SINCE so many posts have been lost, I've decided to post those posts that have survived (In this case those posted on other blogs) . . . keep in mind that this is old news. (I know, I know -You've all read it before, but think of it like meeting a lost friend . . . or at least looking through a old photo album that brings back happy memories . . . or like the joy when you . . . oh, forget it -just let me do what I want so I can feel better)
NOTE: If you have any old posts on your computer -be they saved, e-mailed or in the cache, I would be most apreciated if you could send them to me.
Lost post 1: The Lublin Trip
Before we get started a little humour:
Busted -the two cleaning ladies (the button breaker on the left, the mikva lady on the right) taking a smoking break on our front porch.
As I reported the other day we went on a trip to Majdanek/Lublin (Does not rhyme with Dublin). Note: those pictures with a star next to them were taken by Yankel Adler (see Yankel -I told you that you'd get credit)
*
The Van
Our first stop was the Beis Hak'varos (the Graveyard)
The entrance to the cemetery in Kazimrz the Grave stones were those broken by the Germans and redone as a memorial
Most of the Metzvos (Head Stones) were destroyed, but several could be found standing. Notice the intricately engraved on the stones.
Fallen Matzevos
After we left our tour guide, Thomas (who, though not Jewish, speaks Hebrew and Yiddish -as well as English), took us to the town square -where most of the shops had once been Jewish.
The town square
We took a group picture there:
We saw the old shul -it had been used as a theatre during Communist times, but was now being restored and then set off on our way . . .
Note: Some people are very disturbed by pictures etc. of Concentration camps. If viewing/reading will bring discomfort, please don't let it be on my account, I advise you to skip ahead until you see the next set of Bold letters.
Our first stop in the Lublin area was Majdanek (Pronounced Maydanek -If you haven't heard of it, it's time to do some basic Holocaust reading). Though it was once out in the country, it's now in the middle of the suburbs surrounded by house on two sides.
"Entrance to Hell." One feels himself slowly descending, only to realize that escape is almost impossible.
a view of part of the camp
Some Basic History:(taken from Wikipedia) Majdanek is the site of a Nazi concentration and extermination camp, roughly four kilometers away from the center of the Polish city Lublin. Unlike many other Nazi concentration and extermination camps, Majdanek is not hidden away in some remote forest or obscured from view by natural barriers, nor was it surrounded by a "security zone". It was established in October 1941, at Heinlich Himmler's orders, following his visit to Lublin in July 1941. Majdanek was an SS-run prisoner-of-war camp, under the command of Karl Otto Koch. In February 1943, it was turned into a concentration camp.
In October 1942, several female SS troopers arrived from the Ravensbruck camp in Germany, where they were trained. These women included Elsa Erich, Hermine Braunsteiner, Hildegard Lachert and Rosy Suess. Elisabeth Knoblich was one of the ruthless overseers in the camp. She was so brutal and sadistic that even her fellow Aufseherinnen feared her and nicknamed her "Halt Die Klappe" (Shut Your Mouth!). When the Soviets liberated Majdanek, they found unending evidence that pointed to the ruthless attitude of the female overseers.
The camp's name derives from a Lublin district called Majdan Tatarski, and was given it in 1941 by the locals, who were certainly aware of its existence. The original German name of the camp was "Konzentrationslager Lublin" (Concentration Camp Lublin).
At its peak operation, it held about 50,000 inmates. In the early months of 1942, plans were made and approved to expand Majdanek to contain as many as 250,000 inmates. Between April 1942 and July 1944, extermination took place in Majdanek using gas chambers and crematoria. Madjanek was one of two death camps that used Zyklon B in its gas chambers. However, carbon monoxide was also used.
According to the data from the official Majdanek State Museum (see external link below) about 300,000 inmates passed through the camp, with over 40% Jews and about 35% Poles. Other major nationalities included Belarusians, Ukrainians, Russians, Germans, Austrians, French, Italians and Dutch. It is estimated that over 235,000 human lives were lost in Majdanek, including about 100,000 Jews. Majdanek was unique among the death camps in that the Jewish victims did not form an overwhelming majority.
Majdanek provided slave labor for munitions works and the Steyr-Daimler-Puch weapons factory.
The camp was liquidated in July 1944, but the crematoria were all that could be destroyed before the Red Army arrived, making Majdanek the best-preserved camp of the Holocaust. Although 1,000 inmates were evacuated on a death march, the Red Army found thousands of inmates, mainly POW, still in the camp and ample evidence of the mass murder that had occurred there.
The Hospital for the German Officers
The Lodgings for the SS men.
We then came to the Roll Call grounds, where people were brought when they first arrived, and divided . . .
The chambers, labeled as Baths (so as to calm the victims), at the time they were in use the place was full of roses as well -so as to further deceive those entering Majdanek.
