Never Forget

This past week was spent exploring the Jewish history and the Holocaust in Poland. After waking up bright and early Sunday morning, we flew to Vienna and then finally arrived in Warsaw. The first thing I noticed at the mall was how incredible beautiful the women in Europe are! Their clothes were so nice, it was so incredible! Later that day we visited a Jewish cemetery and an old ghetto wall. The next day was spent at a shtettle, and ended with a emotional memorial service in a forest where 1400 Jews were massacred during the Holocaust. The next day we visited Maidanek, a small concentration camp. We visited the barracks where the Jews slept 15 people to a bed, and walked through the gas chambers and crematoriums. Our tour ended with seeing a heartbreaking pile of ashes probably ten stories high. That was the only part of my trip that I cried. The next day was spent exploring the old city of Krakow. We visited several old synagogues and visited the Jewish quarter. I unfortunately did not get to see one of my favorite bloggers, Weronika (check her blog out, it's incredible!) but I did enjoy seeing the city. Later that day we followed the path of the Jews in Krakow; we visited the ghetto they were issued to, then visited Plascow, the concentration camp they were all sent to when the ghetto was liquidated. We ended the day visiting Shindler's Factory, which if any of you have watched Shindler's List, you will know how incredible this experience was. If you haven't seen the movie, I really recommend it! The last day in Poland was spent exploring Auschwitz, the largest concentration camp of all. We spent the morning walking through Birkenau, the largest of the four parts of Auschwitz, also knows as Auschwitz II. That afternoon we took a guided tour through Auschwitz I, which has been made into a museum. After a delayed tour and crunching time, we rushed to the airport and made our Vienna flight, and almost missed our Tel Aviv flight! After getting back to Kibbutz Tzuba at around 1:30 am, we moved into our rooms and went right to bed. All I can say is that Poland is an indescribable experience that every person (Jewish or not) should take part in at some point in their life. The story of the Holocaust is a heart-wrenching story that every person (again, Jewish or not) should be fully educated in. One problem that our generation faces is that soon every single survivor of the Holocaust will have passed away, unable to tell their story. If our generation doesn't continue to tradition of educating others about the Holocaust, who will? Please, if you have any questions about the Shoah (the Hebrew word for Holocaust) please feel free to shoot me an email or comment below! Since the internet still has not been fixed here on the Kibbutz, there was no way I could post all 650 photos I took in Poland on my blog or on facebook. The photo above was in Birkenau, of a rock found on top of a tombstone. I thought that this photo truly represented my experience in Poland. Off to Elait and Gadna (High School Army Experience) next week, then only three more weeks till I come home! xx