Since the beginning of the 14th century, Krakow, it turns out, was surrounded by a high wall, into which were set no fewer than forty-seven towers and just inside of which was a moat. Since the wall became a slum and the moat filled with sewage, the former has been removed (it still exists in …
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July 18: A City Unconquered
It is strange. Tonight will be our third night in the city of Krakow, but today was the first time that we really got to explore it. I must say: I regret that there is so little time left to continue doing so. Krakow is an old city, and its architecture highly reminiscent of pre-war …
July 17: … to Darkness Again
This morning, on what was our earliest morning so far, we departed for Auschwitz. Being tourists our sole association with this name is Nazi terror, so it is something of a surprise to see how many people live within the town that shares its name. In Polish, this town is called Oświęcim (pron. ozventschim), with …
July 16: From Darkness, to Light…
This morning we had a late start, and so some of us took the opportunity to take to Lublin’s streets and explore the hotel’s environs. One participant noted a mezuzah, its shape defined against the plaster of a local building, while others noted the presence of Jewish statuettes (holding money, obviously) in the window of …
July 15: “The Epicentre of the Holocaust”
This morning, after packing our bags and piling into our bus, we set off in the direction of the Lublin district. Before the war, this part of south-east Poland housed close to 280,000 Jews, all but 7,000 of whom were murdered between 1939 and the end of the war. Along the highway, I catch a …
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July 14: Of Jagged Stones and Jewish Kitsch
The morning begins bright and early as we file into the bus at 8:00am, well-rested from our day off. Our first stop is the umschlagplatz, which we had previously seen only from the bus window. It is difficult, standing here in this neat, clean memorial to imagine the sweat and the filth of the umschlagplatz …
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July 13: A Shabbes in Warsaw
After four days in Berlin, a day travelling through the countryside of Poland and a (very!) full day in Warsaw, we are all most delighted to have a day to ourselves. It is good after all that we have been through and seen together that we take stock of all that we’ve experienced and prepare …
July 12: A Tale of Two Cities, or: “Yes, But…”
On Friday we were privileged to visit two different Polish cities, and marvel at just how different to one another they were. In the first city that we went to, Jews had been found at every level of pre-war society. Their freedom of religion had been guaranteed them for centuries by the first charter of …
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July 11: En Route
Our final morning in Berlin, we board the bus at 11:00. After dealing with a somewhat overzealous driver, who disapproves of the number of our bags, we arrive shortly at the enormous, sprawling, multi-level Bahnhof. Having boarded and found our seats, the train meanders for some time through the German countryside in the direction of …
July 9: Empty Spaces in the City
It is hard to believe that this is only our second full day together as we board the bus at 8:30 in the morning. Our first stop, not far from the hotel, and a very short walk from the Oranienstraße Synagogue, is the Hackescher Markt. In the words of David Selig, it is something of …
Berlin and Poland Tour 2019 