. I also got a bag of dirt from my backyard so I could spread the sovereign ground of Israel on the blood stained polish land
(
photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net...). So I spread it near the monument and we
all started heading back to the bus.
Treblinka was destroyed towards the end of the war, After the revolt, it was decided to shut down the death camp and shoot the last of the Jewish
prisoners. The camp had been badly damaged by the fire, and the murder of the Polish Jews was also largely complete. Odilo Globocnik wrote to Himmler:
"I have on October 19, 1943, completed Operation Reinhard, and have dissolved all the camps". The final group of about thirty Jewish girls at
Treblinka was shot at the end of November. and since it was made out of wood there is barely any evidence left concerning its existence. The land was
sold to Polish farmers. The soil is extremely fertile.
We travelled back to our hotel for our final night in Poland. It was a very very long day.
Day 8.
We were in the enter of Warsaw, at the Umshlagplatz
(
photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net...), this is the train station were the
Warsaw ghetto was emptied onto freight trains and shipped away to their deaths.
We toured around Warsaw through what is called the "trail of bravery", it circles all the sites of Jewish and Polish bravery during the Nazi
occupation. We visited a bunker used by the Jews during the Warsaw ghetto revolt and around houses and sites used for their resistance. The Warsaw
ghetto revolt is an amazing story, keep in mind Poland was entirely conquered in 3 weeks, and the revolt lasted over a month. One of the most famous
pictures of WWII are from the Warsaw ghetto revolt
(
upload.wikimedia.org...).
We got to the Warsaw ghetto revolt monument
(
photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net...). We held a ceremony here too.
Here is a picture of all of us on the steps of the monument
(
photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net...).
We continued to the Jewish institute in Warsaw. It's a very interesting building, it's filled with Jewish art from the Holocaust, there is a giant
map of Poland where you can look up Jewish names, I personally searched for and found Grodnow, its right in the center of Poland and is the original
home of one side of my family. We had a final talk with the entire group, around 60 people and many of us spoke about how this journey changed us, and
how important it was, and how meaningful it is that we experienced it together.
We were in a much lighter mood than the rest of the trip, and to finish off Poland with good taste we went to visit the Chopin Gardens
(
photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net...) in Warsaw. They really show a brighter
side of the country. They are beautiful, and remind me of many other European cities, full of positive culture.
I've really forgotten a lot, so much less details than when I started out. After a stroll in ancient Warsaw we went to the airport and boarded our
flight back home. We did see one of the tallest men on the planet in the duty-free at the airport. That was a nice souvenir.
We arrived back home, we all matured and learned a lot. And the contemplating of the amazing voyage came some time afterwards, about the time I
decided to write what I remember and share it.
I will be more than honored to answer any questions or provide more pictures.
Thank you for reading my story!
* This is one of my favorite pictures (
photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net...). It
shows the gate in darkness, and the flag is bringing light to it