Next were the shower rooms, after shaving off the hair of those about to be murdered (the hair was used to to defray the cost of buying zyklon b), they were herded into the showers so as to calm them (to allay their fears that they were to be killed) and to open the pores in the skin so that the gas can better enter the body.
the walls of the chambers, dyed blue by the Zyklon B. Zyklon B
As mentioned, Majdanek is one of the best preserved Concentration camps, however after the war the Poles were in acute need of housing, they therefor broke down three of the four "fields" -bunker units, as well the the dog kennels and other parts of the camp.
The foundations of a building, notice how today people now live right outside of the camp.
After the war there were over 80,000 shoes left from those murdered. 60,00 were stolen by the poles for their own use -the rest are now on display.
The double barbed wire electric gates.
We then entered the only remaining field, where the inmates lived.
A monument made by inmates on request of the officers so that if the Red Cross were to come the camp would look more hospitable. The artists hid a canister of ashes within the monument -so that it would also serve as a sign of the atrocities that the Germans had done.
We then went to the back of the camp to the most horrid place that I've ever been . .
The camp is full of crows -our guide said that they were the SS and Kapos, come back to spend their lives in their horrid camp. Though I don't know it to be true, it certainly is poetic justice.
*
Approaching the "new" gas chamber/crematorium and mausoleum where 20 containers of human ashes left over by Germans were placed by the Russians as a testimony to the world. It says on it (in Polish) "Let our fate be a warning."
The "new" Gas chamber/Crematorium built during the second half of the war near the back of the camp.
the Gas Chambers A table used to dissect victims who might have swallowed valuables
The Bathtub that belonged to the head Officer, it was heated by the crematorium
Light entry the crematorium Some pictures need no caption
Though these roses are new, it is known that ash from the crematorium was used to fertilize the flowers.
We then went to the mausoleum, passing the mass graves, of 18,400 Jews killed in Majdanek on November 3. That day a total of 42,000 Jews were murdered in the Lublin area. The Germans later dug up the bodies and burned them so that the Russians would not be able to know the exact number of those murdered.
*
We davened Mincha and sang Al Tira: Do not fear sudden terror, nor the destruction of the wicked when it comes. Contrive a scheme, but it will be foiled; conspire a plot, but it will not materialize, for G-d is with us. To your old age Ia am [with you]; to your hoary years I will sustain you; I have made you, and I will carry you; I will sustain you and deliver you.
Indeed, the righteous will extol Your Name; the upright will dwell in Your presence.
On to Lublin:
The Ohel of Reb Tzadok haCohen, Reb Leibele Eiger and his family, in the new Lublin Cemetery. Of the four original cemeteries, two were completely destroyed, and part of the new one was paved over for a road. We then went to the old Bais Hak'varos
Inside the Choze's Ohel The Maharshal's Ohel
Yeshivas Chachmie Lublin (Taken using Chaim van Helem's head as a tripod)
The Zal
The Mikvah
We then went to the old city -Jewish quarter
A ghetto house
taking a break in a "Jewish" restaurant
an old lady in the old town
The Town square (Jews were not allowed there)
We then returned to Yeshiva.
Lost Post 2: Reb Duvid
NOTE: If you have any old posts on your computer -be they saved, e-mailed or in the cache, I would be most apreciated if you could send them to me.
Lost post 1: The Lublin Trip
Before we get started a little humour:
Busted -the two cleaning ladies (the button breaker on the left, the mikva lady on the right) taking a smoking break on our front porch.
As I reported the other day we went on a trip to Majdanek/Lublin (Does not rhyme with Dublin). Note: those pictures with a star next to them were taken by Yankel Adler (see Yankel -I told you that you'd get credit)
*
The Van
Our first stop was a small shtetl known Kazimrz (Pronounced Kazhim'sh, known by the Jews as Kuzmir (which sounds a lot like Kush Mir . . .)) It still is in many respects a shtetl -on the way there we saw a guy plowing his field with a horse!
Our first stop was the Beis Hak'varos (the Graveyard)
The entrance to the cemetery in Kazimrz the Grave stones were those broken by the Germans and redone as a memorial
Most of the Metzvos (Head Stones) were destroyed, but several could be found standing. Notice the intricately engraved on the stones.
Fallen Matzevos
After we left our tour guide, Thomas (who, though not Jewish, speaks Hebrew and Yiddish -as well as English), took us to the town square -where most of the shops had once been Jewish.
The town square
We took a group picture there:
We saw the old shul -it had been used as a theatre during Communist times, but was now being restored and then set off on our way . . .
Note: Some people are very disturbed by pictures etc. of Concentration camps. If viewing/reading will bring discomfort, please don't let it be on my account, I advise you to skip ahead until you see the next set of Bold letters.
