March 15, 2012
Thursday was
intense. After another early morning wake up, we visited four of the last remaining
synagogues in Krakow, all within blocks of each other. The first was the oldest
in the city the Old Synagogue, then on to the Isaac Shul and Remu Shul
which are still operational. Our final was the Tempel, an incredibly ornate synagogue built in the 1860s in the
classical Reform style; it now houses many community functions but does not
operate regularly as a synagogue. We then drove 1.5 hours outside Krakow to the
Polish town of Oswiecim, a town made notorious by its German name and the camp
it housed: Auschwitz. En route, we read excerpts from Primo Levi’s Survival in
Auschwitz. We learned about the intake process at the camp. We learned how
everyday words in a civilized society take on new meanings in the camp. Words such
as cold and hunger take on new and more horrible meanings. We read about the
daily selections, the randomness of decisions that meant life or death. But
nothing prepared us for what we were to see. How eery to come thought the
beautiful countryside and normal looking town, to arrive at high hideous barbed
wire fences and deserted barracks. It was
here, on the tracks at Birkenau, facing the outside world, the highway parallel
to the camp, and the Israeli flag in hand that we stood together, questioning
God and humanity from the depths, even as we questioned God’s presence (then
and now) and the ability of man to cause such harm to man.
We marched into Birkenau behind the Israeli flag, some, grandchildren of survivors. We entered the barracks area first in an attempt to witness and to understand what it was like to live in this place. In the latrine building, rows of unseparated cement toilets we learned of the dehumanization process, whereby the Jews were stripped of all semblances of humanity, from hair and clothing to names and dignity. In this place, Jews were not in charge of their own bodily functions; the Nazis dictated when and where and for how long, no privacy.
We heard from Claire Simmons the personal story of her mother and aunt’s spiritual resistance among the most dehumanizing physical conditions. How young women bit off the hems of their issued dress to create a belt for their shapeless shift. Other women, shorn of their hair, fashioned make-shift kerchiefs to hide their bare heads. A rabbi found a student from a different yeshiva in a different town and together they studied Talmud, a new page every day, and by doing that this became their act of spiritual resistance that fed the survivors’ continuing drive to live.
Claire told us of her mother’s experience in Auschwitz. The deeply personal story was incredibly powerful we stood side by side together, reflecting on her strength, on the challenge of being a child and grandchild of survivors, and on the courage to raise a family immediately post-Holocaust.
We then returned to the train tracks and followed in the footsteps of new arrivals to Birkenau, passing an original cattle car used to transport the Jews and others to this hell. At the selection platform, affectionately termed “the ramp” by the Nazis, families were torn from one another as they were sorted by age, gender and work ability. Here was the last place many saw their parents, their siblings, their spouses, their last memory to be the backs of their loved ones. Here the trains came in and out and it was determined who would live and who would die. We saw the path to the barracks for those who would live, and we walked the path of those sentenced to immediate execution, following the train tracks to the site of one of Auschwitz’s five crematoria, which now lies in ruins as a result of the Nazis’ attempt to destroy the evidence of what happened in this camp. We imagined the immensity of the structure, following the path from hair shearing, to the collection of clothing, to the gas chamber and up the lift to the ovens and crematoria that were on the upper level. All that remains now is an outline of the collapsed building and piles of bricks. We could see the shapes of a few chimneys and ovens, and the stairs leading down to the hell from which tens and hundreds of thousands would never escape.
From there we walked silently around the gas chamber to “the pond,” a repository for ash and bones from two crematoria. As we surrounded the area, we lit candles and held a beautiful memorial service. We spoke of the non-Jewish victims, remembering the gypsies, homosexuals, political prisoners and others who, too, were tormented in Auschwitz and other camps by the Nazis. We remembered and honored the Righteous Gentiles. An Israeli group of students stopped and joined us in prayer as we concluded our memorial ceremony with the chanting of El Maleh Rahamim by Sam and a communal recitation of kaddish. Claire hung an Israeli flag inside the crematoria as a statement that “Am Yisrael Chai” – the people of Israel live on – and we sang HaTikva loudly and proudly.
Unlike those who were murdered in this place, we walked out of Birkenau on the train tracks which carried our people to their deaths. Students reflected on the experience and many paused along the route, some to examine the cattle car resting on the tracks and others to ponder the horrors and the power of liberation and continued existence after living through such hell.
March 16, 2012
We arrived in Prague early Friday morning and quickly checked into our rooms. We spent a few hours catching up on sleep and reconvened for lunch, after which we set out for the day. All were excited to be in Prague and eager to see the beauty of the city.
Our primary stop was also our final Holocaust site – Terezin (Thereisenstadt). Terezin was originally constructed as two fortresses, one large and one small. When the Nazis overtook the town, they used the small fortress as a prison and headquarters, and the large fortress housed the Jewish ghetto. The town that once housed 5,000 was suddenly overrun with 55,000 living in tight quarters in this model concentration camp/ghetto.
We started our visit in the Ghetto Museum, where we viewed a Nazi propaganda film about the ghetto filmed around the time of the Red Cross visit in summer 1944. Propaganda images of Jews playing soccer and enjoying their communal life in the ghetto were juxtaposed with artistic renderings of the ghetto’s inhabitants featuring hollowed out faces, abstract renderings of unspeakable horrors, and images of starvation and illness. The numbers of transports from Terezin to Auschwitz were staggering: of 1,000 deportees 0 survivors; of 1,000 deportees, 3 survivors; repeated again and again. The second film we viewed used the colorful drawings and paintings of the ghetto’s youngest inhabitants, the children, and the words of their poetry to tell the story of life in the ghetto.
