Nothing marks the presence of Jews as much as a mezuzah. A mezuzah is a scroll that contains verses from the Torah encased in a rectangular box and affixed to the entryway of a home. Here is what a typical one looks like: The mezuzah …
Category: Poland: yesterday and today
Discoveries and reflections during my travels in Poland.
Shma Israel: Praying in Poland
I was back in Poland a few weeks ago. It’s my second there, and it looks like it won’t be the last. I seem to have “business” in Poland, finding out more of my family’s past and connecting with those on similar journeys. Three years ago I took my first trip to Poland, a roots …
The past: buried and revealed
Can the past be buried and erased completely? Or does the past continue to live on and course through the present like an unsuppressable force? Consider the following: In the Winter 2017 edition of the Jewish Review of Books, there was a fascinating–and deeply disturbing–article by Devin E. Naar. His piece explores the author’s connection …
In Search of the Zambrow Synagogue
Zambrow had a beautiful synagogue. I’m sure that my Zaidy and his father and his mother from the upstairs balcony davened (prayed) there. I’m sure its walls echoed the voices of prayer and the cries and “shries” on Yom Kippur, when the Kol Nidrei prayer began the service and the women would wail when the the …
Jews: lost and found (part 1)
I need to take a break from describing mass murder sites, so here’s a more uplifting story from my travels in Poland. To be sure, for a Jew, a visit to Poland is going to focus a lot on loss. Each place you visit has its Holocaust story. (I never liked the word “story” to …
A trashed cemetery: Zambrow
Among our stops in my grandfather’s ancestral home town of Zambrow was the Jewish cemetery. I knew I would not find any graves of my ancestors as the cemetery has already been digitized, and no names of my ancestors appeared. I learned from my aunt, the last living connection I have between my generation and …
One kind of Jewish cemetery: The Lodz Cemetery
Millions of Jews lived in Poland and millions are buried here. Auschwitz-Berkenau can be considered the largest Jewish cemetery in the world. Over a million Jews were killed there. This number is so large it defies comprehension. After my travels of the last two days, however, I have seen many other places were Jews are …
Random and inadequate thoughts on Auschwitz
I hope these thoughts will help others who plan to visit Auschwitz: 1) There is no one Auschwitz. There is Auschwitz 1 and Auschwitz 2. Make sure you give yourselves enough time to visit each. By the time we finished with Auschwitz 1, we were already worn out. 2) Go with a tour guide. We …
On the way to Auschwitz
Yesterday I went to Auschwitz. I didn’t sleep too well the night before. I knew I’d be overwhelmed. Sleeping pills helped a little. How do you prepare yourself emotionally to visit a place where over a million people were murdered? I’ve read many books about the Holocaust. I know the story. But that’s not the …
Transport to Auschwitz
We have divided our stay in Poland into two parts. The first part my wife and I are traveling on our own, first Warsaw, then Krakow, where we now are, and then Lodz. In the second part, we have hired a guide, who we met briefly in Warsaw, to take us by car to my …