Righteous Gentiles

*From 11/14*
This morning after breakfast we walked the path that the Jews of Krakow took when they were forced to move across the river to the “Jewish District”. Our first stop was the memorial for the Krakow Ghetto (which is where the deportation train station was). In the middle of class a homeless polish man came up and randomly sat down in the middle of our circle. He started speaking to us in Polish and no one understood him. David Alon tried to give him an apple but he pushed it away and instead grabbed David’s hand. Eventually Yair came over and distracted him while our class moved locations. This new location was in front of the apothecary. The owner during the holocaust was not Jewish but didn’t want to move his store. So he lived outside and worked within the ghetto. He brought the Jews extra food, medical supplies, and was a source for news. After we finished there we got on the bus and took a short drive to Schindler’s factory. We didn’t go inside the museum but we had a group lesson outside. We learned about a few of the 21000 righteous gentiles. We heard about Irena Sendler who took a fake name and identity in order to get into the ghetto and sneak children out. She changed their names and had Christian families raise them as their own. But she didn’t let their real identities disappear. She kept all of their given names in a jar and hid it until after the war, when she revealed the information to the children. All of the children ditched their adopted religion and went back to Judaism. We also learned that Denmark was the only country that went against the Nazis and saved all their Jews. The priests, rabbis, and government worked together to hide all the Jews and get them safely out of the country. Only a few hundred were captured by the Nazis and taken to a camp. But even then the Danish people insisted on monthly visits and brought the people food and other necessities. When the war was over, while most people went home to find their homes and valuables destroyed, the Danish Jews returned to find their homes and even their pets had been taken care of. After the factory we drove past what is left of the ghetto wall. We noticed that unlike other walls, it was built to look like tombstones. After that we did something no other EIE group (not even the staff has done), we went to the memorial for the Plaszow labor camp that the Jews of Krakow were sent to. It was also the camp that Schindler’s Jews were from. It was a little weird seeing all the historic places that the story was based on. Next we went to the Galicia Museum and looked around for a bit. There were 2 main exhibits, one on the Jews of L’wow and one on Auschwitz. Then we had a few minutes to get snacks at the café.Most people got hot chocolate b/c D Sol said it was the best hot chocolate in all of Poland. I however, got a piece of cherry pie. I saw it as the pie I will be missing on Thanksgiving. After that we went over to a park for lunch. After lunch we did something else no other EIE semester has done, we helped clean the cemetery of the Ramu (the man whose father wouldn’t stay open past noon on Shabbat). All we really did was clean off moss from tombstones. At about 3 we went back to the hotel until 6:15. During our break we packed, played cards, and I finished reading “legends of our time” by Elie Wiesel. At 6:15 we walked to the mall for dinner. I had the least kosher meal I have had since EIE started. It was the polish version of a ceasar salad. Which apparently includes lettuce, Parmesan cheese, hard-boiled egg, chicken, and bacon. It was so good! Izzy and I then decided since we each still had 4 zloty we should get ice cream. So we did and it was exactly 4 zloty each. I had one scoop of cinnamon and one scoop of mint chocolate chip and oddly enough they went really well together. Then we walked back to the hotel and had the last nightly class discussion of the trip. I personally still find it cool that it is totally normal for 15 teenagers to chill out in their teachers’ hotel room. But I guess it makes sense b/c our classes have really become our families. Our discussion focused on preparing us for Auschwitz tomorrow. I learned that Auschwitz is actually 13 camps. Auschwitz one which is the labor camp; Birkenau (or Auschwitz 2), which was the death camp (and where most of the Jews were sent); and the rest were factories. I also learned that contrary to popular belief, the camps are not all connected. After discussions I finished packing, wrote this, and went to bed.