Day 15: Epilogue

Day 15:  epilogue

What have we learned?

We learned a great deal about European 'facilities'.  We can tell you in detail about the porcelain of Europe as bathrooms were the second most important stop on every day of touring.

We have learned a great deal about each other.  This small group of travelers from TAS became a family over the course of our two weeks together.  how will we eat alone?  

We have all grown a great deal ... Both in pant size and in knowledge.  No matter the level of expertise about the Holocaust we all learned a great deal about the topography of this most nightmarish piece of our history.

We learned that America stands outside the arc of Jewish history.  The freedom and acceptance we have been graced with in this country is truly exceptional.  I think we all understand sa great deal better now how important it it to protect and defend that liberty that was never granted us very long in anyplace in the two millennia history of our people.

We all understand much more profoundly the importance of Israel.  How different might the world be today, if our families and communities would have had a place to which they could go when every other door was barred and every window closed?

We learned to laugh, to appreciate each other and the moment.  There were some incredibly difficult moments, but together we pushed through them ... And always, always returned to the celebration life.

Day 14: Potsdam and the Wansee conference

Day 14: Potsdam and Wansee

Our final day in Berlin we made our way to Wansee, where, at a beautiful, idyllic setting the Nazi high command decided on the 'final solution to the Jewish problem'.

Our first stop was a beautiful upper class neighborhood in a western Berlin suburb call Grunewald. Here the upper crust lived including a healthy number of the social elite. The quiet neighborhood, with it's train station became one of the primary deportation points for the Jews of Berlin.

We were joined for the day by Johannes, a PhD candidate in Jewish/German studies who provided wonderful insight and information throughout the day.

He gave us his theory that the German's picked this quiet, out of the way suburb on purpose in order to not cause too much commotion around the 'relocation'. We walked up to 'platform 17' which was the place where Jews were loaded onto trains. Along both sides of the platform was inscribed in iron plaques the chronology of the transports.


Especially moving was the discovery of one transport of 953 Berliners to Minsk. A day earlier Karen had shared with us the story of her father's family, who had been deported to Minsk and presumably died there. Here, on this railroad platform, Karen stood, where, most likely her relatives had stood on the journey that ultimately ended their lives.

From there we traveled to Wansee, a very large and beautiful lake, set in the forests west of Berlin that is clearly a favorite vacation and recreational spot for Berliners. Here in January 1942 the final solution was established. In realty, the mechanisms for the extermination of the Jewish people were already in place and in operation. But this meeting was really to get everyone on the same page. All documentation of the conversations at the meeting were supposed to have been destroyed. But, one copy of the transcript was found in the Office of Foreign affairs after the war.

We toured the rooms where the Wansee conference took place, going from room to room through an excellent exhibit documenting all that had led to the war and finally to this 'solution'. As if one needed a reminder, it is made strikingly clear that Hitler did not spring out of the blue. Virulent anti-Semitism had existed for years in Germany. The religious anti-Semitism of old was supplanted by a race based anti-Semitism that deemed, from as early as the end of the 19th century that the Jews we a threat to the German race. Indeed, it was the 'evil' doings of the Jews and their false alliances and allegiances that was ultimately seen by many as the cause for the German loss in WWI.

We then stopped for a lakeside lunch where a number of us ordered 'quiche's' that turned out to be rather large pizzas instead. I settled for a 'salmon' salad that turned out to be a lox salad. And, given that my lunch arrived 15 minutes after everyone else's, it must have been freshly smoked!

Following lunch we set off for a tour of Sans Souci, Frederick the II's summer residence ... And

On the way we walked across the bridge where, during the cold war spies and prisoners were exchanged from one side to the other. It was famously here that Natan Sharansky came to the west.
It is important to remember that there was not only a wall that split the city in two, but the was also a wall surrounding West Berlin, which was an island of Democracy in the middle of the GDR (German Democratic (ha) Republic).

