On Monday morning, I found myself looking for historical markers of the Warsaw ghetto. There are several parts of the wall still standing, but this walk through the ghettos required me to imagine the conditions that existed. The ghetto was a section of a bustling city where in just 2.4% of the land thirty ( 30%) percent of the population was forced to live. The ghetto was created to further separate the Polish Jews from the rest of the population. The ghetto stood from November 1940 until May 1943 after a failed uprising halted the deportation of its inhabitants to the Treblinka extermination camp.
After walking, we were able to visit the Oyneg Shabbes Archive. This archive provided documentation and voices of those who were imprisoned in the ghetto. The archive was conceived to document the daily life, resistance, and atrocities by a group of 24 Jewish historians within the ghetto walls. They wanted to tell the story of Jewish life in the Warsaw ghetto.
The archive was partially hidden in two large milk containers. Some of the archive survived World War II and is evidence of life in the ghetto.
The milk containers were buried before the April 1943 Ghetto Uprising. Those imprisoned have left us their most personal thoughts, hopes, and fears. They are telling us “what we have been unable to shout to the world.” It is difficult to read their words and not think of your own loved ones and what might have been.
Even though the Nazis were able to defeat the Jewish uprising in the Warsaw ghetto, word of it happening spread through the occupied lands. Those Jews imprisoned in Treblinka must have felt hope when they heard. Shortly after, there is a revolt in Treblinka in August 2, 1943. The rebellion in Treblinka resulted in some 300 imprisoned trying to escape, with about 150 getting outside the camp and under 100 individuals surviving the Treblinka revolt. Unbelievable and yet so remarkable their courage and bravery.
I finished my day with a visit to the Treblinka extermination camp memorial. The size of the camp and beauty of the land is shocking. It is so difficult to imagine the events that took place here. One tries to view the space as those who came here to their death did, but it is just so difficult to do that even with the images available.
What am I to do but pray for the dead and light some candles in remembrance.