Photos by Hannah Rappoport
Today was the fourth day of the trip and the first visit of a concentration camp. We visited Majdanek, a camp where thousands upon thousands of Jews, Poles, and Soviet Prisoner of Wars were forced to do labor and brutally beaten and killed. Majdanek, although not technically a death camp, contains a gas chamber and crematorium which were unfortunately used daily. It was a chilling experience to walk into rooms where thousands of Jews died and be able to walk right back out. We also viewed a room filled with the shoes of those imprisoned and the barracks in which they slept. Our time in the camp concluded with a gigantic monument of a mountain of human ashes and remains from the crematorium.
Later in the day we explored the Ulma Family Museum of Poles Saving Jews in World War II, located in Markowa, Poland. In this museum we learned about the heroic deeds of righteous Poles who risked their lives to save Jews during the German occupation. One particularly interesting feature was the diary of a girl with a strikingly familiar name, Basia Rosenberg. The museum is dedicated to one family in particular, the Ulma family, who hid three Jewish families in their home. This altruistic non-Jewish family was murdered after being found helping the Jews, which leaves an impactful lesson on the importance of helping those in need.
The next stop was the breathtaking Lancut shul. Built in the 1700s, this shul was designed and decorated with more skill than most homes at the time. On the walk back to the bus we passed by the Potovsky palace, owned by the former family of Avraham Ben Avraham.
Our last stop was at the kever of the famed Reb Elimelech of Lizhensk, author of the Noam Elimelech. There are many true incidents of prayers being answered when said at the kever of the Noam Elimelech, and don’t worry, we will keep your midterms in mind!
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