Then it was on to Sans Souci which was, dare I say, truly a pleasure palace. 'Sans souci' means without sadness, and indeed it seems that Fred did all that he could to make that so. Statues of Bacchus the wine god fill the palace. He had a taste for good food, good wine and French philosophy. And women were not allowed in this ornately decorated place. Fred, it seems, was not so fond of women. While he was married even his wife was not allowed in this place. But Voltaire was allowed ... And while the other guest rooms were rather plain, his was beautifully decorated. Perhaps Frederick II had a taste not only for French philosophy, but for French philosophers as well?

Then it was back to Berlin for our last memorial visit: the former head quarters of the Gestapo which is now called 'The Topography of Terror". This museum is bordered on one side by the remains of the Berlin wall. Ironically enough, this concrete wall whose purpose was to separate now must itself be separated, fenced off from souvenir seekers who might otherwise help themselves to a bit of history.

In Germany and throughout our journeys we have heard continually things categorized as 'before 89' and 'after 89'. It to conceive of, but the Shoah is almost ancient history. Howard noted that when we were growing up in the 60's and speaking about the 1890's it was prehistoric for us. So too, for the children of Germany, indeed for all our children. 1941 / 42, when the final solution was agreed to, was 70 years ago.

The museum itself is situated on the grounds of Gestapo headquarters which was demolished in allied bombing during the war; and is dedicated outside to the torture and death of prisoners. Inside is a chronological look at how this cam about. What is clear is that there was a great deal of popular support for the Nazis. First, they fed on the already established, racially based anti-Semitism and suspicion of all this different. Second, they relied a great deal on intimidation, scaring people into submission and participation ... In that way keeping the citizenry in line. Although, to be clear they had a great deal of support, much based upon their ability to better living conditions in severely economically depressed Germany. (much of this growth can be attributed to the building of a war machine).

Like all exhibits, it is well constructed and executed ... And once again points to the German silliness to own up and take responsibility for the horror and death that they caused.

Following a brief break we met up with our tour guide Mona, who asked if she could join us for our final dinner. She did. More than that, guiding us through subway stations to probably the best meal we had in Germany, at an outstanding Turkish restaurant. With good food and gear company we soon lost track of time. Before we knew it 11p.m. Had arrived. We journeyed the subways in reverse where we all headed to our rooms to finish packing and prepare for an early morning journey to the airport and home.

Tomorrow: epilogue ... Some final thoughts as we return home.

Day 13: West Berlin

Day 13: West Berlin

Today's adventure began with a tour of a few sites we had missed in East Berlin: the Bebelplatz, site of the book burning in 1933, when the Nazi's burned thousands of books they considered to be in opposition to their philosophy. This happened in the square surround by the University and the Berlin opera ... in other words in the center of intellect and culture. And what more is there that you need to know? The suppression of ideas and the terrorizing of those that espouse and support those ideas says all you need to know about any oppressive regime.

As it is Fashion Week in Berlin, we also viewed a small square with a memorial to the Jewish contribution to the fashion industry. In fact, the steps of the subway entrance in that square list the names of those prominent members of the fashion community, (many of whom were Jewish) that were lost in the Holocaust.

And here is the interesting thing I have discovered in Germany: it is almost as if every neighborhood, every industry, every particular interest want to make sure to remember 'their' Jews. Unlike Poland, or Hungary ... and perhaps to a lesser extent the Czech Republic, where there are memorials to the 'victims' (most of whom, if not all, were Jewish), here there is a deliberate consciousness to recognize the Jewish community that was lost and the most major contributions to Berlin and to German.


Nothing speaks to this more than the magnificent Jewish Museum of Berlin. The brilliant architect of this building, Leibnitz, takes you physically through the journey of German Jewry, as through museum artifacts and artwork you learn the story of the almost 2000 years of Jewish life in Germany. The journey begins and ends with the Shoah, as the most distinct and terrible marker in the history of German Jewry. But then you wind your way through a most interesting building, encountering not only fascinating exhibits that tell a most important story, but also 'void' spaces, interruptions in the story that serve as a constant reminder of the moments of terror and death that continually interrupted the continuity of Jewish life in Germany. And yet, as you learn from even the staircase you ascend to the top of the exhibition whose steps extend beyond the exhibition, there remains a future, the story is not complete. We may not know where our steps will lead us, but certainly even this museum can not tell the entire story, which has yet to be written.

