Students mean the world to me. They are a gift that always makes me think about things I might otherwise ignore. Most students would never come on a Holocaust Study Abroad. Why would anyone want to spend time with such a devastating subject? I’ve learned it takes special students…those who want to contemplate that slippery slop that can send the human pursuit on a destructive fall. I hope the students who come with me to this place will always remember the lesson I try to teach…we have to be constantly vigilant about understanding who we are as individuals and what values we want to cling to, otherwise, anything is possible.

On this trip I have 7 amazing students and a great colleague, Dr. Tom Chapman. In the photo the students observe the Bedzin exhibit in Birkenau…faces of those who did not survive.

For as long as I can remeber, apple pie has been the go-to dessert after anymeal, including breakfast. Because let’s be real here, who doesn’t eat apple pie for breakfast? A slice of warm apples sitting in its gooey goodness of sugar and cinnamon and nutmeg, embrassed in a hug of a flaky buttery crust, tends to hit the spot. Ordering dessert the other night while in Krakow, my slice of apple pie was cold. First thing that crossed my mind was, “Who eats apple pie cold?” The anticipation and hype I created in my mind, waiting for that warm slice of apple pie, was a bit of a let down.

Around 2010 I wanted to add Holocaust courses to the curriculum at Old Dominion University. I started by participating in a number of programs at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., and in 2013 I launched a Holocaust Study Abroad. It’s amazing to me how once you start going to a place, you meet wonderful, warm people who just want to help. Dr. Gawon at Jagiellonian University has offered us a lecture on Krakow’s Jewish history every year since I’ve been coming; Maciek Zabierowski, the Learning and Special Projects Director at the Auschwitz Jewish Center, is such a knowledgeable and fun person. He offers us tour as a favor to me and enriches our student’s lives tremendously. And every year we go to “Bagelmama,” for lunch…such a fun place to eat with the best hummus in the world! This year I learned the owner is also John McEnrow’s personal chef at the Paris Open every year!

Tonight we ate dinner at “Dawno Temu Na Kazimierzu” or “Once upon a time in Kazimierz.” The restaurant tries to recreate the ambiance of a late 19th- or early 20th-century Jewish home. It’s small and intimate. Now admittedly we are in Kazimierz which is to Jewish culture what Colonial Williamsburg is to colonial times—made up, mythologized and surely fake. We all know that. But, the restaurant really was lovely with wonderful food, and whether it is really Jewish food or not doesn’t matter, because the “nut cake” reminded me of my grandmother’s pecan pie, and for a brief moment it carried me back to the 1960s and the wonderful flavors of her marvelous desserts. Additionally, I’ve been reading in Kraków, Ben-Zion Gold’s The Life of Jews in Poland before the Holocaust, a memoir in which the author recounts his childhood. Just last night I read the chapter entitled “My Jewish Upbringing,” which discusses what it was like in pre-World War II Poland for an Orthodox family to prepare for Shabbat. Ben-Zion writes, “At home we were greeted by a bouquet of Shabbat food flavors: the fragrance of freshly backed challah mingled with the pungent aroma of the gefilte fish, the soothing flavor of chicken soup, the lemon flavor of the dried fruit compote, and the vanilla fragrance of the cake. Friday lunch always included a little chopped liver or a piece of gefilte fish, a foretaste of Shabbat.” A smell or taste can transport one to the past and remind one of aromas of bygone days. So the restaurant was really enjoyable, and for a brief second, I had a vision of my grandmother, Alta Leona, who was not Jewish but shared a love of cooking for her family that any Jewish housewife who delighted in preparing food would have easily understood.

The thing I love about study abroad is getting to know the students. Of course I love being in the classroom, but on study abroad, the world is the classroom. It’s fantastic. We have such a great group of students…and no one complained that it rained all day. I have seen many a Kraków skyline, but none like today with such low clouds. We did four things today: 1) Visited the site of Płaszów, a former slave-labor camp (featured in “Schindler’s List”); 2) Met Dr. Edyta Gawron at Jagiellonian University for a great lecture; 3) Visited the Kraków JCC; and, 4) Had a marvelous group dinner in Kazimierz. Getting to know the students is a blast: Logan, Dan, Kaerra, Elena, Alex, Melonie and Kelly! We are still bonding at this point, figuring each other out before we face the most difficult sites on this trip.

In preparing to leave for Poland, remember to pack two important items:

1) Peter Hayes, Why?  Explaining the Holocaust

2) Patrick Desbois, The Holocaust by Bullets

I’ve always loved travel. In fact, when I was a kid, I use to pack up a nap sack and sit on my bed pretending it was an airplane taking me somewhere. I don’t even really mind airplanes…they get me places. I do look forward to traveling with Tom and the students on this trip. So my picture here is from one of my 1st trips to Paris, made in 1985 when I was a graduate student and living in France. Travel is such great adventure, and what I love most are the unexpected surprises that you just can’t anticipate.

One of the things I look forward to most on this trip is spending the day with the faculty from Yahad-in Unum to visit previously unknown killing sites. I am aware that the scope and the scale of the Holocaust goes well beyond established killing sites, so this will be a rare opportunity to expand my knowledge by actually visiting these ‘hidden’ places. There is not much I am apprehensive about for this 2nd time visiting Poland, except a fervent hope that I don’t injure my foot again…limping around while trying to keep up with the group was not a pretty sight!