Day 1, Warsaw: posted by Jules Olsman

As LOT Airlines Flight 04 from Chicago touched down at the Warsaw airport, I gave pause to the fact that it had been 62 years since anyone in my family had been in Poland. The last time it occurred, my father, Charles Olsman returned after the end of the war to learn that all seven of his siblings and their families had apparently perished. He then left and never returned.. I am confident that he never imagined that his son would ever journey here.


We went directly from the airport to the 200 year old Okapova Cemetery. Here are the graves of many distinguished Polish Jews going back two hundred years.. There is also a large open area covered by grass containing an unknown number of men, women and children who died in the Warsaw Ghetto and were buried en masse. Our group led by Rabbi Berkun said Kaddish in what can only be described as a very emotional moment.

One our guides, Muki, a self described Jewish educator from South Africa keeps reminding us that there is much to talk about here in Warsaw in terms of Jewish history, but not all that much to see, because it was all destroyed. His commentary at the Monument to the Uprising and the Umschlagplatz, the site of the railroad deportation of 300,000 Jews was informative. The places themselves are profoundly inspiring and disturbing, as they should be to all of humanity.

When we watched the Pianist, it seemed hard to believe that the destruction of Warsaw by the Germans could have been as devastating as it was depicted. It is obvious from driving around this centuries old city that the devastation was indeed nearly complete. Very little “old” remains here.

We enjoyed a very good dinner together. We look forward to continuing this very emotional trip tomorrow as we head to Lublin.

Posted By Jules Olsman.

Here is a link to photgraphs from today: http://picasaweb.google.com/jonberkun/Day1PolandWarsawMondayApril302007