This museum, is, in and of itself, worth the trip to Berlin. One can not be in the vicinity of Berlin and miss this very, very impressive and important testament to the Jewish community of Berlin, Germany and, by extension, Europe.

Of course, there was a brief moment for shopping as well as we ventured ever so briefly to KaDeWe, the famous, Jewishly built and once again Jewishly owned department story in West Berlin. This huge department store has a little bit of everything ... but we, in particular made our way to the 4th floor where the souvenirs could be found ... or to the 6th floor with its most impressive display of all sort of delectable treats. We bought and we ate and we saved some for later.

Returning to the bus, our tour guide Mona had waiting for us 'Berliners', these are the original soufganiyot ... or jelly donuts that we eat on Hanukkah. And this led to the continuation of a debate we have been having for two days about J.F.K's famous words in 1961 following the building of the Berlin wall. In order to express solidarity with the now surrounded West Berliners and imprisoned East Berliners he famously stood on the balcony of a West Berlin civic building and declared "Ich bin ein Berliner" (my apologies if i have not quite gotten the spelling of the German) I am a Berliner ... or, as has been noted, "I am a jelly donut!", as Berliner is also the name of these tasty treats. The truth is both are correct. And further, the people of Berlin clearly knew what Kennedy was saying , even though they do not express themselves this way. So that they are not confused with jelly donuts, they tend to say, Ich bin aus Berlin, I am from Berlin. So take your pick, JFK could have been expressing his solidarity, or the fact that he was hungry ... or maybe both all wrapped up quite efficiently in one German sentence.

Following the museum, we returned home to prepare for an evening out, which began with havdallah in a nearby park,
where we joined together for a final time to reflect on this amazing journey. It is hard to believe we are almost at the end. Tomorrow will be our final day as we travel to Potsdam, the site of the Wansee conference that decided upon the final solution.

And tomorrow will also be my final entry in this blog. See you

Day 12: East Berlin

Day 12: East Berlin

We spent the day exploring what was the Jewish community of east Berlin.  Like in so much of Europe, I felt as if we were pursuing ghosts. 'This used to be here."  "He lived here"  "They worshiped here"

Between the Nazi terror, the allied bombing and the communist disinterest, little is left of what used to be.  That is not to say that there is not a lot there.  East Berlin is bustling!  Filled with life and people.  New businesses, new restaurants, new buildings ... some built to look new, some built to resemble what had been ... but all new, just the same.

We visited the home that Abraham Geiger, one of the founders of Wissenschaft des Judentums, (the scientific study of Judaism), which became so central to the developing Reform movement,  used to live in, situated in what is now a lovely East Berlin chain of courtyards.  We visited the cemetery where he is buried (it was closed early for Shabbat).  There is nothing there as the cemetery was completely destroyed after the German defeat at Stalingrad in 1943.  Only Geiger's tombstone has been recreated.

We stood in front of the cemetery where a Jewish old age home used to stand.  It was the gathering place for Jews being shipped out of Berlin to Auschwitz and other extermination camps.

Interestingly enough, next door is a Jewish school.  It was a Jewish school before the war and continues to be a Jewish school today.  25% of its students are not Jewish, but they learn Hebrew, study Jewish customs, etc.  Above the entrance way is a sign declaring that it is a Jewish school.  According to our tour guide, it is the only sign with the word Jew on it in Berlin that predates the war.

There are memorials everywhere you look, reminders of what used to be.  Brass plaques in the street proclaiming the name of the Jewish family that used to live in this place ... and where they died.  There is a memorial to the children sent out of Germany on the kindertransport in 1938, memorials to those deported from Berlin, etc.  We have seen memorial after memorial in our journey from Warsaw to Berlin.  But, today we encountered on of the most impressive.


