Dave’s grandmother was originally from Poland and was lucky enough to leave the country before World War II. Others in her family were not as lucky and her brothers were actually still there during the war. Dave’s mother wanted to see where her mother lived and the family planed a trip to Poland. They scheduled it for a week where I could not go too, but Dave booked his ticket. When Dave’s father decided they shouldn’t make the trip (due to the situation in Ukraine), most of the family backed out, leaving Dave and one of our nephews the only two willing to go. This guest post is in Dave’s words and includes his pictures describing his trip to Poland. Content Warning: This post includes photos of death camps.
Arrival In Warsaw
After over 24 hours of travel (including a 10 hour layover in Chicago), I arrived in Warsaw a little tired and not feeling the greatest. Luckily after a shower in my nephew’s hotel room (he had flown in to Warsaw from Israel the night before), I was feeling a little better and got a small second wind. We explored Warsaw for an hour or two and then ate at a really good kosher restaurant called Bekef before heading back to the airport to pick up our car rental.
We saw remnants of the ghetto wall. I wasn’t worried about seeing too much today because I would be back in Warsaw for the weekend later in the week.
We picked up our car. Unfortunately they were out of the smaller car class we reserved, so we got a Mercedes E class instead, not so unfortunate after all. We made the two hour drive to Lublin and checked in to the Hotel Ilan, which was in the former yeshiva Chachmei Lublin. We got to see the synagogue there and also met a lot of Ukrainian refugees who were staying in the hotel.
Day 2
We started off in Lublin walking around the old Jewish cemetery.
Then we went to the Majdanek Death Camp. Going to Majdanek and Auschwitz later in the week were emotionally intense. It surprised me that these death camps are not in the middle of nowhere. They are part of the cities. People were living and witness to the atrocities that were going on.
After a few hours at Majdanek, we left Lublin to head towards Nowy Sacz where my grandmother was from. Along the way we stopped in Lizhensk to see the grave of Rabbi Elimelech. The chasidim have welcome centers near the graves of their rabbis so we were able to get a good kosher lunch here. Kosher food is not easy to find outside the big cities in Poland.
We then continued on to Nowy Sacz. We met our guide at 6:15 PM who knew about all our family roots. He’s a history teacher during the day so he was only available in the evening to show us around. Luckily we still had a few hours of daylight left and he was able to show us everything.
Above and below are where my grandmother lived before the war. Her family had an inn here.
This is the grave of my great uncle Kalman, who survived the war and lived in Poland until he died.
Coincidentally, there was the anniversary of the death of one of the big rabbis from this town. Thousands of his followers came to his grave on the same day we were there to commemorate the anniversary. We ate dinner at with some of them.
Day 3
The next day we started off at morning prayer services in the old synagogue in Nowy Sacz. After that, we went to the library to see some of the Jewish artifacts they had from before the war.
After the library, we drove around 3 hours to see Auschwitz Birkenau. Like Majdanek, visiting Auschwitz and Birkenau was intense. These death camps were much bigger than Majdanek. It took almost 4 hours to see and we only saw a portion.
After Auschwitz, we drove to Krakow and returned our car to the airport there, we wouldn’t need a car for the rest of our trip. We grabbed some dinner at a kosher restaurant in Krakow, checked in to our hotel and then explored around the old town. Krakow is a beautiful city.
I was up early the next day so I started off with a scenic run around Krakow.
Then we explored all the old synagogues around the Jewish quarter.
We stopped for brunch at another kosher restaurant that was really good. We also rented electric scooters to explore the town and go to see where Schindler’s factory was. It was actually his office that we saw, the factory is no longer standing.
My nephew was headed back to Israel tonight so it was time for us to say goodbye and I boarded the high speed train back to Warsaw. I made sure to get a train that would get me back to Warsaw in time to eat dinner at the restaurant we liked in Warsaw. This time I was more hungry so I enjoyed a steak. Prices in Poland are really inexpensive. This meal cost $17 which is cheap for a kosher steak.
After dinner, I checked in to my Airbnb for the weekend and then explored the old town of Warsaw. Warsaw is much more modern than Krakow because it was destroyed in WWII so it’s all rebuilt.
Friday morning I started off the day with morning prayers at the Nozyk synagogue. I would also be here for Shabbat.
After services, I headed out for a packed day, first walking to Umschlaplatz which is a memorial on the spot where the Jews of Warsaw were transported from to the Treblinka death camp.
After that, I went to the Polin Jewish history museum which is a very good museum detailing the history of Jews in Poland from 1000 – current time. There was a lot on the Holocaust but it was not solely a Holocaust museum.
Outside the museum I also saw the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Monument.
From there after a quick lunch, I went to the Warsaw Zoo. Compared to other places I had been, this sight was a little lighter in nature, but there was historical significance even here. Hundreds of Jews were hidden and saved during the holocaust in the zookeepers villa and other parts of the zoo. For those who read or saw The Zookeeper’s Wife, this took place here.
After the zoo, I headed back to my Airbnb to prepare for Shabbat. Shabbat was very nice, praying and eating at the Nozyk synagogue. The Nozyk synagogue is the only synagogue in WWII that survived WWII and is still operational. It was especially meaningful to pray in this synagogue knowing that.
Sunday morning it was time to head back to the airport and start the journey home. All in all everything worked out. Much of the trip was emotionally tolling, but my nephew and I had fun too. Modern Poland is a very nice country.
Thank you to Dave for sharing his trip with us!