Much of the discussion both in the theater and as we walked outside focused on the role of the Red Cross and how easily they were deceived by the Nazi propaganda..
On our way out of the Museum, we viewed the original artwork of the children and read their poems, many of which we were familiar with from our reading of I Never Saw Another Butterfly. The power of the ghetto experience as portrayed by the children was overwhelming, and students spent long moments contemplating the loss of innocence representing in the simple crayon and watercolor pictures.
We visited a hidden synagogue, brought to light in recent years, which was to be a new owners garage. The Jewish community has now taken over the synagogue and four years ago completed the process of restoring the various prayers and images painted inside the tiny room. We chanted the Shema together, once again sanctifying this space with the words of prayer. We also learned about Rabbi Leo Baeck, a great Reform rabbi who served as the head of the Judenrat (Jewish Council) in the ghetto and ultimately survived the war.
We conducted our final memorial service inside the crematoria of Terezin. Over 30,000 Jews died in the ghetto, and many thousands more were deported to their deaths at Auschwitz and Treblinka. The service focused on the children, for Terezin was one of the only ghettos where children could experience a glimpse of life as children. It was here that children were given access to the pencils and crayons they used to record their experience. We read “For the Children,” wherein a child killed in the Holocaust spoke to his/her peers, asking them to “bounce the ball for me,” to “run, throw, jump and laugh one more time, for me.” Sam chanted El Maleh Rachamim and we once again recited Kaddish together. We sang the words of Legacy and Hatikva loud and proud.
We arrived in Prague early Friday morning and quickly checked into our rooms. We spent a few hours catching up on sleep and reconvened for lunch, after which we set out for the day. All were excited to be in Prague and eager to see the beauty of the city.
Our primary stop was also our final Holocaust site – Terezin (Thereisenstadt). Terezin was originally constructed as two fortresses, one large and one small. When the Nazis overtook the town, they used the small fortress as a prison and headquarters, and the large fortress housed the Jewish ghetto. The town that once housed 5,000 was suddenly overrun with 55,000 living in tight quarters in this model concentration camp/ghetto.
We started our visit in the Ghetto Museum, where we viewed a Nazi propaganda film about the ghetto filmed around the time of the Red Cross visit in summer 1944. Propaganda images of Jews playing soccer and enjoying their communal life in the ghetto were juxtaposed with artistic renderings of the ghetto’s inhabitants featuring hollowed out faces, abstract renderings of unspeakable horrors, and images of starvation and illness. The numbers of transports from Terezin to Auschwitz were staggering: of 1,000 deportees 0 survivors; of 1,000 deportees, 3 survivors; repeated again and again. The second film we viewed used the colorful drawings and paintings of the ghetto’s youngest inhabitants, the children, and the words of their poetry to tell the story of life in the ghetto.
Much of the discussion both in the theater and as we walked outside focused on the role of the Red Cross and how easily they were deceived by the Nazi propaganda..
On our way out of the Museum, we viewed the original artwork of the children and read their poems, many of which we were familiar with from our reading of I Never Saw Another Butterfly. The power of the ghetto experience as portrayed by the children was overwhelming, and students spent long moments contemplating the loss of innocence representing in the simple crayon and watercolor pictures.
We visited a hidden synagogue, brought to light in recent years, which was to be a new owners garage. The Jewish community has now taken over the synagogue and four years ago completed the process of restoring the various prayers and images painted inside the tiny room. We chanted the Shema together, once again sanctifying this space with the words of prayer. We also learned about Rabbi Leo Baeck, a great Reform rabbi who served as the head of the Judenrat (Jewish Council) in the ghetto and ultimately survived the war.
We conducted our final memorial service inside the crematoria of Terezin. Over 30,000 Jews died in the ghetto, and many thousands more were deported to their deaths at Auschwitz and Treblinka. The service focused on the children, for Terezin was one of the only ghettos where children could experience a glimpse of life as children. It was here that children were given access to the pencils and crayons they used to record their experience. We read “For the Children,” wherein a child killed in the Holocaust spoke to his/her peers, asking them to “bounce the ball for me,” to “run, throw, jump and laugh one more time, for me.” Sam chanted El Maleh Rachamim and we once again recited Kaddish together. We sang the words of Legacy and Hatikva loud and proud.
Kabbalat Shabbat was with the
community at the Old New Synagogue, the oldest synagogue in Europe. It is said
the Golem remains in the attic of this ancient structure.Shabbat dinner was also with the community in the Jewish center. There,
Kiddush was lead by the alter Rebbe of the Shul. Shabbat song was proceeding
normally when we quickly realized we were in the presence of a very talented
family at the next table. The children, led by their father a Hazzan from
Israel, sang in such harmony our souls were touched by their musical voices. Plentiful
food and song spirited us into Shabbat.
March 17, 2012
Shabbat morning we joined the local community in davening at the Old New Synagogue. After lunch we took a walking tour of the Castle areas of Prague and then some much needed free time in Old Town Square. It has been a long, difficult, and rewarding week.
Shabbat morning we joined the local community in davening at the Old New Synagogue. After lunch we took a walking tour of the Castle areas of Prague and then some much needed free time in Old Town Square. It has been a long, difficult, and rewarding week.
Shavua tov !
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