July 10, 2016

Today we arrived at the Lodz Jewish cemetery. Luckily our new friends Lilia and Jim met us there and led the Kaddish and the rememberance prayer for us because the Rabbi never showed up. Seeing the tombstone in the exact spot where Liba (my grandmother) was buried was extremely emotional!! My mom finally got a chance to thank her for her life and being a wonderful mother. She introduced Mark, Anne, Lori and Jeff to her. She spoke about her grandchildren! There was not a dry eye there😂. 

 Next we visited the spot where her brother Mosjze was buried. 

He was only 17 when he died. He resembled Mark and Aaron. 

Next we went to Raedegast Train station where my mother, Aunt Felicia and their brother Sruelik Israel were forced into railroad  cars headed to Aushwitz. My mother showed such strength here! 

Then we checked into Novotel Hotel in Lodz, and  ate at the mall. In the evening we located the area where my mom lived. It was painful to see the run down area and  decrepit conditions. 

One residence was Reiter Strauss 13 flat 1. Building 13 was missing but we saw building 11 and 15. We met a young couple with a baby entering their apartment in building 11. My mom asked if they were aware that this used to be a ghetto and they said yes. I wanted to see their place but we never asked to go up!

This was Prusa 12. Another one of her residences. Nothing looked familiar to her. 

Then we took mom back to the hotel to sleep, and we strolled down the streets of Lodz. 

We ate at Anatefka, a Jewish restaurant. There were many Judiaca items in the restaurant. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

July 9, 2016

Today we went on the Jewish Heritage Tour of the Warsaw Ghetto. We rode in our retro taxis.

The warsaw ghetto placed the jewish population ( approximately 400,000 jews) within the closed walls and then added an additional 100.000 jews which were from outside of warsaw.  Brick walls with barb wire prevented the jews from leaving the ghetto. 

Look at the bullet holes in the wall from the polish Partisan Warsaw uprising  in April 1944. The year before, In April 1943 was the Jewish uprising. 

The only building to survive in the rubble was the Catholic church because this was where the Nazis stored the Jewish possessions.  

Facts about Warsaw: 100,000 jews perished of starvation and disease. Almost all others were transported to the death camp Tryblinka. We walked the path to the UmSchlagplatz, where the people were crowded into cattle cars to their death. 

 We saw Mila 18, which was the headquarters of the Jewish

 underground and is the bunker where the Jews who survived the Uprising chose to end their own lives instead of having the Nazis do it. "Life without freedom was nothing"

 

Emanuel Ringelblum was a historian who hid chronicles of life in the ghetto in three places. An apartment, Number 28 marks the spot where one of these sets of papers were found underground. 

This photo is a monument to attest to the brave Jews  who used the sewers to procure weapons, food and supplies. 

We went to the Polin Jewish Museum to experience the 1000 year history of the Polish Jews. 

Here is a monument of the Ghetto heros. The original monument is in Yad Veshem and this is a replica of it. The stone was purchased by Hitler to represent his expected victory , but in the end it was used to mark the victory of the Jews! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

July 7 and 8, 2016

We arrived at Detroit Metro at 3:00 and found out our 6:20 flight was delayed 3 times until 7:45 p.m. We were not sure if we would make our connecting flight from Toronto to Warsaw. We got a wheel chair for my mom and Jeff ran and pushed my mom while the rest of us ran to our gate. We got to the gate as they were boarding!! We made it. 

We made it to Warsaw on July 8 at 12:20 their time! 

We saw 3 air force one planes at the Chopin Airport so we knew President Obama had arrived on July 7. 

Obama was staying across from us at the  Marriot Hotel. The "Policiza" were at every corner and roads were closed! 

The 28 NATO heads of state from different countries were invited to participate in the summit meetings. Albania, Greece, France, Denmark, Italy, Hungary, Romania, Poland, USA, Turkey and more.

The city was very cosmopolitan. There were high rise buildings, McDonalds, KFC, HM, Deloite and more. 

Much of Warsaw was rebuilt after the war. There was the City Center with an Orthodox synagogue still there. 

In the evening we went there for Shabbat services. It was a very moving Orthodox service. My mom met a woman from France and her mother was a survivor of the Holocaust. My mom met another woman who was born in Lodz and now lives in Orlando. 

We also went to Frydereyk Chopin's Museum. 

Our taxi took us to Chopin's house and University as well. 

Here are a few more photos in Warsaw. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

july 5,2016

Today, July 5, 2016 is 2 days prior to our trip and I am feeling both excitment and trepidation. The tombstone turned out perfect and i showed it to my mom today. She said it makes her feel good because her family will not be forgotten! I can't wait to be there and see it in person. The rabbi will meet us there and say Kaddish and a hebrew remembrance prayer. 

It is also sad that Aunt Felicia passed away right before our trip. She would have loved to have seen photos and hear about our trip 😂

I just found out july 7-9 President Obama will be in Warsaw for his final summit with NATO leaders . I am anticipating extremely tight security, road closures and some major delays as a result of this! 

 

Also today my mom met with another survivor and dear friend, Leo Beals. He is 94. All the survivors are getting up there in the years. Let's hope they continue to feel good and live a long healthy life! 

 

Getting Ready for Poland

June 2016

Hello everyone,
I am now getting ready for my adventure to Poland with the family.  I am excited to blog all my adventures.  

Poland 2016

Welcome to my Blog.  I am getting excited to go to Poland.