Today we left Warsaw and made our way to Lublin to visit the Grodzka Gate. The town of Lublin once had a thriving Jewish neighborhood that was completely destroyed during the war. The Grodzka Gate used to be the passage from the Christian to the Jewish part of the city. The theater was created to uncover and house the memories of all of the Jews who once lived there. There are photographs, files and interactive exhibits. You can study one person in particular or learn the history of a single house and all of its inhabitants. This exhibit was beautifully created and curated by very passionate people.
After lunch we traveled to Majdanek to see the concentration camp/extermination camp on the outskirts of the city. This experience was different than Treblinka, though just as emotional. Because the Soviets liberated Majdanek before the Nazis could destroy it, most of the structures were preserved. We toured the barracks and the exhibits which showed the conditions prisoners faced. The journey continued up the hill to the crematory. No words can express the feelings of sadness and loss I felt there. I have read a lot of books on the Holocaust, seen pictures and movies, but seeing the ovens in person almost knocked the wind out of me.
Right past the crematory is a memorial containing the ashes of the victims. It was here that we held a memorial service in memory of those murdered at Majdanek.
We then traveled to Howard Chandler’s town, Starachowice. After dinner, Howard had a riveting talk about his life and how he lived before the war and how he survived the Holocaust. He is a wonderful speaker and his love for his family is apparent. He described the lucky choices that were made which helped him survive his ordeal. He described the choiceless choices his family were forced to make without knowing what was happening or how things would turn out. At Treblinka the other day, we learned that his mother, sister and younger brother were killed there. Tonight he went into detail on the steps they took to try to keep everyone alive. He repeated that he could not believe that this could happen in a so-called civilized world. But he shares his experience with us so that we can bear witness and work to ensure this never happens again. I am thankful for this opportunity to see these sites firsthand but more importantly to meet Howard and learn his story.
Meg Frank is a teacher at Riverside High School.