Echoes of the Past By Haley Landolina
To be frank, Warsaw is a city that, for most of my life, didn’t cross my mind often. It was one of those cities that could be added to a list of the many places in Europe touched by war, tragedy, and loss, but I certainly didn’t realize the extent or significance of this loss. […]
The Power of Literature By Maddie O’Donnell
On the first full day of our trip we visited the Polin museum. As our guide said, “we traveled through 1000 years of history in an hour and a half.” While there was so much information to take in, what really stuck with me was the placards dedicated to heroic individuals in the Warsaw Ghetto. […]
Poland Personally Blog By Sarah Grand
We arrived in Poland on Sunday, June 18, and opened with a lovely dinner in our hotel. We were greeted by Tsipy, then heard from the local Chabad Rabbi and a Ukrainian refugee. His story stood out from the others that evening, as he spoke about his journey fleeing the war, settling in Poland with […]
Poem from Okopowa St. Jewish Cemetery By Jacki Weaver
They arrived to this land at the calling of birds. Polin, polin, rest here. Here, enclosed beneath the trees, row after row the headstones stand silent, angled this way and that from roots below, so overrun with moss and leaves, it’s as if the tombs grow from the ground, undistinguishable from nature, save for a collection […]
History By Numbers By Laura Huffman
Stalin famously said, “The death of one man is a tragedy. The death of ten million is a statistic.” I knew going in that it would be nearly impossible to wrap my head around the numbers of those killed in the Holocaust. And yet I spent today, the morning at least, focusing on numbers. Our […]
Poland Personally – First Day Blog By Anna Yonas
Today’s tour had a consistent theme: “thou shalt not be indifferent.” These words, delivered by survivor Marian Turski in a speech commemorating the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, echoed throughout our day; they are perhaps even more important for us to reflect on today, Juneteenth.This morning, we visited the Polin Museum, located within […]
Poland Personally Blog 1 By Chessa Crum
I thought I was prepared. This encompasses so much I thought I was prepared to travel. It’s been years since I’ve been on a plane but I haven’t been on a long flight since I was 18 years old. It was a lot to travel so far. Multiple flights and an overnight. First world problems. […]
The Beginning of Our Journey By Josh Ault
Today was my first full day in Poland. To say the least . . . it was powerful. Before I get into what we did, I just want to say the highlight of my trip was to get to meet Howard Chandler. He’s a Holocaust survivor who will be traveling with us. Having his person […]
“What are you hoping to get out of this trip?” By Jacqueline Clarke
At the beginning of this trip I did an interview with KDKA in which I was asked “What are you hoping to get out of this trip?” My response was, “I hope to get the answer(s) to move our country forward in fighting for civil rights here in the present.” I am grateful and blessed […]