After spending almost two weeks, traveling the country and seeing some of the most amazing sites, tasting the food and experiencing the culture. The one thing that many of the locals reiterated to the group was that the weather was unusual for May. During this time frame, it rained more days than there was sunshine. …
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May 21
Remembering Jewish families and Jewish homes
Today was a very hard day for me, Dr. Chapman and the students. We journeyed from Warsaw to the site of the extermination camp Chełmno. We were very much in the middle of nowhere, and spent much of the day en route with very little to eat. We arrived in Łodź “hangry” as Melonie likes …
May 21
An outsider looking in
As a thundstrom was potentially about to roll through, I took out my phone and quickly snapped the photo of the barbed wire on the train car. Once I was sheltered from the potiental storm, I looked at the photo and thought, “as an outsider looking in… what does an outsider see?” I thought about …
May 21
Sleepless in Warsaw
The only downside to Study Abroad is the jet lag. For me the heavy responsibilities of such a trip make sleep difficult anyway. There is so much to organize, remember, prepare for each day as I study my notes, read, blog, and reflect before engaging the students. There is no down time. And of course, …
May 20
Treblinka
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 …
May 19
Traveling to Warsaw; finding Jan Karski!
Here I am with Jan Karski, a Polish Resistance hero who informed the Allies about the Warsaw ghetto and other aspects of the Nazi genocide of the Jews. He is a hero in Poland, and his statue is everywhere. (Notice Jan is smoking)! There’s also a shot with my wonderful students on our way to …
May 19
Krochmalna Street
“Every Jewish street in Warsaw was a town of its own.” So said Isaac Bashevis Singer who grew up on Krochmalna Street in Warsaw, and made the street come alive in his novels. “Shosha” is my favorite. When I was a teenager, I devoured Singer novels, and I could well image the courtyards of Warsaw …
May 18
The wall …
Holocaust Landscapes by Tim Cole, the chapter on “GHETTO” tells the accounts of Janina Bauman and her family who are Jews, and live in the Warsaw ghetto. Janina had a privileged upbringing and the status of having the means, gave the Bauman’s an opportunity, most did not have in the ghetto. They were able to …
May 18
Sky over Birkenau
On this trip to Birkenau the sky has been difficult to understand. Lots of big clouds, but today there was a rainbow over Birkenau. A rainbow. I don’t think I can say more than that. Earlier, while in the Women’s Camp B1A, I was searching for the section of the camp built by women deported …