It is a memorial made of 2711 (?) individual blocks of concrete like material.  Why 2711?  No reason.  Each block made of a different size, some come up to your knee some tower over you.  They are laid out across a plaza, next to the Brandenburg Gate in columns and rows that undulate up and down, that are laid out at angles so that you are never standing quite on flat ground.  As you walk into the memorial you start to lose your sense of balance, when you turn a corner you have no idea who will be there, you start to feel unbalanced, even dizzy and certainly disoriented.  And that is exactly the point of this brilliant piece ... to make you feel exactly that, uncomfortable, unbalanced, disoriented, ...  It is one of the most interactive pieces of interactive art that I have ever seen.  It is not to be missed if one is in Berlin.


It was pointed out to us that the shopping center across the street from the memorial sits atop what was the bunker in which Hitler took his life.  No one knows exactly where that bunker was anymore.  The German government wanted to make sure it did not become a place of memorial for anyone, at anytime in the future.

Shabbat evening started the "New Synagogue"  (new in the  late 1800's). It was a huge, Moorish style synagogue that served the Jewish community of Berlin until 1941.  During Kristalnacht it was saved from destruction by a non-Jewish German policeman, who considered it a treasure of Berlin and not to be destroyed.  He held up a piece of blank paper in front of those set on destroying the synagogue and said he had an order that it was to be spared.  And so it was ... at least until the Allied bombing of Berlin when all but the facade was destroyed.   Since 1989 it has been partially restored and now serves both as a museum and as a working Conservative (Masorati) congregation.

The service, held in a smaller chapel was jam packed, mostly with visitors but with a sizable congregation as well.  We heard a d'var Torah from the president of the Mesorati (conservative) movement in Israel, an American born rabbi, who spoke  about some of the challenges facing us as liberal Jews in responding to the "zealous" orthodox establishment.

I think we all sat there thinking the same thing, "Here we are in Berlin, sharing Shabbat services in a vital, living congregation ... in Berlin!"  It brought a smile to all our faces.

Following a light dinner, some of us headed off for a bit more to eat.  We were directed by our guide to a more local area where we joined in conversation and much laughter at a local Brazilian style restaurant.  At midnight we found ourselves walking home from across a still very much alive and vibrant city.

Tomorrow: West Berlin

Day 11: Prague to Berlin

Day 11:  Prague to Berlin

We bid a fond farewell to Prague and started our journey to our final destination:  Berlin.  Our tour guide Kamila noted that Vienna is like a princess, regal and aloof, Budapest like a gypsy, enticing and mysterious and Prague was like a lovely maiden touching the spirit and the soul.  As we left the city this morning she told us once one has visited one never says goodbye, but is always anticipating and planning ones return.  One cannot leave for long.

We all certainly understood as we left this charming and beautiful city.

We drove north through the city and through the countryside as we made our way to the German border and on to Dresden.

Dresden, of course, was destroyed by allied incendiary bombing in one night 12 weeks before the end of the war.  35,000 lost their lives and 85% of the city was destroyed.  The bombing was clearly retribution for the bombing of London as Dresden had no military significance.  But it sent a message to the Germans that clearly helped bring about the end of the war.


But that is not the end of the story as the Russians who controlled Dresden aft the was, saw it's destruction as an opportunity to rebuild the city according to it's ideology.  It was only with a good deal of persuasion and deception that the people of Dresden were able to keep the remains of their historical sites in place ... That they might eventually be rebuilt.

That rebuilding did not begin until after 1989 ... Which makes the current condition of. Dresden that much more remarkable.  The town center has been carefully rebuilt to resemble the pre-war times.  It is reconstruction that, understandably, continues today.   One thing that was not rebuilt was the original synagogue.  That is a completely new structure.  This brand new modern structure was a conscious decision of the Dresden community, we were told, to make the statement that they are not looking backward to what was but forward to a new and better relationship with the Jewish community.  Our non-Jewish guide noted more than once the responsibility that the Germans have taken for what happened.  

