Poland Journey 2012

Hi everyone! We have all returned safe and sound from the 2012 Poland Journey! The Journey took us across Poland for seven days, visiting concentration and death camps, Jewish synagogues and cemeteries, and the sites of former youth movement centers. In each place we learned about history and also asked questions about human morality and Jewish identity that are still important today. Overall it was a very special, meaningful and unique journey. The first day we started in a small city called Bedzin, learning about the history of the place and the uprising that took place in August 1943, and the youth movement's role in that. This was our first look at the role of Zionist youth movements in the armed resistance, a theme we would return to in both Krakow and Warsaw. We then spent some time walking around the old Jewish quarter of Krakow- Kazimierz - exploring the synagogues and Jewish culture that existed for hundreds of years. We learned about the development of Jewish life in Poland, and the changing role that religious life played in the community over time. The second day we traveled to Auschwitz and Birkenau, which was a long and intense day. We learnt about the Nazi extermination machine and also about the life of a concentration camp inmate, which was shaped by the codes of violence and force that the Nazis imposed. At the close of the day, the first tekes (ceremony) of many that were planned by some of the shnatties was held. It included many personal testimonies and was a very inspiring and fitting way to end the day. The third day was spent mainly in Krakow, in the former Jewish ghetto area, learning about the conditions there and also the madrichim of the Akiva youth movement who lived in a movement commune there. We then visited the location of the Tsiganeria Cafe, where in 1942 the Akiva members attacked and killed a number of Nazi soldiers in one of the largest underground operations until that point in WWII Europe. After that the group had a bit of free time in the beautiful old Sukiennice Market of Krakow, and then we set off for Lublin. The fourth day began at the Yehsiva Chachmei Lublin (Wise Men of Lublin Yeshiva) where we talked about Hassidut and the rich history of the Yeshiva. We then walked around what used to be Nazi headquarters in Lublin, and focused on some of the different groups involved in the Nazi party and Hitler’s regime. In the afternoon we visited the concentration and death camp, Majdanek, situated only a few kilometers from downtown Lublin. We read testimonies of survivors who had spent time there, and saw different exhibitions of confiscated prisoners' possessions and other materials remaining in the camp. The fifth day was spent in Warsaw, walking around the sites of the former ghetto, the largest across Poland. We learned about different aspects of community life and leadership that took place while the Jewish community was trapped inside. After lunch we visited the Krashinsky Gardens, which stood just outside the ghetto walls during the war and where Polish ferris-wheel riders could see their former Jewish neighbors directly below, and talked about what it means to be a bystander. We then travelled to a monument for the Polish Warsaw Uprising, and spent some time in the Old City of Warsaw. Last stop for the day was "Dzielna" the former location of the Dror movement commune, which both before and during the ghetto was the site of peulot and movement life. We heard the stories of the movement's madrichim and chanichim and how they reacted to the conditions in the ghetto by increasing the activity of their youth movement. The sixth day we visited what once was the shtetl of Tykochin, where Jews had lived peacefully for many hundreds of years. A beautifully restored synagogue is still standing in the tow. We then travelled the short distance to Lopochowa forest, the site of the community's eventual demise. That afternoon we were in another death camp, Treblinka. The last day in we started at the site of the 'Chavat Hachshara' (training farm) just outside the city in Grochow, where young people not so different from our Shnatties lived together communally and practiced working hard to prepare themselves for life in the land of Israel. We then visited the Warsaw Jewish cemetery, where the incredible diversity of languages and ideologies that were present in Warsaw Jewry are on clear display. We spoke about different Jewish responses to modern life and about the role of Hebrew, Yiddish and Polish in this Diaspora community. Then after lunch, we began the traditional 'Path of Heroism' which runs from the Umschlagplatz (Deportation Square) to Mila 18 and the Rapaport Monument, where we heard the dramatic story of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and the key role madrichim from Dror and the Zionist youth movement played. We finished at Rapaport Monument with a very inspiring tekes. From there, we headed back to the hotel for a light-hearted 'Polish Folklore' dinner, and then headed for the airport. Landing back in Israel was a great feeling!