Early this morning we made our way to the airport and boarded our flight to Warsaw, Poland. Upon arrival, we got on the bus and went to the second largest Jewish ghetto, Łódź. We started the day learning about the Lodz ghetto and about its mayor, Chaim Rumkowski. We discussed the terrible dilemma he faced of whether to refuse to implement the Nazi demands or to go along with them in the hope that doing so would ultimately enable more people to survive. We then went to the Jewish cemetery and heard about the life of Chaim Meisels and other Jews persecuted in the time periods before and after the Holocaust. Next we headed to the deportation square and saw a memorial of the cattle cars in which many thousands of Jews were taken to concentration and death camps. After that we went to the Chelmno death camp and learned the history of it, and then went to the Chelmno forest where the Nazis disposed of thousands of bodies. We ended with a meaningful tekes about the power of names and of being remembered. It was an incredibly powerful and intense first day in Poland.
Barbara Sasson
