June 12, 2007: Departed Seattle for Warsaw, Poland
June 13-15: Warsaw - Oki Doki Hostel
- Service project at Warsaw Jewish Cemetery: Located in the center of Warsaw, this is one of the only Jewish cemeteries to survive World War II in Poland, a fact all the more striking given its incredible size - 82 acres. Since the war, the Warsaw Jewish Cemetery was largely left to nature, which overtook many of the graves, filling the walled city of the dead with thick bushes, waist-high grass, and trees. In 1999, though, JRI-Poland launched an initiative to take back history from the jungle, clearing away the overgrowth to find and document every tombstone in the cemetery. And, on our first full day in Poland, we were on site to assist with the effort... [Read More]
- Interview with Witek Wrzosinski, with JRI-Poland: During a break in our work at the cemetery, Witek explained the purpose behind the project and the importance of documenting the names of those buried here... [Read More]
- Visit to Treblinka Extermination Camp: Treblinka is located roughly two hours from Warsaw, requiring a long train ride to Malkinia and then a taxi to shuttle you the rest of the way. On the day we visited, Malkinia had only one taxi in operation, so we traveled the final 10km in waves. Memory in this case is inaccessible, inconvenient, and almost entirely intangible. Because, sadly, precious little remains of Treblinka today... [Read More]
- Guided visit to Majdanek Extermination Camp with Michael Tregenza: We arrived in Poland well aware of Auschwitz and anticipated that it would be the culminating moment of the trip, when everything we studied, discussed, and felt along the way would reach a climax. We had read of the other camps on the itinerary, including Majdanek, but they didn't carry the name-brand-infamy of Auschwitz. Imagine our surprise, then, when a visit to Majdanek Extermination Camp left an indelible impression upon all of us, providing us with one iconic, scarring image of the brutality of man... [Read More]
- Interview with Majdanek Museum Guide, Beata Siwek-Ciupak: Prior to our tour of Majdanek with Michael, we spoke with a long-time Majdanek educational staffer about the significance of the camp... [Read More]
- Guided visit to Grodzka Gate - NN Theatre Centre, interview with Piotr Choros (Coordinator of Civil Academy), and Flight from Death screening: Today a museum and theater, Grodzka Gate traditionally represented the border between Christian and Jewish Lublin. While it would be easy to thus interpret the location as a symbol of division, in some ways akin to the Berlin Wall, our guide Piotr stressed just the opposite - Grodzka Gate was a place where different cultures intersected, coexisted, and lived peacefully... [Read More]
- Guided visit to Auschwitz I: There is something about walking under the wrought-iron fence, declaring that "Arbeit Macht Frei" (Work makes one free), that makes you catch your breath. Whereas the other extermination camps require imagination, a creative will to reconstruct the atrocities committed there, Auschwitz is nearly frozen in time. This faithful preservation to what occurred compels the visitor to do just the opposite - reflexively distancing himself from what he is seeing, lest it become too much... [Read More]
- Guided visit to Auschwitz II (Birkenau) with young residents of Oswiecim: As potent as Auschwitz I is, sprawling Birkenau reveals the magnitude of the Nazi operations here. Spanning more than 430 acres, Birkenau was a model of Nazi efficiency, with the iconic train tracks entering through the front gate, bringing many prisoners to immediate death. Over one million people saw their lives end behind these walls... [Read More]
- Presentation in Auschwitz archives: We had the chance to go behind the scenes at Auschwitz in this presentation by Lucyna Filip, who provided an exhaustive overview of the types of documentation used and left by the Germans. Despite efforts to destroy evidence, the amount of material left behind is overwhelming and damning.
