Hello to you all! I hope that all of you and your families and communities had a chag sameach and enjoyed some joyful Purim festivities in your areas. Workshop is still rolling along, and now with Poland behind us, we are rapidly approaching some more highlights of the workshop year.
The Poland trip is traditionally one of the most meaningful and touching experiences for any workshop group. This year was no different. I wanted to give you all an insight into the day-to-day experience of the workshoppers in our Poland trip last week.
After being stuck on the tarmac at Ben-Gurion airport for well over an hour without moving, our plane finally flew out to Warsaw on Monday morning. Once we arrived, we quickly hopped onto our massive 69 seater bus, and started another long journey from Warsaw to Krakow (about 5 hours). Once we arrived, the kvutsot toured the old Jewish quarter of Kazimierz, where Jews lived side-by-side with Poles for around 400 years. We visited a number of older and more recent synagogues in the community, as well as one of the earlier reform synagogues.
Our first full day in Poland was a tough one. We travelled the short distance from Krakow to Birkenau, the largest of the concentration and death camps in Poland. We spent the morning going through the site, and understanding the tragedy of what happened in Birkenau. From there we travelled to Aushwitz, the original camp, where the groups had a chance to understand the way of life for prisoners and victimisers within the camps. We visited the prison and the 'shooting wall,' as well as the original gas chamber and the prisoner barracks.
All in all it was a difficult day for the workshoppers, and one which I am sure they will remember for a long time.
On Wednesday we had a slightly less miserly schedule. We spent the morning in the city of krakow, in some of the famous sites of the Krakow Ghetto, including the famous Krakow Ghetto Pharmacy, which was a major centre of the Krakow Ghetto uprising (slightly less well known than the Warsaw uprising - but happened beforehand).
We also visited the site of the infamous Plaszow Labour camp, on the outskirts of Krakow, made famous in the movie 'Schindler's List.' Today there is nothing standing on the site, aside from a huge monument. Given that we had watched Schindlers list on the bus the previous day, it gave the workshoppers a greater insight into what had been standing on the site, and Schindler's famous role in saving massive amount of Jews from the camp.
The workshoppers were also given two hours free time to walk around the famous Sukiniecze market square in Krakow, for lunch and general shopping. It allowed the group to get a small insight into some of the more contemporary cultures and ways of life in Poland, and to also get a few goodies for themselves.
After our free time we made our way to Lublin for the night, and the following morning was spent touring the city of Lublin, which was a Nazi stronghold during the Shoah. There were a number of major Nazi military and intelligence centres based around the city, and it gave the group a chance to understand what the inner fabric of Nazi Society was like, and how it operated.
In the afternoon the group travelled to one of the more infamous death camps, Majdanek. The camp is still standing as it was during the Nazi regime, and was a challenging emotional experience for all of the participants. The gas chamber and crematorium, as well as the prisoners barracks are all still standing, and the landscape of the city of Lublin on the horizon makes for a surreal experience. Lublin began only about 50 metres from the fences of Majdanek.
After leaving Majdanek, we made our way to our final destination for the journey - Warsaw.
Friday morning was spent walking around the area of Warsaw that was used as the Jewish Ghetto during the Shoah. We saw remaining elements of the ghetto wall, as well as the old Judenrat (Jewish council) building. It gave us a chance to really try to understand the reality of the hardships and challenges of Ghetto life for the Jews in the Shoah.
On Friday afternoon we went to the Polish uprising monument, and discussed the Polish underground and the rebellion against the Nazis in 1944. We rounded out the day with some free time in the old city of Warsaw, which was destroyed by the Nazis in 1944 but rebuilt. The workshoppers had a chance to pick up some souvenirs, or taste some fine Polish chocolate!
On Saturday we travelled out to Tykocin, and old shtetl about two and a half hours drive out of Warsaw. We discussed the story of the destruction of the Jewish community there, and then drove to the nearest forest, Lopochova, where they were taking to their deaths. One of the groups of workshoppers did a moving tekkes (ceremony) there, and the story was a sad and sombre memory of the smaller communities that were destroyed in the Shoah.
In the afternoon we travelled to the site of the Death camp Treblinka, and had a chance to hear the story of the uprising of the Jewish prisoners there, and to hear the story of Janusz Korczak, the great Jewish educator who was sent to his death in the notorious death camp.
Our final day of the trip was spent recounting the steps of our very own movement, Dror, and the places where it existed in, and out of the ghetto in Warsaw. Our final afternoon retraced the memory of the Warsaw Ghetto Rebellion, and the youth movement fighters who held the Nazi regime out for almost a month in stopping the liquidation of the ghetto. We visited the monument of the final resting place for most of the fighters, Mila 18, as well as the Rappaport Monument, in memory of the fallen fighters of the Ghetto.
Our final evening on the trip was out in a restaurant, where we were treated to a show of traditional Polish folk dancing, where the workshoppers also showed their gusto in getting up and joining the Polish dancers on the dancefloor.
Tired and weary, we boarded our flight at around 11pm on Sunday night, and arrived safely back in Israel in the early hours of monday morning. It was a journey which seemed like it lasted forever, but also felt like it was over in a flash. Although one thing is for certain - it was a meaningful and moving journey for everyone involved.
I am attaching a few pictures from the journey, and i will probably have a few more up over the weekend.
I wish you all a shabbat shalom, and a safe and happy weekend.
Until next time!
Leon
Workshop remembering the tragedy of Aushwitz
Workshop in Birkenau
Outside of the old Maccabi Warsaw soccer stadium
In the old synagogue in the shtelt, Tykocin
The workshop and British kvutsot together in front of the remains of the old training farm centre of Dror in Warsaw, Grochov Street.
No comments:
Post a Comment