March of the Living 2025: Day 1

Day 1 of the 2025 March of the Living in Poland:

This was our only day in Warsaw and we spent time in four places: the Cemetery, the Nozyk Synagogue, the Umslagplatz [train deportation platform], and parts of the area which was the Ghetto including Mila 18.

Today's pictures don't include many of our travelers. But they do tell a story. We saw many old markets and memorials in the cemetery, including one to famed writer Janusz Korchak who looked after children in the orphanage that he established; he was murdered, together with the children in his care, in the Treblinka death camp. We saw an area which was a mass grave for burial, now covered with large stones. But we also saw a new memorial to Warsaw native Alex Dancyg, who was a longtime resident of Kibbutz Nir Oz. Taken hostage on October 7th, 2023, he was killed in Gaza by the Hamas terrorists who held him captive.

Our time at the Nozyk Synagogue included a conversation with Rabbi Michael Schudrich, the Chief Rabbi of Poland, who has dedicated his career to building up Polish Jewry while also telling their story. His powerful words reminded us that while we cannot change the number of Jews killed in the Holocaust, we can change the numbers of those still alive who might otherwise be lost to Judaism.

Our time at the Umslagplatz featured learning about the deportations of our people in mass numbers from Warsaw to the death camps. The memorial there had hundreds of Jewish names and each teen did a chalk rubbing of their own name from the wall onto a piece of paper. We also heard beautiful musical harmonies from an Israeli yeshiva touring Poland just like we are.

Finally, we walked through part of the area of the Warsaw Ghetto learning stories of heroism and sacrifice. We focused on the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943 and visited the site where the resistance was headquartered at 18 Mila Street.

Following dinner, we boarded our bus for Lublin where we are spending the night.

#motl2025