In many ways, this was the most exhausting day of our trip to date. We didn’t walk all that much, not like yesterday or the day before. But we went to the site of the extermination camp at Treblinka where over 800,000 Jews were killed. Unlike Auschwitz-Birkenau that is teaming with tourists, Treblinka is still in the middle of nowhere. Only one other group was there. It’s a quiet place meant for contemplation. A circle of stones indicates the towns, villages, and shetetls where Jews were arrested—their homes. The site memorializes communities that are no more. The brutalities at Treblinka were worse than at Auschwitz-Birkenau if you can believe that because people were often beaten, raped, or tortured before they were killed. It’s a difficult site to see, moving and painful. Later we re-emerged in 2019 in Warsaw for a tour of the city and a feast at a great restaurant…feeling conflicted and confused. Does one have a right to enjoy oneself after Treblinka?
