Lublin, Krakow

So the last two days have been a tumultuous juxtaposition of travel and powerful memories. Our second day in Lublin the weather was brutally hot. The temperature reached 36 c and communism has instilled into these people an intense fear of air conditioning. Poland is a country with a storied history that is unfortunately being marred by an ignorant, unproductive, and poverty stricken population. Lublin is a gorgeous city, but outside of the old city, one can see the full affects of brutal transition into Western life. Many people were drunk, or wandering around in semi intoxicated states. It was eerily reminiscent of life in Moscow. That morning we awoke and me our guide Magda, who was quite enthusiastic and, well lets say emotional during our trip. Our driver Piatrosh (Peter) spoke only a few English phrases. Nonetheless, we perhaps managed to offend him when our guide Magda, commented on how the new Pope, the German Pope, was destroying the open relations that John Paul( the Polish Pope) had constructed. After making sure everything was alright with Peter, I dont think he understood much, but Magda wanted to make sure, we arrived at Sobibor. Sobibor is the most dualistic of the death camps. It stands as a symbol to both mass murder but also heroic struggle. Most American Jews have had the ominous names of Auschwitz or Treblinka hammered into their heads. Sobibor is the forgotten camp. It was perhaps far more lethal than Auschwitz. If you were deported to Sobibor you had no chance of survival. There was no work. You were sent to die. The camp was only in operation for 13 months and in that time of 250,000 Jews were murdered. However, their is some salvation in this story. After 3 months of planning, the camp underground let by Soviet Jewish officer Sasha Pecherskey killed 9 SS guards and the 300 Jews who maintained the camps labor force fled into the woods. The camp was destroyed after much embarrassment and fear from the SS. Their is nothing left of the camp today other than a dense forest but you can feel the sorrow draped over the trees like a vale of spirits. On the way back from Sobibor we drove through the Wlodova forest. This dense woods was home to many Jewish partisan units from 1942-44. Many of these groups had joined with Soviet forces as the Red Army pushed across the Bug and into Poland in 43-44. We then decided to explore Lubin's Jewish past. Magda took us to the gate that divided the Jewish town from Lublin. Much research is going into exploring the destroyed former Jewish district. We heard a recording of the last Jew who had lived in Lublin before the war. He has passed away in 2004 but before he was recorded chating the prayers and hassidic nagims of his community. It was perhaps one of the most melancholy things I have partaken in. He was the last remnant of a shattered world yet his voice pierced me saying, "look we are still here". The next day was much more positive. We visited the great Yeshiva of Lublin which was establsihed by one of the greatest advocates for Jewish-Pole cooperation, Meir Shapiro. Reb Shapiro was an member of the Polish Sejm (parliament) and represented the Augudat Israel party from 1924-1929. He worked closely with liberal Poles who wished to include and protect the rights of Jews. After the Yeshiva was saw what was left of the Jewish cemetery. A monument was made by the liberal Polish communists in 1950, (who were quite friendly to the Jews, declaring this is in memory to the thousands of Lublin Jews who perished under the hands of the Nazis. Considering how revisionist the Polish government became from 1960-1989, this was very meaningful.


However, I cannot condone the Poles for their forgiveness. It is not sincere in anymeans. For the majority of Poles, the Zhyd was an alien presence amongst the catholic peasantry. The Germans simply removed an unwanted parasite and most Poles, quietly, relish Judenrein poland. Furthermore in 2010 ,the overwhelming majority of Poles still harbor anti-Semitic perceptions. This was manifested quite well in Zamosc by the presence of the Jew dolls. These cute little dolls are shaped like Hasidim. In their hands is clutched a Zloty. These are supposed symbols of good luck, I was delightedly told by a simple Pole. I smiled and said in German, "well give me some I need all the luck I can have"! He laughed and pointed to the pointing of a Jewish man on the wall counting coins, again the symbol of prospective fortune. "See! We have ours", he chimed. " To have a Jew on your flat means you shall be rich!"