On the first full day of our trip we visited the Polin museum. As our guide said, “we traveled through 1000 years of history in an hour and a half.” While there was so much information to take in, what really stuck with me was the placards dedicated to heroic individuals in the Warsaw Ghetto. Our guide mentioned that the museum is dedicated to sharing the stories of the victims and survivors of the Holocaust.
One story in particular was of a man who sought out and collected books that he lended out to his community—operating a covert library. Our guide commented that during that horrific time, people escaped into stories—films, literature, music. It made me reflect on the power of literature.
As a librarian, I truly believe that a book can be transformative. It can provide comfort and escape. After the museum, I started thinking about the books and stories that were significant to me in learning about the Holocaust. Books like “Daniel’s Story,” “Night,” “The Devil’s Arithmetic, “Maus,” and “The Diary of Anne Frank.”
Today the stories of the men and women reflected on those placards in the Polin Museum came to life as we visited the remnants of Warsaw Ghetto and the Umschlagplatz memorial—which is dedicated to the nearly 300,000 Jews that passed through on the way to Treblinka.
Seeing the actual sites that have appeared in the books I have read is an indescribable feeling. I am seeing firsthand the settings of books I have treasured and shared with others.
