As I have with previous travel fellowships, I asked to extend my stay after my trip finished. When considering where to explore in Europe, I decided that I wanted to see Poland. Given the country's turbulent history and connection to Ashkenazi Judaism, I felt that a trip to this Eastern European country would not only prove to be fascinating from a historical standpoint, but also provide an opportunity to learn more about my family's Polish-Jewish roots. After the conclusion of the TOP program, I spent 8 days in Poland, and was fortunate enough to be joined by my mom! Below is a map of our trip:
Krakow
We began our journey in the city of Krakow, famous for it's medieval architecture and well preserved city walls. A popular destination among travelers, Krakow hosted more than 12.9 million tourists in 2016, 2.9 million of which were foreigners. It's easy to understand why: Krakow's stunning architecture,along with it's close proximity to major tourist destinations such as the Wieliczka Salt Mine and Auschwitz/Birkenau make it quite popular. Below are some photos of Krakow's Old Town:
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| A model of Krakow as it would have appeared in the middle ages. The walls surrounding the city are now a green belt. |
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| Originally constructed in 1387, St. Mary's Basilica is one of the finest examples of Polish Gothic Architecture. It sits on the edge of the Rynek Główny (The Old Square), pictured in the center of the model in the previous photo. |
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| St. Mary's Basilica was constructed by one of Poland's most famous rulers, Casmir III the Great. The interior of was also painted by another famous Pole, muralist Jan Matejko, during a 19th century restoration. Photo credit: flickr.com |
In the southern end of the Old Town sits Wawel Castle, a 14th century complex of various architectural styles:
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| Wawel Castle was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978. |
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| A view of the castle complex from an adjacent tower. Like many other buildings in Krakow, Wawel Castle was also built by Casmir III the Great. Today it is one of the country's premier art museums. |
Another popular tourist destination in the region is the Wieliczka Salt Mine, located 30 minutes outside of Krakow. Opened in the 13th century, it became one of the longest operating salt mines until it closed in 2007. At it's peak, the mine produced 15,000 tons of salt annually. Due to the number of salt carvings and cathedrals hidden within its 2,000 chambers, it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978:
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Wielizcka Salt mine has 9 levels, and covers 7.5 million cubic meters. We descended 53 flights of stairs to reach the bottom of the mine, and only walked 2% of it's tunnels during our 1.5 hour tour.
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| Wooden support beams throughout the mine are covered in salt |
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Chapels were placed throughout the salt mine to allow miners to pray for their safety during their shifts underground.
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| The Cathedral of St. Kinga, Patron Saint of Salt Miners, and carved entirely out of salt! It covers 5,000 square meters and is routinely rented out for weddings and concerts. Photo credit:www.wieliczka-saltmine.com |
Kazimierz
The most fascinating section of Krakow is Kazimierz, a neighborhood just outside the old city walls. Known as the hub of Jewish life in Krakow, and arguably the hub of pre-war Jewish life in all of Europe, Kazimierz has become a major pilgrimage site for Jews throughout the world. One of the most famous residents was Rema, a 16th century rabbinical scholar after whom the Rema Synagogue in Kazimierz is named. His codification of Jewish law was so well respected that it not only became the basis for the entire Jewish legal and cultural system, but it made Kazimierz the center of Jewish learning the world over. Because of him the neighborhood steadily grew, and before the outbreak of World War II, it was home to more than 32,000 Jews and 12 synagogues. For more than seven centuries, Jewish literacy, art, learning, mystical and political thought flourished here. Until it didn't anymore.
During World War II, over 90% of Poland's Jewish population-a staggering 3,000,000 souls, lost their lives in the Holocaust. We went to the site where 900,000 perished, Auschwitz/Birkenau, during our visit to Krakow. I struggled to write this section of the blog post for quite some time, and have concluded that neither words, nor pictures, can accurately illustrate the intensity and overbearing despair of the site. All the while, while touring Birkenau, I kept thinking of Kazimierz: What would the pre-eminent site of Jewish culture be today had this atrocity not happened?
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Post-war Kazimierz was home to a mere 5,000 Jews, which slowly dwindled as the 20th century came to a close. Emigration to the new country of Israel, as well as religious persecution of Jews under Communism, seemed to rob the community of it's soul. However, with the fall of Communism in 1989, and the success of 1993's Schindler's List, which details Oskar Schindler's quest to save Kazimierz's Jewish residents from the Nazi's, the neighborhood has taken on a new, albeit it unique, life as a tourist destination. By the year 2000, an estimated 150 Jews lived in the entire city of Krakow, a 99.994% drop since it's height in 1938.