We took a quick tour of  the royal palace replete with unbelievable treasures:  ornate gold coffee sets, intricately carved glass crystal and ivory. Following lunch we quickly toured the Hall of the Masters where our guide showed us just three of the hundreds and hundreds of amazing works of art to be found there ... All also part of the royal collection.  Luckily the foresight of the director of the museum saved these treasures by Rembrandt, Vermeer and so many more, when in 1939, anticipating what was to be he had the entire collection carefully stored in a nearby mine for the duration of the war.

By late afternoon we were back on the bus for the two hour drive to Berlin, where we sadly bid a fond farewell to our wonderful Czech guide Kamila.  We checked into our final hotel and were off for a free evening to explore Berlin

10: Terezin

Day 10:  Terezin

Our last day in Prague consisted of a visit to Terezin, (Teresenstadt in German) the 'model' camp to which the Jews of Kolin were transported ... The first stop on the journey to their deaths in places like Auchwitz and Maidanek.  But, to be sure, for many this was the place where their life ended.  While often not thought of as a place of death, many, many thousands of Jews died of starvation, disease and were murdered in Terezin as well.

We visited Terezin, with Irene, born in Kolin, deported to Terezin in June of 1942 with the rest of the community and survived the ghetto which was liberated in May of 1945.  

Kolin, she told us, was the second largest Jewish community in the Czech republic.  They were very secular Jews.  Irene told me that the rabbi of the town, Rabbi Feder, may his memory be a blessing, had a difficult time even getting a minyan.  Like most of the Czech Jewish community, they considered themselves Czechs first and often barely knew they were Jewish.  But, everyone who has spoken of Rabbi Feder has only spoken in glowing, even heroic terms about this man.  And all have noted how much better off the Czech Jewish community would be today if only it had a rabbi like him.

On the way she oriented us for our visit at Terzin.  Terezin was a garrison town built by the emperor Joseph in honor of his mother Theresa.  It was  a military garrison and a surrounding town that supported the military.  (not unlike the original Auschwitz which was also a Polish military barracks).  Terezin is on the northern Czech border close to Germany, positioned there strategically to repel the Germans who were continually invading the country.  It was built to house 7,000 but housed upwards of 50,000 during the war.

We toured exhibits which spoke about life in the ghetto:  horrific overcrowding, constant threat of disease (in fact the ghetto was quarantined for two months following it's liberation because of an outbreak of typhoid), and the terrible SS torture at the 'small fortress' that took the lives of upwards of 25,000.

With it's beautiful courtyards and seemingly 'nice' living conditions it is hard to imagine how terrible life was in this place.  Transports were continually bringing new Jews into the ghetto and others taking them away ... Mostly to Birkenau.

But Terezin is also a symbol of resistance.  While there was no chance of armed resistance there was resistance through secretive poetry and art work through which they memorialized the truth of this place.  A truth hidden from the world under a false facade that was forwarded by the Red Cross who were completely deceived into believing the German picture of the good life they were providing for the Jews.  The reality of the Red Cross visit can only be understood, at best, as complete indifference.  For as elaborate as the preparations were, the Red Cross made no real effort to dig below the surface.  If they had the reality was right around the corner waiting to be seen.

Indeed, Terezin was a place of spiritual and mental resistance.  The poetry,  music, the drama and even the secretive decorated prayer room of the ghetto stand as everlasting witness to the fact that you might beat, torture, starve and even murder the body but you can not touch the mind and soul of ones who refuse.

This leads, however, to an interesting cognitive dissonance for those who visit Terezin in order to try and understand the terror of the Holocaust, for there they find today exhibits of paintings and poetry.  There is even a room that discussed the theater of the ghetto.  It is easy to walk away thinking 'it was bad ... Really bad, but not the full and horrific evil of which we often speak.

Of course, delving just a bit deeper one comes to understand the horror of this place as well ... And then you really come to understand the unbelievable courage and heroism of these artists who knowingly defied the Nazis.

We listened to many stories from Irene who told us much about life in the Ghetto ... As well as life before and after the war.  She is, indeed, an amazing woman of incredible strength and spirit ... Very much like our own Sonia Liberman.

