A large group departed from Memphis International Airport Sunday, traveling to Poland to begin their journey from Warsaw to Israel. The JCP/MJCC-sponsored trip will connect the travelers to their Jewish history, taking them to important sites from the recent past. Here, our director of community impact, Bluma Zuckerbrot-Finkelstein, shares her thoughts and images from the groups tour of the Warsaw Jewish Cemetery.
Warsaw Jewish Cemetery. This cemetery wasn’t destroyed during the war, just neglected. It was cut off from the Warsaw Ghetto in 1943, so Warsaw Jews were no longer allowed to bury their dead there until after the war.
Walking through, you really get a sense of the diversity of Jewish life in Warsaw before the Holocaust. Buried here are diverse Jewish leaders from Yiddish author and playwright Y.L. Peretz to the Chasidic Rebbe of Slonim, as well as Zionist, Socialist, Bundist and Universalist activists.
I was particularly moved by the story of Warsaw Ghetto Judenrat (Jewish Council) leader Adam Czerniakow, who committed suicide in 1942 rather than hand over to the Nazis names of Jews to be deported to Treblinka death camp. He is also buried here.
One response to “Memphis Travelers Visit Warsaw Jewish Cemetery During JCP/MJCC-Sponsored Journey”
[…] After visiting the Warsaw Cemetery, we went to the new POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, which documents the rich history of Jewish life in Poland. It is a beautiful, substance-rich, contemporary museum filled with several hours worth of exhibits. More interesting than the museum itself, though, is the concept of the museum. Nothing remains of the Warsaw Ghetto. The Nazis destroyed the Ghetto after the 1943 Ghetto Uprising so there are no physical structures to mark the Jewish presence and Jewish life in the Ghetto. There are monuments, memorials and plaques, but no buildings. […]