Poland Trip - April 1, 2009

April 1, 2009
Today was our second day in the Warsaw area in Northeastern Poland. Yesterday we experienced a powerful introduction to our Hope & Understanding trip. We visited Janusz Korczak’s orphanage in Warsaw, we toured the Warsaw ghetto, and learned about multiple deportation stations from the ghetto and the routes of the trains.
Today, we ventured 3 hours outside of Warsaw. Our first stop was in the town called Tykochin. The town used to be inhabited by over 5,000, almost half of which were Jews. In the town, we visited the old Synagogue and took a walk to one of the old Jewish houses. To this day, no Jews live in the town.
Our next stop was the Lopochowa forest. This was the location Nazi soldiers brought the whole Jewish population of Tykochin, proceeding to force them to dig their own graves and consequently shooting every one in the head. After a beautiful ceremony of reading poems and a song on the guitar, we spent time in the thick forest reflecting and lighting candles for those lost.
Our third stop was at the Treblinka Death Camp, one of the three main Nazi extermination camps. Although virtually none of the camp remains as the Nazis attempted to destroy all evidence of it, there was an enormous field of rocks where the camp used to stand, every rock representing one of the 70.000 communities affected by the Nazis.
The last part of the day was the most moving for many. We were visited by a Polish Righteous Among Nations- a woman who’s family helped save many Jews. Every student was extremely touched by the woman, whose wisdom and zest for life inspired us all. When your child returns, please ask him/her to recount the story for you.