Day #8: Thursday, February 21, 2019

Our first day in Warsaw!


The breakfast at the Ibis hotel this morning was my favorite thus far! We hopped right on the bus at 9:15 and prepared ourselves for the busy day ahead of us.


First stop: 100 Years History of Polish Jews. I’m pretty proud to say that my power team and I made it through the entirety of the museum in 2 hours and 45 minutes. To be honest, it was a lot of reading. But we talked through each exhibit and were able to gain more knowledge about how Jews came to settle in Poland leading up to 1945/the present day


Second stop: Walking/Bus tour of theWarsaw Ghetto. Before the Holocaust, Jewish people moved here fleeing persecution. Although, during World War II, the ghetto was completely demolished. Now there have been reconstruction efforts in the oldest parts, but nothing else was rebuilt because it was the beginning of communism in Poland. During this period—Post World War II—urban planning efforts were implemented in order to create a much friendlier city. The city was built using modern architecture and changed in a completely different way. Today, we were able to see the few parts of old Warsaw that are still standing.


Today we visited the southern part which was the most conservative section of the ghetto. The Purpose GhettoizTion was to concentrate the Jewish population so the Warsaw getto population was larger than the Jewish populationIn in 1939(400,000), but these numbers have diminished drastically after World War II. Life in the ghetto was not easy. Starvation took the lives of many. Average food rations was less than 200 calories per day. About 80% of the food in the ghettos was snuggled from the outside. Later, we visited one of two getto Walls that created the barrier between the ghetto and the rest of the city.


We also stopped on the street where Mary Berg lived at the age of sixteen and documented various aspects of life in the Warsaw ghetto. Her diary is comparable to that of Anne Frank’s which is more about her experience in hiding. Her adept writing is especially known for vivid accounts of children smuggling food across the ghetto boundaries. Mary survived the war, but was deported to France with others . Mary didn’t want to respond to journalists about her experiences, so her life after the war is unknown. Surviving the Holocaust was already enough, and sharing her experiences was too difficult to handle. She didn’t need to draw attention to her past because she needed to work on recovering from the horrific persecution she endured. She resided in the United States, and her relatives announced that she sadly passed away in 2013.


Third stop: Jewish Historical Institute. This museum houses the archives of the Oyneg Shaba. We had the privilege of watching a film on this organization that is not yet released. Watching this film not only prepared me for this museum, but also heightened my appreciation for these valuable documents. Emanuel Ringelblum was the founder of this ingenious organization. This was not a one man job. Some were writers, some were transporters who brought the diaries to their hiding place, some protected them to keep them safe. These members are the true heroes of World War II. They sacrificed their lives for our own benefit, so that we could learn about the pain and suffering Jews endured day by day. It is so surreal to think these writings were preserved in milk cartons stored underground, then found by the few, lingering members after the war. Ms. Freeman was even able to track down her one of relatives who survived the war in the phone books from the early 1900s that are located in the archives of this museum. This was truly a memorable experience and my favorite stop of the day.


Fourth and Last stop of the day: Muzeum Powstania Warzawskiego(I’m not sure what the English translation is :)). Although we were all exhausted from the day, we toughed it out for one last museum and learned more about post World War II Germany.


A cold, rainy, and jam-packed day ended with a delicious dinner and dessert. Thank you Warsaw, you were amazing!

​--Vicky