Ghetto. Despite the fact that its owner was not Jewish, he maintained the business in the Ghetto. The pharmacy served as a “diplomatic agency” representing the free world in the walled ghetto. The pharmacy and the pharmacist had a cameo part in Schindler’s list. Today it is a museum to the Krakow Ghetto.
The Plashow camp was originally a forced labor camp and later became a concentration camp. It was established in 1942 in a Krakow suburb. The construction of the camp began in the summer of 1942 within the Krakow city limits. It was actually built on a site containing two Jewish cemeteries, other Jewish community property and the private property of Polish residents who had been evicted. Its maximum size was 200 acres. It was surrounded by an electric barbed wire fence 2.5 miles in length. The camp was divided into several sections: The German quarters, the factories, and the camp itself, which was separated into the men’s and women’s sections, with subsections for Poles and Jews.
Amon Goeth, the camp commandant from February 1943 to September 1944 (one of five men to hold this post), was the person responsible for most of the horrific crimes committed in the camp—mass murder, selection, death from over work, and personal participation in murder. (Schindler’s List). While still functioning as a forced labor camp, Plashow was the scene of mass killings of Jews. Some eight thousand persons are estimated to have been murdered in Plashow.
In September 1944 efforts were made to obliterate any traces of the crimes that had been perpetrated in the camp by opening the mass graves and burning the remains in heaps.
A huge monument was dedicated in September of 1964 to all the people who died there and reads, “In commemoration of those murdered by the Nazi perpetrators of genocide in the years 1943-1945.
On a smaller nearby monument built by the Jews of Krakow is the following:
“Here, in this area, have been tortured, murdered, and turned into ashes several tens of thousands of Jews in the years 1943-1945, driven here from all over Poland and Hungary. We do not know the names of the murdered. Let us replace them with one word only—Jews. Here at this site has been committed one of the most horrible crimes. Human language has no words to define the atrocity of this crime--its nightmarish bestiality, ruthlessness and cruelty. Let us replace it with one word—Nazism. In commemoration of those murdered here, whose last cry of despair is the silence of this Plashow cemetery, we Jews saved from the fascist pogrom pay homage.”
One cannot help but notice how many Poles today use this vast area as a park. It is hard to understand how people can stroll through this area, pushing babies, eating picnic lunches, riding on bicycles, and enjoying the grounds.
I probably will not be sending you emails until Monday, July 7th as we are closed for the holiday weekend.
I wish all of you a very Happy Fourth of July!
Barb
Justin Kirschner:
“Today we went to Birkenau and Auschwitz. The words I can tell you to explain my experience there was just WOW! To see it in the movies is one thing but to see it in real life is definitely another; and be here it totally different. I got a first hand experience of what Jews went through. Auschwitz was different than what I expected it to be. I am really glad I came on this trip just for that. Thank you! Bye!”
Briana Pecsok:
"Today we experienced a lot of things on a very wide spectrum. We went from Birkenau to Auschwitz and it evoked a lot of questions and was really emotional. It was a good day. It is hard to put into words the things we saw and what went on there. What we did see was horrible. We went to the Old Town of Krakow which was really cool because we went from something so dark to something so lively."
Below is a description of Auschwitz which they visited today and also nearby Krakow which they will visit this weekend.
Auschwitz
Auschwitz was divided into three camps. Each camp housed thousands of prisoners and each camp had a different function.
Auschwitz I remained a concentration camp, housing political prisoners and “criminals” as defined by the Germans.
Auschwitz II or Birkenau was built between the end of 1941 and the middle of 1942 and became the death camp.
Auschwitz III—Monowitz, where slave laborers were constructing what was to be the largest synthetic rubber factory in the world, was the I. G. Farben Buna plant. (I.G Farben was the largest chemical-industrial conglomerate in the world. Buna was the name given to the synthetic rubber that was produced to make Germany self-sufficient in the war.) For those of you who know Werner Coppel, local holocaust survivor, he spent most of his time in Buna.
Auschwitz also included some small labor camps within a 50-mile radius.
Trains arrived regularly at Auschwitz-Birkenau carrying box cars crammed with Jews from all over Europe. The Jews were driven off the trains onto a long railroad platform and forced to line up and move toward the end of the platform where several SS men, directed by doctors (most notorious was Dr. Mengele) would determine who would work and who would die. At the selection process with a flick of the thumb, people were sentenced to death. The “Non-Productive” category automatically included children under the age of 16 and adults over age 40, also the handicapped, mentally deficient, those already sick from starvation, mothers with small children, etc.
Those who survived selection were forced to do slave labor at Auschwitz III—Monowitz, or at one of the smaller labor camps. Some were selected for the Sonderkommando jobs and were forced to clear gas chambers of dead bodies and carry them to the crematoria to be burned. Most of these men were killed after 3 months and were replaced by new prisoners. Other prisoners were given jobs in the camps such as carpenters, latrine duty, and kitchen duty. Even physicians were utilized for a certain amount of time within the hospital of Auschwitz. All prisoners were underfed and lived under miserable conditions. Food was so scarce that often this led to savage behavior—survival by any means. Only the prisoners of Auschwitz were tattooed with numbers on their arms. Upon arrival their bodies were shaved and they could only keep their shoes and their belt.
