Today we began by visiting the famed Yeshivat Chachmei Lublim, founded by Rav Meir Shapira in the 1920’s. Rav Shapira was also one who initiated Daf Yomi, which is continued today by hundreds of thousands of people worldwide, and a member of the Polish parliament as part of Agudat Yisrael. Rav Shapira was a very interesting character as he was intimately involved in both leadership roles for the spiritual and political sides of Polish Jewry. The yeshiva was his idea for raising the prestige of the Torah student and the community rabbi in the eyes of the masses of Polish Jewry.
The yeshiva was revolutionary in that it housed all the students who studied there and took care of all their needs. In order to pass the entrance exams for the yeshiva, candidates had to meet very high standards both in terms of knowledge (memorizing 400 pages from the Talmud) and moral conduct. The course of study lasted four years and the curriculum encompassed exclusively religious matters. Approximately 20,000 people participated in the opening event, including a few dozen rabbis, representatives of the Polish government, and numerous journalists.
The German invasion of Lublin marked the end of the yeshiva and a Jews were not allowed to enter the building any longer. It was taken over as the headquarters of the military command and all the equipment was stolen or destroyed.
After the war the property was taken over by the state and then by the Medical Academy. Finally, in 2003 the building and grounds were given to the Jewish Community of Warsaw. Since that time parts of the building have been gradually renovated.
From there we made our way to Majdanek. We all got a shock as it only took 5 minutes by bus, and was quite literally on the edge of the town. The boundary of the camp runs along a street where people go about their everyday lives. We all wondered how what it must have been like to live next to it while in operation and how people could have done so. Furthermore, it threw up the question, were those living there also guilty?
We began by listening to a history of the camp and how it served different purposes throughout the war, including as an intern camp, a labour camp, a transfer camp and ultimately as a death camp. Chillingly, we heard that if needed, the camp could be active again in less than 48 hours. Slowly we made our way through the bunkers, with the most moving exhibit being the 900,000 pairs of shoes that were found. The number was staggering and as one moved up and down the long rows of shoe upon shoe, it was difficult to comprehend how many there were and the stories behind each pair.
Finally we went to the crematorium on the other side of the camp. As you enter, there is an operating bed to extract any valuables that they made have hidden before sending them to be cremated. There were a number of large ovens lined up, ready to take body after body, before being summarily disposed of. Above all, what was most shocking of all was the bathtub installed which was to be heated by fumes from the burnings.
We finished at the Mausoleum, a large memorial filled with the ashes of over 70,000 people who passed through Majdanek. There, we ran the final tekes of the day, commemorating the memories of all those who came here, never to leave.
We then left for the long journey to Warsaw for Shabbat. On the way, we watched “The Pianist”, a movie that gave a good insight into what life was life in Warsaw throughout the war and how it looked in the immediate aftermath, utterly destroyed.
We eventually arrived in Warsaw and began preparations for Shabbat. We davened at The Nożyk Synagogue, the only shule in Warsaw that survived the war. After the beautiful davening, we walked to a kosher restaurant for dinner before making our way back to the hotel after a long day.
Dion
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