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| This stretch of Jewish restaurants, known by locals as "Jewish Disneyland" features classic Ashkenazi cuisine and Klezmer music. None of these establishments are owned by Jews. |
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| One of the most perturbing sights during our trip to Poland were these Hasidim figurines in a tourist gift shop, sporting what appears to be a talmud and a gold coin. This perpetual reinforcement of negative stereotypes of Jews as money hoarders in 2018 is alive and well. |
Fortunately, there is a museum dedicated to the complicated relationship between Poland and it's Jewish community. Tucked away on a side street of Kazimierz is the Galicia Museum, which operates one of the most prominent Jewish and Holocaust education programs in the world. It's permanent exhibition, "Traces of Memory: A Contemporary Look at the Jewish Past in Poland" illustrates the complex process of memory and responsibility and diversity of narratives as it relates to Holocaust. The exhibition highlights not only Poles who were complicit in turning in Jews, but others who risked their lives saving Jews from the Holocaust. It also illustrates the complex present day issue of preservation and memory of pre-war Jewish sites. Some sites, such as the Rema Synagogue in Kazmierez, has not only been restored, but has an active congregation as well. Other sites have not fared so well:
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The New Cemetery, located on the edge of Kazimierz, is still in disrepair, 70 years after the end of the war. Both the Nazis and local Poles used headstones as paving blocks, both during and after World War II.
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| The wall of the Rema Synagogue in Kazimierz is made of desecrated headstones from World War II. It is only one of two synagogues in Kazimierz today with an active minyan, or quorum of 10 Jewish adults necessary to hold a service. |
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Fortunately, we did experience some uplifting moments during our time in Kazimierz. Hours after visiting Auschwitz/Birkenau, we stumbled upon the Jewish Community Center (JCC) of Krakow. We learned that this JCC is a bit different from the ones we know at home: It was founded in 2008 by the Prince of Wales, who upon visiting Kazimierz, learned that the once grand center of Jewish life lacked a community center. Today, it operates as a pre-school, senior center, welfare services, and outreach center for Polish-Jewish relations.
Upon entering the building, we quickly realized that almost all of the volunteers, with the exception of the executive director,
were not Jewish. I asked one man in his mid 20's why he volunteers his time at the JCC when he doesn't have any Jewish roots of his own. He told me, that as a life long resident of Kazimierz, he feels a connection to the Jewish community. His grandfather, he told me, hid a Jewish family in his basement during the war. That family has been living in Israel for the last 50 years. "Jewish history is Polish history" he said.
Luckily for us, we were just in time to listen to Sophie, a Holocaust survivor and life-long resident of Krakow, speak to a group of visiting scholars. Sophie recounted her life in hiding: Born in 1935, her and her mother's Polish sounding last name allowed them to live the duration of the war as Christians. She attended Sunday School, was baptized, and had a first communion. Although her father was murdered in Auschwitz, She and her mother survived the war. After she was denied a passport to Israel in the 1950's, she decided to make her permanent home in Poland. In 1968, after an additional 20,000 Polish Jews emigrated to Israel and the United states amid growing persecution of freedom of speech by the Communists, Sophie stayed. It wasn't until the Late 1990's did she return to her Jewish roots, at which time she became involved in the Krakow JCC.
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| Sophie and I. The sign behind us reads "Building a Jewish Future in Krakow." |
After a wonderful evening at the JCC of Krakow, we went to bed early- we had a train to catch to our next destination, Warsaw!
Warsaw
After a 3 hour train ride, and an
almost missed train connection in Krakow, we arrived at the central train station in Warsaw. The capital city of 1.7 million inhabitants, locally known as Varsovians, features varied architectural styles that reflect it's turbulent history. From gothic churches to Soviet era apartment blocks and modern skyscrapers, Warsaw proved to be an engaging and stimulating end to our vacation.
One of the most recommended museums in the city is POLIN: Museum of the History of Poland's Jews. Aptly located on the site of the Warsaw Ghetto, POLIN outlines the rich history of the Jewish community in Poland over the past 1,000 years. Some highlights include an artifact of the first sentence written in Yiddish in the year 1272, a recreation of a beautiful wooden Synagogue from Lithuania, artifacts from the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943, and a tragic exhibit on the Holocaust. After my visit, I wasn't surprised to learn that POLIN won the 2016 European Museum of the Year Award. This is a must-see if you visit Warsaw.
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| Replica of the Gwózdziec Synagogue in Lithuania. Erected in 1650, it is one of the finest examples of wood-framed synagogues in Eastern Europe. It was destroyed during World War I, and recreated between 2011 and 2013 specifically for the POLIN Museum. |
In addition to learning about the city's Jewish history, I was equally as interested in learning about the city's past. During the 20th century, Poland was the site of some of century's most violent events.
On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded the country and would occupy the area until 1945. In 1940, the Germans forcibly relocated all of the city's Jewish residents into an area that would become known as the the Warsaw Ghetto. Squalid living conditions, overcrowding, and a lack of food eventually led to an armed revolt in the Spring of 1943. This resulted in the death of over 13,000 Jews, with the remaining 50,000 residents deported to Treblinka Concentration Camp. The ghetto was subsequently leveled by the Germans. Although the revolt was unsuccessful, it planted the seed for a second, much bigger rebellion.
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| Walking through Warsaw, we stumbled upon this plaque on the ground, commemorating the original location of the Warsaw Ghetto wall. |
By the middle of 1944, more than 600,000 of the Warsaw's 1.3 million people had fled, were murdered, or deported to concentration camps by the occupying German forces. On August 1st, a ragtag group of Polish rebels fought against a much larger, better equipped army in an attempt to take back the city. Only expecting to last a few days, the uprising lasted until October 2nd, 1944 and ended with a ceasefire. 64 days after the uprising began, only 1,000 residents remained.
