Reflections

This will be my last blog entry for the trip and in some ways it's the hardest because I'm forced to reflect upon the last 9 days and summarize in words how I feel.

Berlin's tributes to the holocaust through it's many memorials really helped to set the stage and prepare us for what was ahead. Searching through the database in the museum beneath the Holocaust memorial led me to more data that I was still missing from the Shoah (Hebrew word for Holocaust) database.  I was surprised that I found new information for my Family Tree.

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin

Reading letters written by both adults and children who knew their death was probably only days away was painful and really put into perspective the terror, the sorrow and the helplessness they must have felt.

In Berlin I felt proud that I was, some 70 years later, allowed to walk freely down the very same streets where others like me would have instantly, without provocation or warning be shot and killed.

Auschwitz and Birkenau were painful to see in person and we were both most impacted by the human elements we saw; the room filled with hair, the brushes, the cups and bowls, the shoes, the suitcases, and the children's clothes. When the allies came, the Nazis tried to destroy all the evidence. This was all that remained. Who were these people and will they be remembered?

Visiting the actual towns where my ancestor's were born and lived was truly amazing.  Walking the same streets, seeing much the same landscapes (of course the development has changed in the 90 years from when my Grandparents left there), really is quite different than visiting over the Internet or reading about it in books, or even this blog.

In Szydlow, where most of my ancestors were born and lived, I suddenly had the realization that in time most or all of what happened there would quietly be forgotten.  We asked a number of people where the Jewish cemetery was, and all but one said that there was no Jewish cemetery.  The headstones were displayed on the floor in the museum which once was a beautiful and fully functioning synagogue for a thriving community. Somehow the Nazis missed a few headstones and the half dozen to the back left of the hall were all that remained.

My relentlessness to find the actual cemetery paid off, when a woman in her 90's, dressed modestly, sitting on a park bench told me, through Anna, (my colleague and a Polish resident) that the cemetery was outside the Krakow gate down the road towards Chmielnik. She continued with her specific directions to cross over just past the river (almost dried up) and to take the first path to the right.

There were no signs, no monuments, no fences or barriers.  All that was there was an empty field and a small structure made of stone, that was significantly damaged, with only part of it remaining.

Szydlow Cemetery

Structure Within Szydlow Cemetery

If you looked up you could see the town of Szydlow and it makes perfect sense that the cemetery would be located there.

Szydlow Cemetery Shown in Previous Blog
View of Szydlow

A small bridge was within steps of the cemetery and if you looked underneath, I am almost positive that more headstones were used as support to maintain the bridge. Below are the images and you can decide. It was impossible to read anything because the stones were weather worn and many broken into smaller pieces stacked one upon the other.

Cemetery Headstones Beneath Bridge

Cemetery Headstones Beneath Bridge

I felt terrible for those who were buried there, having no visitors, and forgotten less than a century after they died. I felt angry about the fact that the locals either rejected the existence of the cemetery, or possibly worse, knew about it and refused to share the information. 

For 2.5 years I searched the Internet and the best I could find was simply the comment, 'the cemetery is off the road towards Chmielnik'. For any of you who ever plan to go there, here are the exact  GPS coordinates of the Szydlow Jewish cemetery.

50 35' 25"N    20 59' 53"E

In Krakow and in Chmielnik, it was blatantly obvious that there are no longer any Jewish residents. Yet, there are a few restaurants in the old Jewish quarter advertising "Jewish style food", playing Klesmer music all in a venue that is surrounded by Jewish artwork and paintings reflecting religious Jewish life and people. It made me feel resentful and angry that the owners of these restaurants were profiting heavily by misrepresenting their offerings as a Jewish experience.  The food was for the most part, was not really representative of Jewish dishes or preparations. One example was a menu choice of Passover cheese. What is that? One comment about the decor - I don't know where the 50 or so paintings came from, and I don't even want to imagine it.

While we sat in the Ariel restaurant last night we looked it up online and found one visitor say he was shocked by something he saw. I couldn't believe it was true, so we went after dinner to see for ourselves.

As you left the first Ariel Restaurant (there are 3 parts), two staff members coaxed guests to check out their Jewish souvenirs. I looked for the item mentioned on the Internet, and there it was sitting behind glass within a showcase for sale for 80PLN (about $28).  I asked to hold it and it is, I think, the only truly anti-Semitic thing I have ever held in my hands.

Imagine stereotyping an entire religion and creating (by an artist according to the owner), an 8 inch wooden statue of a Chassidic, religious Jew, characterized by a large hooked nose and in his left hand carrying a bag of money and in his right hand 1 Grosz (the lowest denomination of currency in Poland). I now know first hand what racism is about and it was certainly confirmed when the seller acknowledged that it would be good luck to own it.

Below are 3 images I took this week that all reflect continued stereotyping of Jewish people by some people in Poland.  The first was taken in the Ariel Restaurant at their front door. It was in a small showcase.  The second is a photo of the actual statue being sold in their souvenir gift shop. The third is a wood carving that was taken at Szydlow a couple of days ago.

Stereotyping of a Religious Jew

Statue of Religious Jew Carrying a
Bag of Money and a Coin

Wood Carving Statue in Szydlow

In my Uncle Myer's words in an email he wrote early this morning to a cousin of ours now living in California, "I have had an amazing (heartbreaking, angry, resentful) trip back in time to a museum of our past history, with Jewish style food, klezmer music, art souvenirs, and No Jews."

My final comments? 
A trip like this can change you. It could make you angry and resentful. It could make you sorrowful. It could make you feel grateful for what we have and the freedom to express ourselves and to practice religion if we choose.

The point of a trip like this is to remember what happened, what could happen and to stand up for what we know is right even in difficult situations.
I hope through my words these past 9 days you can share as much as possible, the emotions we felt, and all that we have seen and experienced.
Michael Betel
April 8, 2011