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| The Tykocin Synagogue is now a museum, depicting Jewish life in Europe pre-war. A beautiful exhibit. |
I'm struggling to grasp what these places looked like before, during and directly after the war, as we visit these areas so rich in history. The black and white photos I've seen don't seem real in a way; the cities are bigger than I imagined, they're so built up and modern, economical...it's hard to picture things as they were, especially since I only know whats what and the orientation of WWII Krakow, for example, from Michael's knowledge.
The exception to this is the small village of Tykocin, in North-East Poland. It's a gorgeous and traditional looking old farming town: many houses are still made of wood, surrounded by large fields, and nearby barns. The synagogue, built in the mid 1600s (and now a museum) was the centre of the town - right next to the market square. A sad story of deporting and executing these Jews, I found this village a solemn place. The cars didn't drive as wild as elsewhere, families were out in the yard and there was still life at the synagogue, as hundreds of swallows had made nests under the eaves.
With this, after seeing the exhibit of Jewish life in Poland pre-war, came the eerie feeling that no one survived from this town.
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| The Tykocin Synagogue |
Respectfully and solemnly, we drove the route those Jews marched to the forest - where 3 grave sites now stand - where they were executed: watching each group before them. The bus was silent, and traditional hasidic music played softly in the background, through the bus speakers. The area was gorgeous - the walk would have been long. We didn't need to speak, we all had the same shivers running down our spine, the same horrid images in our mind.
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| Israeli flags, and numerous Star of David symbols were located around the three grave sites: attached to fences and trees. |
These spot raised so many questions for me - did these Jews die proud of their faith? Was it a beautiful spot they were marched to; did the birds sing?
I saw the same beauty in the Okapowa Street Cemetery, another site we visited today. This cemetery is located on the border of the Warsaw ghetto: part of the cemetery is within the ghetto walls, the other on the Aryan side. Here, we heard stories of the Warsaw ghetto - sadly, I was on information overload and cannot retell them here for lack of memory, but I spent some time at the back of the group, admiring the beautiful tombstones, and amazed at the stories of escape Michael told us. This cemetery was freedom, for many. Michael told us a story about a school group or a tour of some sort several years ago visiting this cemetery, where the teacher/guide lifted a sewer cover, asking the students to smell. And what did they smell? It was the smell of freedom for many Jews in the Warsaw ghetto, as food was smuggled in this way, and many Jews escaped through this area.
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| Michael showing us the sewer used to escape the Warsaw ghetto, on to the Aryan side. |
Finally, today we travelled several hours to visit Treblinka extermination camp, in North-Eastern / central Poland. The bus ride was long, we were hot and tired, and I'll admit, I didn't see the point in a 3 hour bus ride for an hour at a site without a museum. I regret ever having those feelings, as Treblinka was so powerful. The ride was long, the weather was warm, and my eyes were heavy, but Treblinka is a place everyone should visit when doing a Holocaust trip through Poland.
Solely an extermination camp, we followed the old cement planks on the ground leading up to the platform people were let out at. Large stones of country names - where these people were deported from - were located here. The sheer size of the stones affected me; I felt tiny and insignificant, and the stones had such power to them.
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| The main memorial at Treblinka |
The memorial at Treblinka is all in stone - including almost 2000 small stones of community names; representing a cemetery for the 900,000 people killed at Treblinka. Only one stone commemorates an individual - I believe his name was Janusz Korcaz. Korcaz worked at an orphanage, and refused to leave the children - accompanying them to Treblinka, where they all perished.
I repeat, Treblinka was powerful - its empty area, its stones and mock cemeterys, and it was here that Pinchas sung a song of the Warsaw Ghetto that he wrote, in memory of his sister. Pinchas' twin sister perished during the Holocaust, and he only remembers her long braid down her neck. Click here to hear / see him sing the song.
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| Our fearless leaders / the MRH staff |
"Whoever is happy will make others happy, too" - Anne Frank
