Today we spent three hours at the Polin museum in Warsaw, which opened just over a year ago. (see http://www.polin.pl/en) It is one of the most important Jewish museums, dare I say, the most important, in the world. This museum is remarkable in many ways. First and foremost, it is a Jewish museum in Poland, created by Jewish …
Month: July 2015
Poland versus Jews or Poland and Jews
My first afternoon in Warsaw raised an essential question: Am I exploring the history of Jews within Poland and among Poles or vis-a-vis Poland and Poles. At first impression, it seems more the former than the latter. Consider the deep historical similarities between the two peoples. Poland is an ancient land that is located between …
Getting ready to leave
I’m a few hours away from setting out on an Air France flight via Paris to Warsaw. I’m an anxious traveller, an even more anxious flier. Yet as I prepare to embark on this journey of discovery, perhaps self-discovery, I am more nervous than usual. In my mind I know I will be seeing things …
Learning the geography of Poland
One of my tasks in preparing to visit Poland is to learn the location of various places there. Having studied the history of Jews in Eastern Europe, I know that the borders of Poland changed over the years. In fact, when my Zeidy was born in Zambrow in 1900, Poland was not even a country. …
Poland: it’s complicated
I am the first in my immediate family to go back to Poland since my Zeidy (grandfather) left in 1920. My mother had some desire to see Zambrow, but she and my father focused their travels on places they really wanted to see and experience, such as Italy, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada. The idea …
Preparing for Poland
I have not written anything for a while. For the past few months, I’ve been working on my plan to visit Poland. The tickets for my wife and I have been purchased, and we leave in eight days. We will be arriving and staying in Warsaw, then traveling to Krakow for Shabbat, then moving on …