I have just returned from our extraordinary trip to Krakow with the FPS group. It is a fascinating city and we were fortunate to have the best storytellers in our guides, who brought it alive for us.
On Tuesday, we made our pilgrimage to Auschwitz-Birkenau. I wanted us to be prepared, so we read several pieces about visiting, specifically how to be careful not to allow it to become a sort of performative catharsis. In Primo Levi’s account in If This Is a Man, the introduction ends with these words: “It seems unnecessary to add that none of the facts are invented.”
Some days are not for words. On that day, as we arrived, we descended into a silence as we were taken into the camp, accompanied by a voice listing the name of every person murdered there. It is repeated on a loop during all operational hours, and it would take approximately a month to get through all 1.1 million names.
I thought of this week’s Parashat Lech Lecha, with Avram and Sarai sent on an uncertain journey that resulted in a change of names (to Avraham and Sarah), of home, and of faith. They packed up their possessions and all the souls they had gathered and inspired – kol hanefesh asher asu.
I was so conscious of the trees bearing witness. We gazed for a long time at the trees bordering the forests behind the desolate spaces of the camp. One feels an emptiness that would have been impossible to describe before seeing it. But those trees were there; their branches and roots must have absorbed the horror that was in the earth. And there they stand, their yellowing leaves waving brightly in the breeze, just as they did on that day. Inconceivably, the sun was shining in a robin’s egg blue sky – it was confusingly beautiful weather.
After we had toured and listened, watched and wept, we found Block 27, which houses the recorded names of the victims.Some of our group found members of their own families. Then we sat together, offered prayers and Kaddish, and placed the tiny pebbles I had found on the railway tracks around our yahrzeit candle for all the victims and their souls.
We wanted to begin and end with life, so we explored and learned about Jewish life in Krakow before and after the war, including the vibrant JCC (supported by World Jewish Relief, led by our own Paul Anticoni). So much has happened, both before and since. There is much movement, transition and deep reflection within the city.
This resonated deeply during our days in Poland among our warm, curious, and connected group, who found our way to each other at FPS and to this trip that reminded us of our obligation to these memories and to all of humanity.
Shabbat Shalom and look forward to seeing you in the synagogue,
Rebecca
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