Day three...

Hello from Krakow! After an incredibly long journey, spiritually, emotionally and by bus, we have arrived safely in Krakow.

Our journey today began with a visit to Yeshivat Chochmei Lublin (the Yeshiva of the Wise Men of Lublin). The yeshiva first opened its doors to students in 1930, and graduated its first class in 1934. It was built as a modern institute of Jewish learning under the tutelage of Rabbi Meir Shapira, most commonly known for developing the practice of daf yomi, the tradition of studying one page of Talmud a day. The yeshiva was rededicated to the Jewish community five years ago and is in the process of being renovated. A Torah scroll has been rededicated and both the Beit Knesset (chapel) and Beit Midrash have been refurbished and a new mikvah was recently dedicated. The latest word is that the Yeshiva will open next year as a kosher hotel to serve the visiting Jewish community.

It was quite powerful to hear the voices echoing in this hall, as we davened shacharit. We ended our morning prayer with song and dance in in front of the Aron Kodesh.

A fifteen minute drive through the city brought us to the gates of Majdanek, the first of six Nazi death camps to be liberated, this one in July 1944. Unlike most of the other camps, Majdanek is largely intact – the showers, gas chambers, and crematoria are all still standing. We watched a film about the administration and history of the camp, viewing images of the perpetrators and the victims. How could people drive by Majdanek on this main highway out in front and not question the eerie installation? What world was this that such horrors as the November 1943 “Harvest Festival” wherein 18,300 were shot to death in the fields of the camp in one day were able to happen in the open so close to a large population?

We followed the steps of those sentenced to death, walking through the gates, the rooms where hair was shaved and clothes were taken, the shower rooms and the gas chambers. Unlike so many, however, we then walked outside and breathed the fresh air.

The remaining barracks are now a museum. One barracks houses a topographical map of the Lublin region and of the Majdanek camp as it stood from 1941 until its liberation by the Soviets in July 1944. Another is filled from floor to ceiling along the entire length of the barracks with shoes from those deported to Majdanek (unfortunately, this building was closed for renovation following a fire that broke out there last year). Still other barracks house as they stood at various periods of the camp's existence.

We next made our entry into the “new” crematoria building, built in 1943 when it was determined the original crematoria was not big enough. Whereas the original could burn 100 bodies a day, these “new crematoria” houses five ovens and was capable of burning up to 1,000 bodies per day. We laid an Israeli flag in front of the ovens, and looked into the yahrzeit candles placed in front of it as we remembered those who perished here. Kaddish was again recited.

We stood witness at the ashes – a huge concrete domed facility housing ashes of thousands who were murdered at Majdanek and whose remains lack a formal grave.
Outside, we stood on the edge of the pit where 18,300 Jews were shot in a single day as part of the Erntefest, or “Harvest Festival”, in November 1943.

We boarded the bus - exited the camp and headed for the former shtetel of Checiny near Kielce. We saw the old synagogue site, the mikvah building and walked around the square where remnants of the old walls and buildings still stand. The local people gave us quizzical looks.

We dined in the old Jewish Quarter on traditional polish foods!

We may not be able to update this blog until Sunday evening, as tomorrow we are busy until the moment we get on the bus and travel overnight to Prague. 

Know that we are well.

Lila Tov.