Krakow

During our Masa in Poland we stopped in Krakow to discuss the Jewish life and community that existed in Krakow before the Shoah and how it is now.  We also learned about the ghetto and things such as what the living conditions were like, resistance, eberlaben, and specific stories of individuals that we know of today.  After that we went to Shindler's factory and discussed people who are Righteous of the Nations.  The Old Square is where we ended the day with free time and got a feel for Polish culture.  

Everyday in Poland started out with stories of life.  We remember and identify those who lived in the various and diverse communities in Poland.  For our first day in Krakow we celebrated life by visiting the Ramu cemetery and shul hopping.  In the cemetery we learned of stories about individuals who made impacts on their communities.   One of my favorite stories was Mister Next World.  This is the story of a man who would be asked for charity or help and he'd say that he would in his next life.  Everyone thought that he was inconsiderate and cheap.  Eventually he died and was buried in the back of the cemetery because of his "next life" promises.  Slowly people started noticing that they weren't receiving everyday deliveries or common activities weren't happening, the things that were never thought about and taken for granted.  The realization became more apparent that Mister Next World was the one doing all these and in reality he wasn't cheap.  He gave tzdeka with people not knowing who they received it from and no one knows he was giving.  This is the highest level of tzdakah.  We also learned about Yom Tov Lipmun Heller, who was a Rabbi in Prague and wrote the Mishaberach.  He was so important to the community that he was said to be a genius and because of this he was buried like the holy scriptures.  Even through struggles such as being imprisoned, he never stopped fighting for the rights of people such as fair taxation, social justice, helping the poor, and women who were left on their own during and after the war.   One of the final things he did that, although small, was a huge example of who he was as a person, Yom Tov as one of his final acts requested to be buried next to Mister Next World in order to acknowledge his actions.   

The rest of our morning was spent schul hopping.  At the Altschul, established in 1407, we learned about the little things that made that community close knit and unique.  Examples of this are the שמש who would set up for services and use different knocks to wake up people in order to spread that something bad had happened within the community and breaking up the havdalah candle for each family to light their way home at the end of the week.  Another synagogue that stood out to me was the Kupa Synagogue, Kupa meaning fund.  It's also known as the "poor man's synagogue." The community came together and created a fund in order to build a gorgeous synagogue that brought them together as a kehilla kedosha.  There were a variety of beautiful paintings on the ceiling such as the four holy cities, Kotel, zodiac, Babylon, and Jerusalem.  Like in the other places we visited on this day we sang and brought back what was lost in these communities by praying in singing.  We sang Hallelujah and the blessing over children.  There were many other synagogues we saw and we learned about Zionist influence, Christian and church style influence, Baroke decor, and different synagogues from wealthy and poor communities.  It was incredible to have the ability to have a first hand experience of what it was like to live in a Jewish community before WWII and to learn about these individuals who lived and breathed Judaism.  

Different than the other days so far in Poland, not only did we celebrate Jewish culture pre war, but we also had the chance to talk with Jenny, who works at the JCC in Krakow, and discover more about the current Jewish population.  Out of the the Jews in Krakow 90% of them were wiped out during the war.  After the war and the rise of communism in 1968, Judaism started to return to Krakow and because of this the JCC there is established.  During the war many families did not tell their children about their Jewish roots and aren't told until much later in their lives.  With 650 members, the JCC helps these individuals who recently discovered their Jewish identity long after the war.  The aim of this program is to educate people on different aspects of Judaism and help them to learn how to be Jewish in their own way.  They even are helping to raise the first generation of kids who have the ability now to learn about their Judaism from a younger age with the JCC's programs for children.  With an exciting and vibrant community the JCC is creating something new out of what happened in the past instead of trying to fully replace what was lost.  They remember the past but build more towards a Jewish future.   Even Poles who aren't Jewish feel as if they're missing a piece of their society and culture because of the Shoah.  This is evident by the effort made by non-Jews who make an effort to preserve what's left from pre war communities and help the new Jewish communities as well.  An example of this is the  50 non Jewish volunteers who at the JCC. 

Our next part of the day was spent walking around what's left of the Krakow ghetto.  We listened to individual accounts of those from the ghetto.  What's unique about the Krakow ghetto is that Krakow was the headquarters and captiol of the German officials during WWII.   What's even more interesting is that the Jewish community was given 3 months in the spring of 1940 to leave the area.  Those who did leave usually found themselves moved to a different ghetto, but there were some people who did escape.  Also because of the German occupation in Krakow, the pharmacy was kept open in order to minimize the spread of illness and disease.   The owner of the Pharmacy was not Jewish and was eventually honored as a Righteous among the Nations.  He was not a Jew, but still did so much for the community I'm the ghetto.  He provided the Jews with medicine, hid Torah scrolls, and aided with the printing and production of pamphlets.  Right outside of the pharmacy is the shlag, where Jews were deported to death and labor camps.  This where some of the worst events took place when the ghetto was liquidated.  Now, there is a memorial there in remberence of what happened there.  

The last part of the day was spent talking about different acts of resistance and individuals who risked their lives to save Jews.  We did this at Schindler's factory where he himself saved thousands of Jews and is recognized as a Righteous of the Nations.  These individuals are known as righteous of the nation's.  There are about  22-23,000 righteous of the nation's and anyone of these people have the right to live in Israel.  An interesting conversation we discussed was instead of thinking, "Why did so many people not help?" and instead, "Why did so many help?" We ask this because it was incredibly dangerous to provide any help Jews, even something as small as providing a glass of water.  We learned of many stories of Righteous of the Nation's, such as Denmark which is the only country as a whole to be awarded Righteous of the Nations.  They were able to help so many Jews because Germany originally allowed them to keep their government and courts allowing Denmark to have control over their own country.  At one point Germany tried to remove the Jewish population and Denmark refused.  Germany agreed to this in fear of ruining their relationship with Denmark.  Denmark continued to resist anti-semitism and the killing of Jews.  In fact when citizens from Denmark tried to burn down the main synagogue im Copenhagen they were severly punished by the government.  Eventually the Germans took over Denmark and made an attempt to gather all the Jews in September 1943 on Yom Kippur.  After finding out about this, the Danish Underground Resistance warmed as many Jews as they could even by finding Jewish sounding last names in the phone book.  Only 460 out of 8,000 Jews were captured by the Germans that night due to the resistance.  Those saved were smuggled into Sweden and those who were captured were sent to a labor camp instead of a death camp due to pressure on the Germans from Denmark.  Not only that but Denmark managed to send packages and food to those in the camp.  By the end of the war only 120 Jews died in the camp due to the efforts made by the Resistance.  Due to these acts the Denmark resistance was awarded Righteous of the Nations. 

At the synagogues we learned about Shiviti Adonai Lenegdi Tamid, which Jews have been saying for thousands of years.  This essentially means that Judaism is always put first before anything else.  My question for everyone is what is your shiviti?  Is there anything you've learned from being Jewish that you always put first or an aspect of Judaism that is an important part of your life? 

Kate

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