Last day in Poland. I can't wait to get out of here. The kids are so excited to go to Israel but they know they have to get through another day in Poland.
We arrived in Lublin late last night. It was already dark and we were exhausted.
This morning the kids are thrilled to board the bus with Rena. They all want to sit with her on the bus. We decide to make a schedule and rotate the kids. Four of the boys individually come up to me and offer to carry Rena's travelling chair. The bus ride to the famous Lublin Yeshiva is short. Only 4 boys have time to put on teffilin. I guess teffilin on the bus has become a bus 1 tradition.
Yeshivat Lublin: All five buses arrive at the Yeshiva and enter the main study hall. Rabbi Poupko gives us a brief overview of the 600 year history of the Jewish community in Lublin. He talks about Rabbi Shapiro who built the Yeshiva for the sole purpose of Talmud study, obtaining donations so that students could dedicate their lives to study and not have to worry about making a living. The Rabbi also developed the idea of Daf Yomi which continues to this day - the study of one page of Talmud a day. It takes seven and a half years to read the entire Talmud by reading one pGe a day. Jews around the world study the same page of Talmud each day. The kids are surprised to learn that Daf Yomi study occurs over lunch in high power law offices, on commuter trains, in court houses... The rabbi talks about the power of ideas and values. The Germans tried to destroy the Jews by burning their precious books but Jews invest in education, in continuity, in ideas, in values - not in material things. Although the Yeshiva represents the empty shell of what was, it is proof that the Jews survived with their ideas and values intact. Our ideas continue and we continue to flourish. Again the kids are fired up and begin to sing and dance. They are proud and excited - empowered to take up their place in ensuring Jewish continuity.
Majdanek:
We leave the Yeshiva and 10 minutes later arrive at Majdenek Labor Camp. OMG It is practically right in the city! We learn that Majdenek is the name of a suburb of Lublin. The Germans did not feel the need to hide the camp because it was built as a labor camp. The mood among the kids has dramatically changed and we have not even gotten off the bus. We gather at a white house in front of the camp. Ronen explains that the German Commander of Majdenek and his family lived here. 20 steps away lies the entrance to the camp! Before entering the camp, Ronen introduces us the Helena Birenbaum whose story will be following just like we followed the story of the Tikuchin community at Treblinka. The kids have questions. They are angry - angry about the location of the camp in a city neighbourhood, angry about the commanders pretty white house, angry about the blue sky, angry about the chirping birds. They wrap their Israeli flags tightly around their shoulders. They hold Rena's hands. She is surrounded by the kids as they move forward as a group. Ronen declares. "No questions for the next hour. Jews arriving at Majdanek had questions too. They we confused, afraid, angry. There was no one to answer their questions or address their fear." Perspective. The kids understand that this visit is significant. I am terrified of what lays ahead and how the kids will react. What do I say to them? What do I do with my questions, my anger, my fear?
We walk through the gates and into the showers - half the space was disinfection showers and the other half death showers. One of the kids reads Helena's account of undressing with her family before entering the disinfection showers, seeing her father naked for the first time, seeing her modest mother naked and ashamed. The kids huddle closer to Rena. They touch the shower nozzles in the cement ceiling. She writes about the pain of having her long hair shaved off. In the next room there are no shower nozzles, just little square openings in the ceiling from where the canisters of Zyclon B was dropped killing all in the room. The kids are sobbing. We hug them in groups. We talk to some privately. Rena is incredible. She comforts each child by wrapping her arms around them and squeezing tight. I can barely watch her embraces with the kids. My heart breaks for her. To return to a place like this after witnessing and surviving the atrocities - hard to process. She is so strong!
Next we enter the first wooden barrack in a long row, flanked by barbed wire and imposing guard towers. Helena Birenbaum was assigned a barrack after her disinfection shower. She slept on the top bunk with her sister and 14 others. Under her, another row and beneath that still another row. Over 100 girls/women in the barrack. Rena softly interrupts Ronen's explanations and confirms that getting a spot on the upper deck was a gift since at least there was a little air on the top. She says that in general only the young girls got the top bunks since they had the strength to climb up. The girls move closer to Rena. We leave the barrack and form a large circle in front of the next barrack. Ronen asks us to look at our shoes. "When did you get your shoes? When do you wear them? Were they a gift?" Rena talks about the last pair of shoes she owned before the war. It is hard for her to share this simple story and hard for us to listen. Nothing prepares us for what comes next. We walk into an identically barrack as the one before to find steel crate after crate of shoes piled up to the ceiling. The kids are in shock. Some cry with such intensity, it is painful to watch. We want to touch the precious shoes. Is it disrespectful or appropriate? Some kids want out of the barrack while others linger in disbelief, anger and profound sadness. The tears run down my face constantly but I must focus on the kids. It is about the kids. Hug them tight, stroke their hair, hold their hand - all in silence. There are no words exchanged.
Next the crematorium. One building containing a changing room, a gas shower room and a crematorium. We listen to the Shema. The ovens are lined up down the center of the room one after another. We read Helena's description of the smokestacks burning human bodies 24 hours a day. I can't describe the reaction, the looks on the faces of the kids, the crying... Again Rena is there to comfort and the kids are there to comfort her. It is beautiful yet painful to watch. It is unnatural. We hold the children tight and ease them out of the room. Some find it almost impossible to leave.
Outside, it takes a long while to calm everyone down. We join hands and sing Ani Maamin.
We continue down a path and up the steps to a massive dome covering the ashes of the murdered of Majdanek. The Germans kept and sold the human ashes to local farmers - ashes made good fertilizer. The kids are disgusted. From the top of the steps it is clear that the camp is located right in the city. Backyards, balconies and windows face the camp on all sides - disgusting, shameful, unimaginable. Ronen finishes the story of Helena Birenbaum. Helena spent her time at Majdanek doing forced labour - it was meaningless and cruel labour. Move rocks from one side if the field to the other and then back again. She was sent to Auschwitz after 1 month and later liberated. She returned to Majdanek fourth years after her liberation. When asked by her children why she insisted on returning, she simply replied that she had never said good bye to her mother. Complete stunned silence. I distribute yizkor candles to those who want to light a candle. Everyone wants a candle. Some go off to light their candle privately, some light in groups, some say a prayer, some weep in silence, some place their candle on the ledge of the pit if ashes, some place it on the ground... We join hands and read the poem "Everyone has a Name." The other buses make their way to the dome if ashes. The kids see their friends and the weeping continues. Now all the 7 survivors are present and they all do what Rena had been doing for bus 1 all day. They are an inspiration.
We join together on the platform for a Shoah ceremony. Rabbi Pouko speaks again of the power if hope. From the deepest sorrow, he addresses hope urging the students to harness their anger and confusion and turn it into hope. We sing Hatikvah and walk in silent sadness to the busses. It is time to leave Poland. We have seen enough. We have learned. We are effected. We are changed.
The bus ride to Warsaw is quiet. We stop after two hours in a rest stop for a late lunch followed by a debrief session. The kids spoke about the highlights of their trip, the issues they were struggling with and the expectations they had for the trip. It is amazing to hear how reflective the are. Each person was moved by something different, had different takeaways, expressed different emotions. I guess that is a good thing. For me, I'm not sure I can express my thoughts quite yet. The one thing I know us that I made the right decision - to go on the March as a chaperone. I am so grateful to have experienced this part of my journey with these special young adults and I share this feeling with them. Seeing Poland through their eyes has changed me.
Next stop Warsaw Airport for a midnight departure. Israel here we come.
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