May 9, 2019 - Early End to Trip

For those of you who don't follow me on FaceBook, this is the first you're hearing that I had to cut the trip short and fly back to Los Angeles. I arrived back home this past Tuesday. Although it started out as an extremely frustrating, sad event, it turned out to be nothing less than a miracle. I had a bad attack with my sciatic nerve that left me in tremendous pain and unable to walk. Wound up in an emergency room in a small town in Poland (you NEVER want to wind up in an emergency room in a small town in Poland!!). During the course of...

May 3, 2019 - March of the Living and the Mass Grave of Turnow

This was the purpose ... the goal ... the dream. I had no idea how important it was until it was. Although I couldn't fulfill my hope of walking the two miles (my body screamed "no way!") I marched out of the gates of Auschwitz with my back straight, head high (thank you, Judith) and my entire family in my heart. I did it for my great-grandmother Dina, my grandmother Hani, my Aunt Margit, and my little cousins Miki, Imre and Szuszie. They all died at Auschwitz. And I did it for my uncle Avrum, my uncle Jeno, my aunt Olga and my father...

May 1, 2019 - Auschwitz and the Killing Wall

So the journey begins. Our first stop this morning was Radagast. This was a "gathering place", a place where Jews from the nearby countryside were brought in preparation to transport them by cattle car to the death camps. There's a cattle car at the depot, an original that actually was used by the Nazis. Last year our delegation was crowded into the cattle car. I waited outside on the platform. I couldn't get myself to go in. This time I went in. It was suffocating and frightening. Even though I knew that in a few moments I'd be safely back...

Apr 30, 2019 - The Flight

Do you know the story of the Princess And The Pea? It goes something like this (forgive me if i don't get it exactly right; it's been many years since I read the story). There's this handsome Prince whose parents want him to marry. But they only want him to marry a Princess. So, to make a long story short, there eventually comes along a lovely young woman who claims to be a Princess. So, to make a short story even shorter, the Queen invites her to spend the night in the castle. Assuming that only a Princess would have such tender skin that...

Jan 1, 2019 - A Day Exploring Krakow

Well as New Year revellers, we all failed miserably last night. I was in bed by 9 and the girls finally woke up, had some noodles for dinner and hit the bed. We were woken intermittently by the noise of revellers in the nearby Old Town Square but it was probably the best night sleep we have all had. Later start this morning to do an Old Town walking tour which started at Florians Gate one of the many wall entrances into medieval Krakow. Had a great tour guide this morning and he was quite humorous as well as informative. It will be...

Dec 31, 2018 - A Day for Reflection at Auschwitz

DAY 4 Urghhh, seems like about day 15 instead of day 4 of this trip. Still a broken night’s sleep by us all. All up and semi organised by 6 with a breakfast of toast and Vegemite (yes, I always take a tube of Vegemite with me) and toast with leftover beans and cheese. Not very exciting but filling for such an early start. Met by our tour bus right on time and one more hotel to pick up people and we were on our way to Osweicm, the Polish name of the town renamed in German by the Nazis to Auschwitz. It was just after daylight when we arrived...

Dec 30, 2018 - Off to Poland and the Salt Mines For Us

DAY 3 Up at 4am and got ourselves organised and out the door of the hotel to an uber at 5am for a half hour trip to Schonfeld airport and a 7am one hour flight to Krakow in Poland for our next destination. Solid rain and biting wind as we made our way to the terminal. We had chosen Ryanair (yes, the infamous lucky if you get there airline) and were dismayed when we entered the terminal at the massive queue of fellow travellers. However the queue moved at a very impressive pace compared to those at Tullamarine at home and it only took about...

Oct 22, 2018 - Warsaw - Poland

I could just duplicate my entry from Warsaw circa 2009. But I'll spare you. Highlights this trip - There are tourists here, including fellow refugees. Paderewski's tomb Chopin's heart A Chopin piano concert with wine The Jewish Uprising Museum - This museum commemorates one of the few instances where the Jews of Europe fought back against the Nazis. In the end their efforts were in vain. Or were they? You get the picture. I'm just trying to prepare myself for the return to the U.S. On my last trip here I rode the train from Warsaw to...

Jul 15, 2018 - Wroclaw

Caught the tram into Wroclaw from our backyard camp (was well set up for about 40 motorhomes). City has a couple of islands and lots of bridges. One covered in padlocks. Had a short wander and then into the square – very busy, with lots of families. Several bubble making enterprises for the kids and lots of little gnomes hidden around the place. They are very cute.

Apr 14, 2018 - Joyous Celebration in the Last Surviving Prewar Synagogue in Warsaw

"The Nożyk Synagogue (Polish: Synagoga Nożyków) is the only surviving prewar Jewish house of prayer in Warsaw, Poland. It was built in 1898-1902 and was restored after World War II. It is still operational and currently houses the Warsaw Jewish Commune, as well as other Jewish organizations." That's the entry in Wikipedia for the place where we celebrated the end of Shabbat. I find myself without words to describe what it felt like to witness 300 young people (we were joined by another March of the Living group) singing, dancing and...

Apr 13, 2018 - Murder of the Children of Tarnow

Before I can tell you about today, I have to tell you about yesterday. Yesterday was the day of the March of the Living. The event that this entire trip is named for. The big day. I spent the day in bed. About 30 of our group (over 10% of us) came down with either food poisoning or norovirus. We all spent the Big Day moving between bed and bathroom. Our medical team was amazing. I don't think they slept for two days. They propped our hotel room doors open with towels so they could constantly check on us without having to get us out of bed....

Apr 11, 2018 - Auschwitz and Birkenau

Last night, on the 5 hour ride from Lodz to Krakow, the schedule called for a "reflections" period about 2-3 hours into the ride. The 39 teens on the bus were to be asked if they wanted to share any reflections or feelings about what they had experienced that day. The ride started out very quietly. The kids were definitely reflecting. However . . . slowly . . . teen life began to emerge again from the back of the bus. Chatter, laughter and eventually music played loudly from someone's IPod. Suddenly, they all burst into song and the party...