Our first stop in the Lublin area was Majdanek (Pronounced Maydanek -If you haven't heard of it, it's time to do some basic Holocaust reading). Though it was once out in the country, it's now in the middle of the suburbs surrounded by house on two sides.
"Entrance to Hell." One feels himself slowly descending, only to realize that escape is almost impossible.
a view of part of the camp
Some Basic History:(taken from Wikipedia) Majdanek is the site of a Nazi concentration and extermination camp, roughly four kilometers away from the center of the Polish city Lublin. Unlike many other Nazi concentration and extermination camps, Majdanek is not hidden away in some remote forest or obscured from view by natural barriers, nor was it surrounded by a "security zone". It was established in October 1941, at Heinlich Himmler's orders, following his visit to Lublin in July 1941. Majdanek was an SS-run prisoner-of-war camp, under the command of Karl Otto Koch. In February 1943, it was turned into a concentration camp.
In October 1942, several female SS troopers arrived from the Ravensbruck camp in Germany, where they were trained. These women included Elsa Erich, Hermine Braunsteiner, Hildegard Lachert and Rosy Suess. Elisabeth Knoblich was one of the ruthless overseers in the camp. She was so brutal and sadistic that even her fellow Aufseherinnen feared her and nicknamed her "Halt Die Klappe" (Shut Your Mouth!). When the Soviets liberated Majdanek, they found unending evidence that pointed to the ruthless attitude of the female overseers.
The camp's name derives from a Lublin district called Majdan Tatarski, and was given it in 1941 by the locals, who were certainly aware of its existence. The original German name of the camp was "Konzentrationslager Lublin" (Concentration Camp Lublin).
At its peak operation, it held about 50,000 inmates. In the early months of 1942, plans were made and approved to expand Majdanek to contain as many as 250,000 inmates. Between April 1942 and July 1944, extermination took place in Majdanek using gas chambers and crematoria. Madjanek was one of two death camps that used Zyklon B in its gas chambers. However, carbon monoxide was also used.
According to the data from the official Majdanek State Museum (see external link below) about 300,000 inmates passed through the camp, with over 40% Jews and about 35% Poles. Other major nationalities included Belarusians, Ukrainians, Russians, Germans, Austrians, French, Italians and Dutch. It is estimated that over 235,000 human lives were lost in Majdanek, including about 100,000 Jews. Majdanek was unique among the death camps in that the Jewish victims did not form an overwhelming majority.
Majdanek provided slave labor for munitions works and the Steyr-Daimler-Puch weapons factory.
The camp was liquidated in July 1944, but the crematoria were all that could be destroyed before the Red Army arrived, making Majdanek the best-preserved camp of the Holocaust. Although 1,000 inmates were evacuated on a death march, the Red Army found thousands of inmates, mainly POW, still in the camp and ample evidence of the mass murder that had occurred there.
The Hospital for the German Officers
The Lodgings for the SS men.
We then came to the Roll Call grounds, where people were brought when they first arrived, and divided . . .
The chambers, labeled as Baths (so as to calm the victims), at the time they were in use the place was full of roses as well -so as to further deceive those entering Majdanek.
Next were the shower rooms, after shaving off the hair of those about to be murdered (the hair was used to to defray the cost of buying zyklon b), they were herded into the showers so as to calm them (to allay their fears that they were to be killed) and to open the pores in the skin so that the gas can better enter the body.
the walls of the chambers, dyed blue by the Zyklon B. Zyklon B
As mentioned, Majdanek is one of the best preserved Concentration camps, however after the war the Poles were in acute need of housing, they therefor broke down three of the four "fields" -bunker units, as well the the dog kennels and other parts of the camp.
The foundations of a building, notice how today people now live right outside of the camp.
After the war there were over 80,000 shoes left from those murdered. 60,00 were stolen by the poles for their own use -the rest are now on display.
The double barbed wire electric gates.
We then entered the only remaining field, where the inmates lived.
A monument made by inmates on request of the officers so that if the Red Cross were to come the camp would look more hospitable. The artists hid a canister of ashes within the monument -so that it would also serve as a sign of the atrocities that the Germans had done.
We then went to the back of the camp to the most horrid place that I've ever been . .
The camp is full of crows -our guide said that they were the SS and Kapos, come back to spend their lives in their horrid camp. Though I don't know it to be true, it certainly is poetic justice.
*
Approaching the "new" gas chamber/crematorium and mausoleum where 20 containers of human ashes left over by Germans were placed by the Russians as a testimony to the world. It says on it (in Polish) "Let our fate be a warning."
