Day Three

Today we met at a large blue glass building where the largest synagogue in Warsaw (the Great Synagogue) once stood. Next to this building, in what used to be the synagogue's library, is the Jewish Historical Institute. We met with an interesting man named Mr. Reisner who explained the kind of work done at his institute. He shared some incredible stories with us about how the institute's work has helped parents and children find each other after decades of not having contact. A specifically moving story was one about a man who wanted to say Kaddish for his grandfather, but didn't know the correct date. He had been saying it on Yom HaShoah for years. After extensive research, a death certificate was found, and after cross referencing the date with the Hebrew calender, it turned out he had been saying Kaddish on the correct day all along.
We learned about the Ringlebloom Archives and the "Oneg Shabbat" which was the hidden conspiracy movement in the Ghetto devoted to documenting the atrocities occurring to Jews in Poland.
We got to see amazing documentation such as death certificates, letters of confiscation, and even one of Schindler's lists of names and birthdays. Accompanied with this list, was a letter requesting medical help for his workers, signed, "Heil Hitler." It was fascinating.

We visited the very impressive Morashah-Lauder School and took a tour with the principal. The school has over 200 students who all receive excellent Jewish education. They study Hebrew from age six, and have extensive knowledge of Jewish Studies and the holidays.

After lunch, we met with someone from the "Association of the Children of the Holocaust." Her name is Anya and she is a survivor. She was very young when WWII occurred, so she remembered only specific things about her past. She told us about the different things her organization does, such as group therapy and seeking financial help for survivors and righteous gentiles.

We grabbed coffee with two extremely active members of Nozyk synagogue who participate in building anti-discrimination programs. One of them only found out she was Jewish when she was 16 years old, and she told us what that experience was like.

We walked to dinner with Kaja, Kasia, Daniel, and Ania. The restaurant was very interesting, as it is now an art gallery. However, bullet hole patches are visible on the side of the building from WWII.

Day Two - Intro to the Museum & the Jewish Community

This morning we went to the Nozyk Synagogue, and Orthodox synagogue in Warsaw. We met with Peter a member of the congregation, and the director of the Education Center at the Museum of Polish Jews. He talked to us the history of the beautiful synagogue, built in 1902, it is the only synagogue in Warsaw to survive the war, as it was used for Nazi horse stables. It was reconstructed to look exactly as it did before the war, and it is absolutely beautiful. Although the synagogue has a difficult past, it is now a flourishing center of Jewish live in Warsaw. There are currently 550 congregants, a religious school for elementary and middle school children, a very active youth group, a daily minyan. The synagogue is a huge meeting place on Jewish holidays, as well as for visitors from Israel, the US, and around the world (they are particularly full when march of living stays in Warsaw.)
Peter told us his story, about how his mother told him and his brother that they were Jewish well into their adulthood. They both embraced this heritage and live observant Jewish lives. Peter's wife, who was not Jewish, converted at that time so they could live a Jewish life together with their children. We were suprised at how casually this type of story is told, it is a common phenomenon in Poland, many people embrace Judaism whenever they learn of their Jewish roots. We met briefly, a friend of Peter's, who was a skinhead, found his Jewish roots, and is currently living a hasidic, very involved, Jewish life.
We then headed over the Museum offices. Our trip is being run through the Museum of the History of Polish Jews, which is due to open in 2012, located next to the monument of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The plans for the museum look amazing, the museum is going to cover the entire history of Jews in Poland since first arriving about 1000 years ago. One of the historians working in the museum gave us a virtual tour and we were amazed, and cannot wait to return to Warsaw in 2012 and see the finished product!
We walked from the Museum to cute little cafe in the area, where the people who work in the museum like to go out for lunch. We were joined by Kaja, Kasia, Anya, and Yanic, and had a delicious lunch.
We then went to the Palace of Culture, a gift to the city of Warsaw Love, "Uncle" Stalin. We went to the 30th floor and saw a panoramic viw of the city. Parts of the city are beautiful, but many areas are full of communist architecture.
From the Palace, we went to the Jewish cemetary. It is a huge cemetary, containing the graves of many prominent members of the Warsaw Jewish community and much history. We saw the grave Adam Czerniakowa, who was the head of the Warsaw Ghetto government structure. He was a very contriversial figure, because he tried to cooperate with the Nazi's in an effort to better the situation within the Ghetto, when the deporations to Treblinka occured, he committed suicide, because he felt as though he had failed his people. We stopped for a moment at the mass grave of the people who died in the Ghetto and the commemerative graves of those who perished in the Holocaust.
We stopped briefly at Yanic's Polytechnic University, which is housed in a stunningly beautiful building, influenced by Italian architecture. We talked briefly about the solidarity movement and the fall of communism 20 years ago. We ended our day with a lovely dinner at a traditional Polish restaurant, consumming lots of different kinds of perogies and traditional Polish soups (Zupa).

Day One - Welcom to Warsaw

Kaja and Kasia picked us up from the airport. They are both our leaders/guides from the Museum of the History of Polish Jews. We hopped on a bus and went to the apartment of a very nice Polish graduate student named Daniel. He is very knowledgeable about the entire history of Warsaw as we are finding with most of the Polish people we are encountering. We rested up for about an hour and then took the bus to meet Kaja at a very exciting food festival located on the "royal route" in the heart of Warsaw. We ate some very strong cheese, and watched some very traditional folk music. The street is located near the old town and the architecture is beautiful. All the buildings are filled with history.
We passed a statue of Copernicus (the guy who suggested the earth revolved around the sun) and viewed a painting of what the street looked like centuries ago. We viewed Warsaw University and visited the auditorium where we learned about Adam Miskawitcz, the famous poet and symbol the complexities of Polish identity. Then we walked down to the new, state of the art library which overlooks a beautiful garden.
We learned briefly about John Paul II, the Polish pope who was extremely influential in ending communism.
We then had a welcoming dinner with a lot of people from the museum, Beit Warsaw, the progressive congregation in the area, and the Polish students with whom we will stay. Dinner was absolutely delicious and we already feel like we know a lot of people in this city, even though we just arrived this afternoon.