July 21, 2010

Today was spent traveling north to Lodz. The countryside reminds me so much of New England, but the condition of the homes and farms is remarkably different. Though, in most cases, neat, buildings are old and in need of more care. There is a good deal of work being done on roads, including drainage. It is evident that the residents care about their homes as there are flowers and flower gardens everywhere. In the cities, many of the buildings are Communist era block type houses - grey or beige. In the countryside, the fences are unpainted wood or a metal lattice. We see grain and corn growing in the fields, with cows and goats roaming. Some yards have a lone cow laying under a tree. I saw a man farming with just a horse and plow - very few tractors. The roads are very narrow and our bus driver amazes us, though many of us have taken to not looking!!
We stopped in the small town of Kielce where a Jewish cemetery was being tended by a local Catholic woman. We had to stop at her home to get the key. The stones had been broken, but were fixed and are neatly standing. There was a memorial there that many of us found quite moving. The Jews of Kielce had to undergo the same tragedies that other small towns endured, but in 1946, after liberation, several Jews returned Many of them were murdered by their Polish neighbors because of a lie that a young Polish boy had been forced (by his parents) to tell. He said that he had been kidnapped by the Jews and they were going to take his blood, but he was rescued by a young Jewish girl. He later admitted to the lie, but it was too late. Townspeople attacked these homeless Jews and killed most of them. After this, most of the Polish Jews fled to Israel. The memorial itself is a large smooth black stone with an irregular broken Jewish Star in the center. There is a large stone at the end of the monument to signify the traditional stones left on Jewish tombstones.
Along the way, we stopped at a "gas station" for lunch - the picture is a traditional hot dog - I took off the cucumbers and most of the sauce!
We traveled on and stopped at the town of Piotrkow Trybunalski where the first Jewish ghetto was erected. We visited the original synagogue which as been turned into a library.
We finally arrived in Lodz (pronounced Woodge) the third largest city in Poland. It is an industrial town and we are staying in a renovated factory - quite weird as the hallways and rooms have 16' ceilings with large barred windows. Though many of the buildings have been renovated, several now house apartments and are quite poor.
Tonight we came together for another evening of reflection. We discussed those artifiacts or places that affected us over the last few days. I spoke about the stone steps in the buildings at Auschwitz - they were so worn in particular areas, that I felt that I had sunk into the past. We were one with the prisoners. Others spoke of the hair or shoes - we all made connections and want to be able to bring those feelings back to our classrooms.
We are getting tired - we sleep on the bus - emotionally drained - we are starting to go into overload. A good night's sleep will help!