July 14, 2016

Today my mom and i went to the synagogue in the Jewish Quarters and we saw a beautiful plaque on the wall in memory of Miriam Ferber's husband's family. My mom plays kanasta sometimes with Miriam. 

Then we explored the Jewish Cemetery. I asked a young man with a yarmukah where he was from. He told me New York and I told him i am from outside of Detroit. He said wait here and he brought two others from Detroit to join us. One was Rabbi Burman . They asked my mom to share what she remembered most about being in Aushvitz. They could not believe she made this trip and survived. He brought a whole group of young Jewish students with him. It was comforting to my mom to know thousands of people, Jews and non Jews come to Poland to be educated on the Holocaust. 

In the afternoon we went to Shindler's Factory . Oskar Shindler saved thousands of jews from death by having them work in his factory, by giving them jobs, protecting them and giving them food. 

We are standing near the gate of Shindlers Factory.

Below is a photo of 1,100 Jews he rescued. 

The museum also featured the history of the occupation of Nazis in Krakow and other cities in Poland. 

This is a photo of Oskar. If you have not seen the movie Shindlers List it would be worth your time to view it! 

I learned the swastka used to be a positive symbol and was used in India and several other countries until Hitler used the symbol in WW2 and made it notorious. 

When The Nazi's invaded Poland they   germanized the town by changing street names, changing the towns names  and more. Lodz became Litchmanstad. This sign portrays this change. 

The germans spread horrible propoganda about the Jews having Lice and Typhis. They were not allowed to continue their education. This sign states "Professors were arrested by the Germans."

Toys were created to be demeaning to the Jews.

The museum attempted to replicate the Jewish Ghetto. Tombstones were broken up and used to create walls in the Ghetto. 

It is so painful to hear these stories and know my loving parents endured unimaginable suffering! 

In the evening we wanted to end on a positive note so we went to the Chabad house and listened to a Klezimer concert. 

The music brought back memories ofmy dad! He and my mom loved many of these songs. 

Now i am looking forward to tomorrow's trip to the mountains in Zakapone. When my mom was a little girl she always heard of this place but never ever imagined she would go. So we hired a private tour to take us in the mountains!