We concluded our visit to Terezin with a tour of the crematorium and a visit to the memorial to all those lost in this place.  We stood below the large remains of a tree that was planted by the children of Terezin on Tu B'shevat.  After the war it was transplanted in the memorial garden.  But, then the Prague flood of 2002 killed the tree.  It has now, appropriately enough, been turned into a memorial.  In our visits to Jewish cemeteries across eastern and central Europe we often found the head stones of children decorated with the stump of a tree as a symbol of those whose too short life had been cut off.  Standing at this tree we, one last time, joined together in memorial prayers for all those so tragically lost.

Returning to Prague we joined together for one last dinner as a traveling community.  12 of us continue on to Berlin tomorrow, but for Sharon and Shelly this journey has come to a conclusion.  So, we bid them a fond farewell and safe travels as they return to the states.

Tomorrow we are on to Berlin.

Day 9: Kolin

Day 9:  Kolin

Finally, we arrive at our destination.  Kolin is a small town with a population of about 30,000, approximately 60 km east of Prague.  It was at one time a center of commerce in east Bohemia.  The earliest gravestones in Kolin predate those in Prague by a few years and certainly Jews lived in this area continually for six or seven hundred years before being uprooted during the Shoah.

After an hour drive and a short walk we entered what was the Jewish ghetto. While much has been renovated, there were signs of what the ghetto must have looked like, dingy, dirty and grey.  We walked along the main road through the ghetto to the main square - which has clearly gone through some fixing up of its own in in recent years.







After orienting ourselves we entered a building which led, through the back, to the synagogue.  Here we were!  This is the place where our Torah resided for, perhaps, 250 years!  What an amazing feeling to be standing in that place.  Our host, a young non-Jewish man, who is in charge of tourism in the city ... and therefore, over the synagogue as well, told us all about the synagogue in Czech while our guide translated.  He is clearly very proud of the synagogue and even locked his office for 'lunch' so he could spend as much time with us as we wanted.  Our tour guide Kamila was very impressed with the restoration work that has been done since her last visit here 7 years ago.

We then joined together in a memorial / dedication service.  At the encouragement of all, I stood where centuries of rabbis had stood, where very few rabbis have stood since 1942. After a few readings I asked everyone to join me on the bima in front of the open ark as we placed there a beautiful book containing pictures and descriptions from our Torah renewal project this year.  (Thank you Rabbi Shawna and Isaac!)

What an incredibly powerful moment, to be standing in front of a now empty ark, where our precious little Torah lived for so many years ... and to place there a remembrance of our being there and of our community's sacred work over this past year to make that Torah once again a living, vital part of a Jewish community.  

Following tears, pictures and a shehechayanu, we moved upstairs to the ladies gallery to view an excellent exhibit about the history of Jewish Kolin and environs.

While we were there, the sun broke through for the first time during our stay.  It was as if the community we were coming to honor and remember wanted to make sure we were appropriately welcomed.

All in all we spent a great deal of time in the sanctuary and it was only with some reluctance that we left this place we had been looking forward to seeing for so long.  The good news is that the Synagogue has been restored, it is a center for concerts and communal events ... and next year, in early June will host a memorial to the 70th anniversary of the deportations.  So, there is still a chance that you might also visit!

We walked back to the square where we were guided by the young man from the tourist office to 3 locations on the town square where brass plaques in the sidewalk mark the location where Jewish families lived prior to their deportation.  One thing is quite clear from the location of these three families, directly on the town square.  Jews were a very prominent and important part of the community prior to World War II.  This important project is one in which I hope we will participate, helping to memorialize the Jewish history of this town and remind all who come of those who were brutally taken and lost from the community.

Following a picture on the town square most of us made our way to a newly opened Pizzeria in a corner of the town square ... to relax for a bit, take advantage of free wifi, and enjoy some very good pizza.

