Sophie Steinbuck, the survivor who is accompanying us everywhere on our journey was born in the town of Lodz (pronounced "ludge") in Poland. We decided to take a detour from our itinerary -- what a surprise -- and take a little visit. Although Sophie was only eight when her family left Lodz in 1939 she thought she could remember what her house looked like. After all these years, she even remembered the address!
After the requisite three hours of sleep following a night out on the town in Crakow, which we absolutely needed, we got up at the crack of 4 AM to hit the highway on our way back to the airport in Warsaw. In Lodz, we first went to a memorial to the Jews who were deported from Lodz from 1939-1945. Poland is becoming crowded with Holocaust memorials and each and every one is crafted with care. This particular one looks from the outside to be a concrete wall about the length of a football field. Jordan said she thought it reminded her of a wall that prevented the Jews from escaping the Germans. It is engraved at regular intervals with the dates of the Lodz deportations. At the end of the wall sit three empty cattle cars. They are original cattle cars that were once packed with hundreds of Jews destined for extermination. Also, at the end of the wall, we see that it is not merely a wall, but it is really the exterior wall of a long tunnel. We entered the tunnel. On eace side of the interior walls, spaced at regular intervals corresponding to the dates 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, and 1945, are framed lists. They are the original lists of Lodz Jews and we could see where their names were crossed off the list as they were transported. 250,000 were deported out of Lodz by cattle car to the death camps during the Holocaust. The tunnel ends in a circular enclosure where the only source of light comes from the top of a tall chimney. It is one of the most stark testiments to the atrocity committed by the Germans upon the Jews that we have seen.
We left the tunnel and went into the cattle car. Orly and Jeremy refused to enter the car. Sophie came inside, but after a short while, she too left saying she remembered only too well being in such a railcar with her mother and sister. The rest of us sat in the car and listened to our educator and guide, Sheryl, read from Dr. Seuss's The Lorax. We talked about how the book related to our experiences in Poland and what message we took from the book. Afterwards, we lit a memorial candle and as we passed it to each other we each reflected aloud on how our experience in Poland effected us. When we were finished, there were few dry eyes and we all felt that we had been changed by the experience. One thing we knew is that we were ready to get out of Poland and go to Israel.
Before we go though, there is one more thing to do. Our mission to find Sophie's house! During the time that Poland was under Communist rule, many of the street names were changed. Because this posed a potential problem for our Polish pilot, Eva, and our bus driver, somehow Eva managed to get us a police escort all the way from the Lodz memorial to Sophie's street. Go figure! Apparantly the Lodz police must have nothing better to do. ;) Through the streets of Lodz we went, a tour bus following a police cruiser. We marveled that it was such a big city because many of us were expecting a small village. We turned onto Sophie's street and found the address. Sophie, Michael, Harrison, Eva, and Marish - our security person - got out to see. The verdict? Well, alot has changed over the years but Sophie is pretty certain it was her house. Because she lived on the second floor she was afraid to go up and knock on the door, but let's just say we've never seen more spring in the legs of a 75 year old woman! What a smile! Sophie is a hero to all of us and she has enriched our journey more than any of us can say.
We're in Israel now and every minute is filled. I'll try to persuade one of our marchers to post tomorrow if there is time, but there is rarely time and they are always exhausted. So, until we have another spare minute I'm yours truly,
Natalie Wolf
After the requisite three hours of sleep following a night out on the town in Crakow, which we absolutely needed, we got up at the crack of 4 AM to hit the highway on our way back to the airport in Warsaw. In Lodz, we first went to a memorial to the Jews who were deported from Lodz from 1939-1945. Poland is becoming crowded with Holocaust memorials and each and every one is crafted with care. This particular one looks from the outside to be a concrete wall about the length of a football field. Jordan said she thought it reminded her of a wall that prevented the Jews from escaping the Germans. It is engraved at regular intervals with the dates of the Lodz deportations. At the end of the wall sit three empty cattle cars. They are original cattle cars that were once packed with hundreds of Jews destined for extermination. Also, at the end of the wall, we see that it is not merely a wall, but it is really the exterior wall of a long tunnel. We entered the tunnel. On eace side of the interior walls, spaced at regular intervals corresponding to the dates 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, and 1945, are framed lists. They are the original lists of Lodz Jews and we could see where their names were crossed off the list as they were transported. 250,000 were deported out of Lodz by cattle car to the death camps during the Holocaust. The tunnel ends in a circular enclosure where the only source of light comes from the top of a tall chimney. It is one of the most stark testiments to the atrocity committed by the Germans upon the Jews that we have seen.
We left the tunnel and went into the cattle car. Orly and Jeremy refused to enter the car. Sophie came inside, but after a short while, she too left saying she remembered only too well being in such a railcar with her mother and sister. The rest of us sat in the car and listened to our educator and guide, Sheryl, read from Dr. Seuss's The Lorax. We talked about how the book related to our experiences in Poland and what message we took from the book. Afterwards, we lit a memorial candle and as we passed it to each other we each reflected aloud on how our experience in Poland effected us. When we were finished, there were few dry eyes and we all felt that we had been changed by the experience. One thing we knew is that we were ready to get out of Poland and go to Israel.
Before we go though, there is one more thing to do. Our mission to find Sophie's house! During the time that Poland was under Communist rule, many of the street names were changed. Because this posed a potential problem for our Polish pilot, Eva, and our bus driver, somehow Eva managed to get us a police escort all the way from the Lodz memorial to Sophie's street. Go figure! Apparantly the Lodz police must have nothing better to do. ;) Through the streets of Lodz we went, a tour bus following a police cruiser. We marveled that it was such a big city because many of us were expecting a small village. We turned onto Sophie's street and found the address. Sophie, Michael, Harrison, Eva, and Marish - our security person - got out to see. The verdict? Well, alot has changed over the years but Sophie is pretty certain it was her house. Because she lived on the second floor she was afraid to go up and knock on the door, but let's just say we've never seen more spring in the legs of a 75 year old woman! What a smile! Sophie is a hero to all of us and she has enriched our journey more than any of us can say.
We're in Israel now and every minute is filled. I'll try to persuade one of our marchers to post tomorrow if there is time, but there is rarely time and they are always exhausted. So, until we have another spare minute I'm yours truly,
Natalie Wolf
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