Sacred Ground

Being a neophyte to blogging, I am looking to Jill for advise and direction. She explained that this is all about me sharing what I am doing, my reactions, ideas and feelings. No history lessons, no in depth references, no facts and figures. So here goes...

We landed in Warsaw on Monday morning and it was fitting to begin our journey in Poland at the Jewish Cemetary on the edge of what was the Warsaw ghetto. It was sunny as we left the airport, but the temperature had dropped by the time we got to the Cemetary. The cold went through all of us, physically and emotionally. I was surprised that such a massive Jewish cemetery was left standing after the War. According to our guide, there are only theories as to why the nazis did not destroy it along with the ghetto. Grave markers dating back to the early 1800s represent only a fraction of the 1000 years since Jews first came to Poland. At the beginning of the Holocaust, there were 3 million Jews in Poland; one third of Warsaw's population was Jewish. Today, there are less than 20,000 Jews.

This place tells the stories of a vibrant and diverse Jewish community. Doctors, rabbis, educators, actors, musicians, and community leaders. Many of the monuments are intricately carved with symbols depicting their lives and the contributions they made. In the center of the cemetery is a clearing, marked by stones with black stripes. It was here that people from the Ghetto came each day to bury their dead, most in unmarked and mass graves.

I thought about the responsibility we all have to remember. Visiting this Cemetary is one such way. It is clear that remembering will be a recurring theme over the next four days.