Then it was off to the new Jewish cemetery.  Here members of the Jewish community began to bury their dead following their exit from the ghetto.  In other words, in this part of the world, anything existing only since the American Revolution is 'new'.  We visited a memorial build and dedicated in the early sixties to the lost members of the community.  Here we each found the names of those we had been carrying with us over the course of our journey.  We joined together once again in a brief memorial, each reciting the names of those we had carried before joining together in kaddish.

The 'new' cemetery has quite a bit of open space remaining ... but no Jews left to be buried in this sacred space.  I couldn't help but think that these names, all listed together on one memorial, should rightfully, each eventually, had their own plot in this land that will remain unused.

After some quiet viewing of the cemetery, we boarded the bus and bid farewell to Kolin.  After so much planning and so much anticipation, it is hard to believe that this moment we had all looked forward to for so long had now passed.  Of course there is still more to come ... but this was the impetus and now our task has been completed.  We went, we prayed, we remembered.  We will carry the memory and the names with us forever.

zichronam livrachah ... may the memories of these precious souls remain a source of inspiration and blessing for all time.



Tomorrow:  Terezin and a visit with Irene -- a survivor from Kolin.

Day 8: Prague

Day 8:  Prague

Today we toured the Jewish quarter of Prague.


We spent the morning learning about the ups and downs of the Jewish community of this beautiful city.  Like all such communities, with apologies to Dickens, there were the best of times and the worst of times.

The earliest grave markers in the cemetery are from the early 15th century, but clearly the Jewish community was here earlier ... perhaps as early as the 10th century.  Like all communities in Europe the Jews came to Prague at the bidding of the local rulers, who hired them to be their money lenders and tax collectors.  (Something, of course, which which greatly endeared them to the local population ... who already considered them the murderers of their Lord)  

Prague is probably best known as the home of the Maharal, Rabbi Judah Loew, a rabbi of great intellect and erudition.  He was a great Judaic scholar and a master of mystic texts ... and the creator of the Golem.  The legend is that the Maharal created the Golem, with God's help and instructions to protect the Jewish community in times it was under attack from the surrounding community.

We toured 4 synagogues, two of which remain working synagogues and two which now simply serve as museums.  In each of the synagogues are displayed articles of the precious legacy.  Prague was the collection point, of course, for the Judaica from around the Czech Republic ... to store it and protect it during the Nazi occupation.  This is the story of our precious Torah although the synagogue in which the scrolls were stored is not in the city center, so we did not visit that location.  But we saw beautiful Judaica that, ironically, as perhaps was evilly intended, now is displayed as a legacy of a community that used to be.

Tags can be found on much of the Judaica, identifying the individual family, or community from which it came ... and remaining sadly for people or communities that no longer exist to return and claim them.

The "Pinchas" synagogue has been turned into a memorial to all Jewish/Czech victims of the Shoah. Along its walls are painted the names of each victim, listed first by city or town and then alphabetically within each town.  We found the city of Kolin and witnessed the names of all those lost  from the town of our precious little Torah.  On the second floor of the synagogue is a moving exhibition of the artwork of the children of Terezin.  An art therapist, imprisoned in Terezin worked with the children to help them to deal with their horrific life experiences.  The artwork survives as testimony to the horrors of Terezin (contrary to the Red Cross report of the time) and to the children, deported to Auschwitz only months after the Red Cross reported on the exemplary living conditions of the Jewish community imprisoned at Terezin.  (In fact, the Germans did such a great job of deceiving the Red Cross, that they found no reason to move on to the next camp they were to visit ... as they were told they would find a Auschwitz the same exemplary living conditions!)



Along the way we learned a bit about the Czech psyche.  Unlike Poland and Hungary, the Czech people are not very religious.  They are first and foremost Czech and atheist.  Most houses of worship are fairly empty as Czech's are just not interested.  Add in the destructive results of 40 years of oppressive communism and most people just want to live their own life.  Their is a strong unwillingness to get involved as it has been drummed into them the dangers of involvement.  One of the things that is clear is that communist rule hammered into peoples heads a great suspicion of each other.  With freedom that suspicion may have changed somewhat ... but only into a distinct indifference about others.  As our tour guide told us, it may take two or more generations to grow up in freedom to overcome the psychic damage incurred by 70 years of Nazi and them communist oppression.