At Auschwitz-Birkenau there were 4 enormous gas chambers used to murder 15,000 people daily. By the end of 1944 more than 2.5 million Jews had died of disease or starvation, or had been worked to death, gassed, shot, hung, injected with lethal drugs or experimented upon. More than 250,000 Gypsies also were killed there. Jews and Gypsies were to be exterminated simply because they existed.
Today Auschwitz-Birkenau has been sanitized. Auschwitz I is a museum. Today the group will visit various buildings containing suitcases, children’s toys, hairbrushes, shoes, prosthetics, etc. They will see the Execution Block and the hospital. They will stand beneath the infamous sign, Arbeit Macht Frei. When you look at the sign, the B is actually inverted. The prisoners did this on purpose as a statement of resistance. One who visits Auschwitz cannot help but be struck by the fact that this “museum” actually has a gift shop and even a place to eat a picnic lunch. It is an uncomfortable feeling to say the least and no longer looks as it actually did during the war.
Birkenau, which the group toured yesterday, also has been sanitized. However, one still can recognize that this was a horrific place, an enormous camp, a factory designed to kill people. The well known gateway above the train tracks has become the symbol of one of the most evil places on earth.
Krakow
Krakow located in southern Poland was at one time the capital of Poland. There is record of a Jewish community of Krakow dating back to the 10th Century. The city fell to the Nazis on September 4, 1939 and became headquarters of the “General Government” which encompassed most of Poland. It was liberated by the Soviets on January 9, 1945.
The Jewish community in Krakow was one of the oldest in Eastern Europe. The Jewish population in 1939 was 56, 515. Krakow was a religious and cultural center for Jews. The first Jewish publishing house in Poland was in Krakow. Towards the end of the 19th Century Krakow became a center for Zionism. After World War I there was a daily Zionist newspaper. Many of the international Zionist Conferences took place in Krakow and all the Zionist youth movements were strong in Krakow and sent many olim to Israel.
With the Nazis, the Jews were moved to a ghetto on the other side of the Wisla River in Krakow. In Plashow, a special work camp was set up
(Schindler’s List). Most of the Jews of the Krakow Ghetto were sent to death camps including Auschwitz which is 45 kilometers from Krakow.
Today there are a few synagogues remaining in Krakow: The Mizrachi, the Kupa, The High Shul, the Isaac Shul, the Alte Shul, and the Rama Shul. Located next to the Rama Shul is the Rama cemetery. According to Catholic-related laws, no synagogue built in Poland could be built higher than any church. Consequently often many of the synagogues’ main floors were below ground level so that the height of the synagogue would not offend the Poles.
The pharmacy, which students will tour today, was in business from 1941 to 1943 within the walls of the Krakow Ghetto. Despite the fact that its owner was not Jewish, he maintained the business in the Ghetto. The pharmacy served as a “diplomatic agency” representing the free world in the walled ghetto. The pharmacy and the pharmacist had a cameo part in Schindler’s list. Today it is a museum to the Krakow Ghetto.
The Plashow camp was originally a forced labor camp and later became a concentration camp. It was established in 1942 in a Krakow suburb. The construction of the camp began in the summer of 1942 within the Krakow city limits. It was actually built on a site containing two Jewish cemeteries, other Jewish community property and the private property of Polish residents who had been evicted. Its maximum size was 200 acres. It was surrounded by an electric barbed wire fence 2.5 miles in length. The camp was divided into several sections: The German quarters, the factories, and the camp itself, which was separated into the men’s and women’s sections, with subsections for Poles and Jews.
Amon Goeth, the camp commandant from February 1943 to September 1944 (one of five men to hold this post), was the person responsible for most of the horrific crimes committed in the camp—mass murder, selection, death from over work, and personal participation in murder. (Schindler’s List). While still functioning as a forced labor camp, Plashow was the scene of mass killings of Jews. Some eight thousand persons are estimated to have been murdered in Plashow.
In September 1944 efforts were made to obliterate any traces of the crimes that had been perpetrated in the camp by opening the mass graves and burning the remains in heaps.
A huge monument was dedicated in September of 1964 to all the people who died there and reads, “In commemoration of those murdered by the Nazi perpetrators of genocide in the years 1943-1945.
On a smaller nearby monument built by the Jews of Krakow is the following:
“Here, in this area, have been tortured, murdered, and turned into ashes several tens of thousands of Jews in the years 1943-1945, driven here from all over Poland and Hungary. We do not know the names of the murdered. Let us replace them with one word only—Jews. Here at this site has been committed one of the most horrible crimes. Human language has no words to define the atrocity of this crime--its nightmarish bestiality, ruthlessness and cruelty. Let us replace it with one word—Nazism. In commemoration of those murdered here, whose last cry of despair is the silence of this Plashow cemetery, we Jews saved from the fascist pogrom pay homage.”
One cannot help but notice how many Poles today use this vast area as a park. It is hard to understand how people can stroll through this area, pushing babies, eating picnic lunches, riding on bicycles, and enjoying the grounds.
I probably will not be sending you emails until Monday, July 7th as we are closed for the holiday weekend.
I wish all of you a very Happy Fourth of July!
Barb
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)