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.