POLAND - WARSAW AND KRAKOWWe took the morning to learn more the Jewish history in Warsaw, so we started at the Jewish Cemetery, right outside of what used to be the Warsaw Ghetto. Basically the ghetto was an area created by Nazi Germans in 1940 for Jewish people to live, separated from the rest of the Poles. They were not allowed to leave the area and suddenly 30% of Warsaw's population were living in about 2.4% of the city's area. It was an average of 17 families per house. The conditions were terrible. Rapidly people started dying of diseases and starvation. The academy-award Roman Polanski movie "The Pianist" was about a survivor of the ghetto.
THE UPRAISING AND DESTRUCTION OF THE WARSAW GHETTO
In 1942 the Nazi -Germans started to send Jewish people from the Warsaw Ghetto to Treblinka, a concentration camp. This forced the residents of the ghetto to fight back the Nazis, in 1943. At first they succeeded: after 4 days of fighting, the expulsion of Jews was stopped and the resistance group took over the Ghetto control. But on the eve of Passover, (April 19, 1943) the Nazi Germans won the final battle, killing hundreds, sending the survivors to concentration camps and burning the remaining buildings.
Today the area is completely developed and there is nothing that suggest the atrocities that happened there in the past. Still, we wanted to visit it and learn more about this dark history. And we got more than we asked for.
We got at the Jewish Cemetery at around 11 am and immediately we realized that it wasn't a regular day there. Police officers walked all over, while TV trucks and reporters were getting ready for what it looked to be an important coverage. I, like any other reporter, quickly looked for more information. That's how I was told by a television crew that they were there for the funeral of a hero.
Marek Edelman was one of the few survivors of the Warsaw Ghetto, and one of its leaders. We died last Friday at age of 90. As I learned talking to people and reading about it afterwards, the was a brave man.
SEE WHAT WIKIPEDIA SAYS ABOUT MAREK EDELMAN:
Marek Edelman was a Polish-Jewish political and social activist as well as cardiologist.
During World War II, he was one of the founders of the Jewish Combat Organization. He took part in the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and became its leader following the death of Mordechaj Anielewicz. He also took part in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. When he died on the 2nd of October 2009 he was the last surviving leader of the Ghetto Uprising.[2][3]
After the war he remained in Poland and became a noted cardiologist. From the 1970s he collaborated with the Workers' Defence Committee and other political groups opposing Poland's Communist regime. As a member of Solidarity, he took part in the Polish Round Table Talks of 1989. Following the peaceful transformations of 1989, he was a member of various centrist parties. He also authored books documenting the history of wartime resistance against the German Nazi occupation.
While we were waiting for the funeral, at the Jewish cemetery, I met Simon, a 22-year-old non-Jewish Polish engineering student who travelled three hours, from the mountains to be part of the ceremony. Why? "Because he was a hero". Simon regrets have not met Marek Edelman in person, so he made sure he was there to say his final goodbye to a man who represents for him the fighting for justice.
During World War II, he was one of the founders of the Jewish Combat Organization. He took part in the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and became its leader following the death of Mordechaj Anielewicz. He also took part in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. When he died on the 2nd of October 2009 he was the last surviving leader of the Ghetto Uprising.[2][3]
After the war he remained in Poland and became a noted cardiologist. From the 1970s he collaborated with the Workers' Defence Committee and other political groups opposing Poland's Communist regime. As a member of Solidarity, he took part in the Polish Round Table Talks of 1989. Following the peaceful transformations of 1989, he was a member of various centrist parties. He also authored books documenting the history of wartime resistance against the German Nazi occupation.
While we were waiting for the funeral, at the Jewish cemetery, I met Simon, a 22-year-old non-Jewish Polish engineering student who travelled three hours, from the mountains to be part of the ceremony. Why? "Because he was a hero". Simon regrets have not met Marek Edelman in person, so he made sure he was there to say his final goodbye to a man who represents for him the fighting for justice. I was really impressed with Simon's interest in politics and human rights issues and thought about North America's youth, who are most of the time completely unaware about basic day-by-day happenings. This boy was also passionated about the changes that have been happening in all east Europe, although he was only two years old when the Berlin Wall went down.
And Simon was not the only youth there. As you can see in the photos bellow, many young people joined thousands of people to pay the last respect to the man "who would not let the light dim", as Edelman is known.
FROM TODAY'S WARSAW POST:
Marek Edelman (1919-2009) was buried in Warsaw’s Jewish Cemetery today. The last leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was considered to be a moral authority and an irreplaceable individual.
About 2,000 people took part in the ceremony, many joining the procession spontaneously as it moved through numerous parts of the city important to its Jewish heritage, including the Heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto Statue.
The ceremony, which was conducted as a military funeral, included many Jewish and Polish themes. It was attended by many prominent Poles and members of the Jewish community in Poland, including Polish President Lech Kaczyński, the former Polish Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki and former Izraeli ambassador to Poland Shevah Weiss.Mazowiecki described Edelman as a guardian of the memory of WWII, and a guardian of principles in post-communist Poland. Weiss said that Edelman was a hero of both the Polish and the Jewish nations.
Edelman’s biography is extraordinary. He was born in Belarus but grew up in Warsaw. He was the last leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943 and also took part in the Warsaw Uprising in 1944. After the war he became a distinguished cardiologist, and from the mid 1970s he actively supported the anti-communist opposition.
He was a member of the Solidarity independent trade union from 1980 and was interned during martial law. In 1989, he took part in the round table negotiations, and was politically active afterwards.He was known for his modesty and realistic approach to life and death.
He never allowed himself to be called a hero. Yet he received countless awards. In 1989 he was given a Doctorate Honoris Causa from Yale University, and in 1998 he received the Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest decoration. In 2008 he was awarded the French Legion of Honour.
Marek Edelman passed away on 2 October at his family home in Warsaw.
From the Jewish cemetery, we walked along John Paul II street where you can see where the Warsaw Ghetto wall used to be. The whole thing was destroyed during the war.
After this heavy but fascinating history class we left Poland's capital to Krakow, a very popular tourist destination.
This time the train was really good. The three hour ride was so smooth that I didn't feel like arriving so soon. My parents loved it too and they can be seeing here having some "cafe com mistura".
The view was very rural. Again it reminded me of south of Alberta, in Canada.
From Krakow's train station we came to the hotel right away. It was a very good, but intense day. Although we are exhausted, I am glad we could be there to witness this historic happening for Jews in Poland - and maybe for the whole country: the burial of the last surviving leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943.
From Krakow's train station we came to the hotel right away. It was a very good, but intense day. Although we are exhausted, I am glad we could be there to witness this historic happening for Jews in Poland - and maybe for the whole country: the burial of the last surviving leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943.
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