This heroic chapter in Warsaw's history is magnificently documented at the Warsaw Uprising Museum, aptly located in the Wola District, where the fiercest fighting occurred. The museum highlights the atrocities committed by the Germans as well as the valiant efforts of the Polish Underground Resistance:
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From the exhibition layout to the soundtrack, the museum encapsulates the feeling of chaos and destruction. Throughout the exhibit, audible sounds of gunfire, explosions and heartbeats add a level of anxiety and uncertainty.
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Unfortunately, Poland was surrounded by the two largest armies in Europe. To the West, the Nazis. To the East, the Soviets. As the Uprising raged on, the Soviet Red Army waited just over the Vistula River, intentionally staying away. Once the Uprising ended, they invaded, drove the Germans out, and controlled the city for the next 45 years.
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By the end of the war, Warsaw lay in ruins.
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Scars from the Warsaw Uprising are still visible to this day. Pictured are bullet holes dating back to World War II. We were told by locals that this particular wall was the site of impromptu executions of Polish resistance fighters by German soldiers.
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In a tragic turn of events, World War II did not grant Poland it's freedom. The country fell under Communist rule and became a satellite state of The USSR until 1989. Warsaw lay in ruins, and the Soviet Union decided to rebuild the city in it's own image:
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| Pictured is a collage of statues to the Proletariat in Constitution Square. Each statue represents a different type of worker, from coal miners, to teachers, and brick layers. |
One of the most controversial yet iconic examples of the Soviet era of Warsaw is the Palace of Culture and Science. Constructed in 1955 as a "gift" to the people of Poland from Joseph Stalin himself, the building is the tallest in Poland and serves as an enduring symbol of the city.
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The Palace of Culture and Science was a gift from the Soviet Union in 1955. To this day, Varsovians debate the merit of this building: Is it a source of civic pride or a reminder of Stalinist persecution?
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Communist Poland was a difficult place. We took a fantastic tour through Warsaw Adventures called "Off the Beaten Path Poland" where we learned about life under Communism during the mid 20th century. One of the most memorable experiences we had was a visit to a milk bar, a typical cafeteria that serves cheap food. Milk bars have come to represent the shortage economy, where common goods were hard to come by. Today, not too many remain, but the one we visited had a shocking recreation of a typical table layout:
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| Milk bars routinely bolted down silverware and bowls to the tables to prevent theft because household goods were scarce and highly valued during communist times. |
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| the Czar PRL: LIfe Under Communism Museum displays artifacts from Communist Poland. Pictured is a state-issued radio, bust of Vladamir Lenin, and manual for the Proletariat |
We also paid a visit to the Neon Museum in the Praga District. The museum presents over 100 Communist-era neon signs found throughout Warsaw. Unlike neon signs in the West, which were used to advertise products in the Capitalist system, Neon in the Eastern Soviet Bloc took on a different meaning. It signified the prosperity and wealth of the Communist state, since no advertising was necessary. You could only buy state-sanctioned goods and services, anyways.
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Since there were no brand names or privately own shops in communist Warsaw, neon signs simply advertised generic terms such as "jewelry" or "theatre." |
In 1989, Poland finally, after 50 years, became independent. The next 30 years were, and continue to be, a period of intense cultural, economic and social growth for the country. As we toured around Warsaw, this growth was clear. Skyscrapers and cranes dot the skyline. New restaurants, shops, and bars are opening weekly, and tourism is on the rise. Yet one of the most impressive places we saw was the city's Old Town. Completely leveled during World War II, it has been entirely rebuilt:
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| Old Town after World War II |
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| Old Town today |
In addition to reconstructing it's Old Town, there is a thriving cultural scene in Warsaw as well. Varsovians are opening award-winning restaurants and bars, and beautiful green spaces abound:
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| A collage of the Łazienki Park, the largest park in the city. |
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| Hala Kozyki is a modern, chic food hall that rivals Chelsea Market or Grand Central Market. We had the most delicious Oysters there! |
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Night Market is a weekly food pop-up event held in an old train station. It reminded me very much of Smorgasburg in Los Angeles and Brooklyn.
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Millenial Varsovians, born after the end of Communism, have a fresh perspective on the city's turbulent past, as evidenced by these socks. Pictured are a playful take on the Palace of Culture and Science, a controversial symbol of the Communist Era.
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Warsaw's affordable cost of living and cheap real estate are attracting multi-national companies from around the world. Photo Courtesy: Youtube.com
Our 8 days in Poland proved to be enlightening, emotional, and inspirational. We came here not knowing much about neither our ancestral roots nor the history of this dynamic country, and left with both a more profound appreciation for our culture and an immense respect for the Polish people. For a country that has been occupied, destroyed, and persecuted to such a great extent, Poland in the 21st century is a dynamic, engaging, and attractive place. And for that reason I decided to entitle this post "Poland, the Resilient." If you find yourself in Eastern Europe, this place is an absolute must-see.
Until next time...
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