The "new" Gas chamber/Crematorium built during the second half of the war near the back of the camp.
the Gas Chambers A table used to dissect victims who might have swallowed valuables
The Bathtub that belonged to the head Officer, it was heated by the crematorium
Light entry the crematorium Some pictures need no caption
Though these roses are new, it is known that ash from the crematorium was used to fertilize the flowers.
We then went to the mausoleum, passing the mass graves, of 18,400 Jews killed in Majdanek on November 3. That day a total of 42,000 Jews were murdered in the Lublin area. The Germans later dug up the bodies and burned them so that the Russians would not be able to know the exact number of those murdered.
*
We davened Mincha and sang Al Tira: Do not fear sudden terror, nor the destruction of the wicked when it comes. Contrive a scheme, but it will be foiled; conspire a plot, but it will not materialize, for G-d is with us. To your old age Ia am [with you]; to your hoary years I will sustain you; I have made you, and I will carry you; I will sustain you and deliver you.
Indeed, the righteous will extol Your Name; the upright will dwell in Your presence.
On to Lublin:
The Ohel of Reb Tzadok haCohen, Reb Leibele Eiger and his family, in the new Lublin Cemetery. Of the four original cemeteries, two were completely destroyed, and part of the new one was paved over for a road. We then went to the old Bais Hak'varos
Inside the Choze's Ohel The Maharshal's Ohel
Yeshivas Chachmie Lublin (Taken using Chaim van Helem's head as a tripod)
The Zal
The Mikvah
We then went to the old city -Jewish quarter
A ghetto house
taking a break in a "Jewish" restaurant
an old lady in the old town
The Town square (Jews were not allowed there)
We then returned to Yeshiva.
Lost Post 2: Reb Duvid
Reb Duvid puts on Tefillin for the first time in almost 70 years
at least thats what he claims! Reb Duvid also came by to put on tefillin yesterday, he couldn't get over the fact that he still knew how to put them on (He also knew the whole Davvening by heart, was the best cantor in his town -this at the time that he had every Shikza in town waiting outside his window every night and was in the Red Army and Siberia.)
Last night the Shluchim Warsaw decided to spend a little time strengthening the achudus of the Kvutza . . . after all we've only been together for two weeks so we decided to check out whats on the mind of each other etc. goals ....
Big Z. doing the Mitzvah tantz
Me . . . Polish style
Proze (Prozhe as in the Zh of gezhe)
It was my Brithday yesterday -as I'm sure you all know and have already sent out you gifts- and we made a Farbrengen last night with R' Zalmen Stambler.
Among other things that were said I'll mention one:
We arrived Parshas Noach -where Hashem tells Noach "Tzei min hateiva" ("Go out of the ark"). That we did, we left yeshiva, as it were, to go on shlichus and become "involved" in the world -tzu tun mit nach a Yidden. If so, fregt zich the sha'alo, what more do I need tgo do? I went out, I went on a shlichus -Ich bin shoin gantz. That's why it's parshas Lech Lecha, we need to go deeper, to leave our habbits, to be ibergegeben tzum Rebben -an eved's whole goal is to give nachas to his master.
The Farbrengen is underway
The cake that Sholom Ber got me
We went to (Jewish) Cemetery yesterday, it's only a few minutes away from us, but it feels like it's years back in time.
The Germans left it (almost) untouched, Izo explained, the two of the most probable reasons being that either they wanted to save it for their (in)famous "Museum . . ." or that they wanted to show the world that they weren't so bad -why hey, they left the world famous Warsaw Cemetery in tact.
The place is huge, there are around 250,000 people buried their -that's a quarter of a million! It's relatively new as cemeteries go, only about 200 years old, but in it rest many famous people.
list of names of Tzaddikim interred here including The Chemdas Shlomo, Reb. Chaim Brisker, the son of the Apter Rav and more.
mass grave memorial
The site of the mass graves from Ghetto sent chills down my spine. There were so many people dieing that there was no time for them to be buried properly, therefore they were put in a large mass grave, there are approx. 10,000 people there! Hashem yekum Damum
17 bones of people who died in the Ghetto found at some later date and brought to "kever Yisroel"
Lost Post 5: Those first few days
The only Shul left by the Germans Y'mach shemum, from front and interior, as well the inside of our Zal and Hatomim Hashliach Yudi Winterfeld learning with one of the locals.
learning . . .
. . . real hard . . .
. . . through osmosis
7 comments:
Which city is that R' Duvid from?
He looks familiar.
Warsaw.
I had someone help me compare the two photos and neither one of us can decide if it's him or not.
Nu nu.
Post a picture on line, and I'll tell you
I don't know how to. Is it possible in a comment?
I would say post it on your blog, but I can't even view it these days (hmphh).
Upload it using picasa, then put the link in the comments here.
http://picasaweb.google.com/chavdasab/DuvidOLo/photo#5231945779007709778
I could invite you. I don't think I mind strangers.
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