My experience in Poland

                Poland, there is a lot to say about what it is now, but even more to say about what it was. Poland was often fought over between Russia and Germany for many years. But during the events of World War 2, Germany very quickly took over Poland to start enforcing anti-Jewish laws. While in Poland, I was able to see life of Jews before the holocaust, tragic events of death and murder during, acts of resistance and survival in between, and why it is important to stand up for who you are the entire time.

To begin, our trip to Poland was about life before the holocaust as well as the tragedies that occurred during the holocaust. We visited a few places of Jewish life during our seven days in Poland. My favorite city in Poland that represented Jewish life was Lublin, more specifically the Yeshiva Chachmei Lublin; a Yeshiva for Heredi Jews in Poland that opened in 1930. This Yeshiva was created by Rabbi Meir Shapiro in order to inspire Jewish studies every single day. The most famous way he did this within the yeshiva is something called the “דף יומי“ (Daf Yomi) or “Daily Page.” This was a universal way for every Jew to study one page, front and back, of Talmud a day. Since it was universal, it was set up in a way so that everyone would be studying the same page as everyone else on each day in a seven year cycle. This cycle is still used today by Jews who study Talmud. Because I do not study Talmud daily, this doesn’t apply to me, but it does apply to many Jews all over the world. The current cycle started on August 3^rd, 2012, therefore it will end on January 4^th of 2020. This yeshiva that it began in was a center for not only Jewish studies but also Inter-Personal studies. Inter-Personal studies were very important because it created a split between Torah study and normal, everyday studies. This lasted for a very short amount of time because in 1933 Adolf Hitler and the Nazis come to power. The Nazis took over the yeshiva and burned all of the books from within in the town square. This marked the beginning of the tragic events of the holocaust. These events eventually lead to more extreme measures taken by the Nazi regime. Obviously the death camps in Poland had a major effect on how I thought of the holocaust, but they aren’t what really hit the hardest. We were all having a really nice day in the old Jewish Shtetl of Tykocin. We had just finished our afternoon services, singing and dancing, when we are told that the Jewish life eventually came to a horrifying end. We sat silently on the bus as we drove to what seemed to be just a beautiful forest. My class sat down a little ways into the forest to discuss what we were about to see; Mass Graves. Jews were brought into the forest, told to dig giant pits, and were then shot into the pits. I had no idea what to expect. A hole in the ground? Bones sticking up out of the earth? When we walked up to the memorial I was angry. It was three plots of forest floor with fence around them, not even very large plots. I had already accepted that thousands of people were killed here, what I couldn’t and still can’t accept is that it’s just a forest. It was a beautiful day, birds chirping, a light breeze, the sun was out. I wanted there to be more, something that would scream out to the world “HELLO! THIS HAPPENED!” But no, it was just a forest floor. It was difficult to understand what exactly happened. The Nazis would line people up, men, women, and children, look them in the eyes, and shoot them. How can someone possibly do that? I learned from one of my counselors why I can’t understand it; I have compassion. I’m a compassionate human who understands the fact that we are all humans. The Nazis were brainwashed into believing differently. The Holocaust didn’t just kill millions of people, it also attempted to eliminate an entire culture, I am living proof that they failed.

To continue, during the holocaust (1933-1945) many people who were affected by the Nazis attempted to resist the Nazi regime, either through violent rebellions or secretly helping others. There were two major acts of “איברלעבן” or “Survival/Resistance” that really spoke to me. The first acts that spoke to me were by a group known as “The Couriers.” A group of young Jewish girls who used their Aryan looks to help Jews in the ghettos all over Poland. Every single day these girls were in danger of being caught for helping Jews. They helped the Jews by smuggling things like food, money, illegal documents, and eventually ammunition, into ghettos. They were able to do this more easily than men for a few reasons. It is easy to tell if a man is Jewish by finding out if he is circumcised. Women had no permanent mark that proved they were Jewish. Also, Jewish women were more likely to speak the national language as well as Yiddish. This made moving around Poland much easier. It is true that these girls helped transport information in and out of ghettos, but they left much more than just information. These girls gave the people of the ghettos hope that they will be saved, hope that things will get better for them, hope of survival. This leads to the next act of survival that really spoke to me; The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. This event caused many other rebellions and much more hope within the people of the ghettos. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was an incredible act of rebellion. It was led by Mordecai Anielewicz, a young Jew who originally escaped Warsaw, but returned to help organize this uprising. The Jews in the Ghetto got their weapons from people or groups like the couriers. They smuggled in weapons and munitions to support the uprising. On April 13^th, the uprising began. The Germans didn’t think it would be too difficult to put down, they sent some reinforcements, they were killed. The rebels in the ghetto were winning, whatever that meant. They were doing so well that the German army had to pull troops from the front lines in order to suppress this rebellion. This actually put a dent in the German army, they killed a reasonable amount of troops. Eventually, on May 16^th, the German army officially put down the rebellion, about 13,000 Jews were killed. We got the chance to see the location of the final firefight of the uprising, Mila 18. This is where Mordecai Anielewicz decided he would rather commit suicide than surrender to the Nazis. The major fact of this uprising that struck me was that it was the first act of Jewish resistance in 1800 years. Mordecai, right before his death, wrote that “Jewish self-defense has become a fact.”  He helped to empower the Jews again. He gave the Jews a glimmer of hope in the time of the holocaust.  Jewish resistance is a fact, and it will be for the rest of my life. I hope that the actions of these people will not only carry on through my life, but through generations after me.

Finally, continuing the idea of survival and resistance, Rabbi Emil Fackenheim wrote “Jews are forbidden to hand Hitler posthumous victories, they are commanded to survive as Jews, lest the Jewish people parish.” I view this statement as an additional commandment, the 614^th. It commands us as Jews to not give in to the Nazis demands to kill us, but for us to fight for our Judaism. I observe this mitzvah in my daily life, if my Judaism is questioned or threatened I stand up for myself. Here on EIE it is much less necessary because we are all Jews, but at my high school at home I often had to stand up for myself. I am also expecting to have to do so in the years to come in college. I strongly agree with Rabbi Emil’s statement because of the importance of standing up for yourself. This idea does not only apply to Jews, it applies to anyone whose identity is being question. The statement can be applied to everyone in some way shape or form. If we do not stand up for who we are, we will be destroyed as a people. We must also stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves, if we do not, no one will stand up for us. Judaism is very important to my life, and I stand up for it every chance I get.

In conclusion, Jewish life in Poland was destroyed because of the tragedies inflicted onto the Jews by the Nazis, but standing up for yourself and others can not only help you, but give hope to millions of others. This trip was honestly the worst trip I’ve ever been on, yes it was a very meaningful experience that I think every Jew should go on sometime in their life. I am glad I went to see for myself what was left of the holocaust, but it was not a fun trip at all. I, as well as many other class mates, will agree, Poland is a sad and awful country that I don’t want to go to again. Besides the fact that it was awful, it was a very important trip that needed to be taken.