- Presentation by and interview with Henryk Mandelbaum: We are a young and energetic group, pulling some long days on the road. We rise early, pack in the meetings and visits during the day, and don't find our way back to bed until late. But Henryk Mandelbaum, survivor of Auschwitz-Birkenau and former member of the sonderkommando, easily outpaced us all, despite - or, perhaps, because of - his 85 years... [Read More]
- Interview with Janusz Marszalek, Mayor of Oswiecim: In the international press, Oswiecim is often equated with Auschwitz, and the terrible atrocities committed against Jews in World War II are sloppily laid at the feet of Poland. To combat that, the city of Oswiecim has recently called for a name change for Auschwitz. Our meeting with the mayor explored this issue, along with the broader subject of what brings people to live is Oswiecim, a town permanently linked to such incredible tragedy... [Read More]
- Interview with Wladyslaw Horton: A long-time citizen of Oswiecim who assisted escaped prisoners from Auschwitz, we met Wladyslaw through our friend Ania, who grew up in Oswiecim and happens to be his niece. Combined, Wladyslaw and Ania epitomize the fact that, while the former Nazi extermination camp of Auschwitz is located here, the people of Oswiecim reject and combat such hatred - and have from its inception... [Read More]
- We were fortunate enough to be in Krakow for two major cultural events. First, the Jewish Cultural Festival, which takes place every June, celebrates Krakow's Jewish heritage through a number of events. We attended Shabbat at the Tempel Synagogue and checked out an art exhibit in the old Schindler factory. Then, we (like everyone else in Krakow) were in attendance for Wianki, the city's St. John's Day celebration on June 23, which had an incredible fireworks show and unfortunate '80s rock theme.
- Guided visit to Plaszow Concentration Camp with Bernard Offen: In studying the Holocaust, one is struck by - and quickly comes to share - the overwhelming sense of despair that consumed all affected by the dehumanizing events of the time. One side effect of this, though, is a plateauing of emotions; over time, terrible events that once might have paralyzed the person lose their shocking edge. However, some statements still have the power to shock even the most jaded observer. And Bernard Offen, a survivor of five concentration camps, including Plaszow, shared a real stunner with us - in the midst of World War II, he decided that it would be safer to sneak into a concentration camp than continue to live outside of it... [Read More]
- Interview with Jozef Paczynski, Auschwitz survivor: Rudolf Hoss, the first commandant of Auschwitz, is one of the more notorious figures from the Holocaust, taking a small prison camp and turning it into a modern killing factory. And, every day, one man had a blade on Hoss's neck, with vengeance one flick of the wrist away. That man was Jozef Paczynski, Hoss's barber. We spoke with him in his Krakow flat... [Read More]
- Presentation by and interview with Annamaria Orla-Bukowska, Krakow Sociology Professor: While we all came into the trip with a solid historical background on the Holocaust, much of that knowledge was focused on the German end of things. Annamaria provided us with an extensive overview of Poland, during and after the Holocaust, helping us to better understand the persistence of those painful memories today... [Read More]
- Day-trip to Czestochowa and interview with Franciszek Borkowski, former Soviet prisoner: We were welcomed in Czestochowa by members of Emaus, an academic chaplaincy connected to the famous monastery. Through their generosity, we had a guided visit to the Jasna Gora, an interview with Mr. Borkowski, and a group meeting with some young Czestochowans, talking about their faith, Catholicism in Poland, and the persistence of anti-Semitism... [Read More]
- Meeting with Bishop Albin Matysiak, Bishop of Krakow and recipient of the Righteous Among the Nations honor: When we learned that we might have a chance to meet with Bishop Matysiak we jumped on it, as we were eager to speak with a member of the Catholic Church about the Holocaust, especially given criticism the Church has received about its limited defense of Europe's Jewish population at the time. Bishop Matysiak, however, is an example of the contrary, as is reflected in his Righteous Among the Nations award. As it turned out, our "meeting," such as it was, lasted only five minutes but proved to be among the most memorable of the trip... [Read More]
- Following some intense days in Krakow, we headed out to this small town for some rest and reflection, including a bike ride around town, visits to some local castles, and a Flight from Death screening.
- Meeting with Jacek Purski of Never Again: Founded in 1992, Never Again is a Polish organization and magazine devoted to promoting multicultural understanding and combating anti-Semitism and other ethnic prejudices. Jacek is a writer and editor with Never Again, and he helped to conclude our visit with some thoughts on the legacy of the Holocaust in Poland today... [Read More]
- Meeting with Yga Kostrzewa of Lambda: Our final meeting of the trip, our conversation with Yga was prompted by recent homophobic comments and policies coming from the Polish government, along with the historic targeting of homosexuals by the Holocaust. While our trip had focused primarily on the Jewish population of Poland, the Holocaust was fueled by intolerance in all of its forms, and it was critical to gain some perspective in this area. Once featured on the cover of Polish Newsweek, Yga, chairwoman of the Lambda organization, was able to quickly bring us up to speed... [Read More]
- Visit to the Warsaw Rising Museum: This is, without question, one of the finest historical museums in the world. Loaded with multimedia exhibits, an incredible amount of visual materials, and an assortment of print materials free to take home, this provides a dynamic setting to learn about what happened in Warsaw in 1944.