Following lunch we walked to the Charles Bridge, the only bridge that connected the "lesser" city of Prague from the Castle district for hundreds of years.  In the middle of the bridge is a 16th century statue of Jesus on the crucifix surrounded by the words "kadosh, kadosh, kadosh, Adonai tz'vaot" (Holy, holy, holy is the God of hosts).  It was quite striking and a little disturbing to see the words of the "kedushah", the climax of our prayer service, surrounding the crucifix.  We were told by our tour guide that this is because this is one of the only places in the Jewish bible that seems to explicitly refer to the trinity (kadosh, kadosh, kadosh).  

The bridge is for pedestrian traffic only and the bridge is filled vendors and musicians and hundreds and hundreds of tourists.  It was another "Disneyland but for real" moment.

Some of us continued across the bridge to the Castle district side and did a bit of shopping, tasted some local treats and visited a graffiti wall dedicated to John Lennon (on which, at the very top of the wall I discovered LUTZ tagged onto the wall ... (I didn't do it, really).


In the evening we joined together for dinner in restaurant underneath the main music house, which is now having its annual music festival currently celebrating the music of Mozart and Dvorak.  We had a tasty traditional Czech meal ... and then headed back to the Hotel to rest and relax for our next day journey to Kolin.

Tomorrow:  our journey to our Torah's home, Kolin.

Day 7: Prague

Day 7:  Prague

5a.m.  Seriously!?  Yes, we were up, packed and out of the hotel by 6a.m. making our way to the Budapest airport where we caught a Malev Airline flight to Prague.

We were greeted in Prague by Kamila, our tour guide for the next few days ... a woman who, like Anni in Prague had many surprises of her own.  But, before going there, I might also mention that, while Northridge was suffering through 100+ temperatures, we encountered temperatures in the high 40s and rain for our first day walking tour of the Castle district of Prague.

We boarded the bus for a brief ride to the Castle district where neither wind nor rain stopped us from our appointed tour!  Clearly dragging, Kamila guided us to a most welcome site: a cafe where we could grab some coffee and tasty treats.


Re-energized we headed to a small shopping area which contained a house in which Franz Kafka once lived.  There, while making our way through this quaint little shopping area, we ran into TAS teacher Jackie Kovar and family who are making their own pilgrimage to Slovakia, where Jackie's father was hidden and survived the Holocaust.  It is an amazing story that he has shared with many of our students.  What an amazing thing to return to visit the home where he was hidden and meet the daughter of the woman who hid him and saved his life all those years ago.  And how wonderful and unexpected to run into her and her family here in Prague.

Finally, through more wind and even heavier rain we made the 40 minute trek across Old Prague to our hotel for some much needed rest as we have a busy few days ahead of us as we culminate our trip with a visit to Kolin in just two days.

The evening started with wonderful dinner with some great Czech beer thanks to our night life specialist Samantha who guided a few of us after dinner to an even great jazz club.  Unbeknownst to me, Prague is known for it's jazz clubs.  In fact Bill Clinton played his sax once at the club we visited.  (no jokes please!). Finally after roaming lost around the city we finally made it back to our hotel to rest up for the Fourth of July.  

Tomorrow the Jewish quarter of Prague.

Day 6: budapest

Day 6:  Budapest and Szentendre

Waking bleary eyed after a few hours of sleep, we headed off for a tour of the Hungarian parliament.  It is an amazingly ornate and impressive building.  A tour guide led us up a long flight of stairs to the center of the building where we visited the "Crown Jewels" guarded at all times by Hungarian guards.  We then walked down the hallway to the parliament, which seats 368 (I believe). It is a right wing government that rules with a large majority, joined by two even more extreme right wing groups ... including a fascist group that holds 13% of the vote.

Each step of the way we were followed by plain clothed security that made sure we stayed together ... commanding us to keep up with the group, should we stop to take a picture.

While truly impressive there was also something strangely ominous about all of this.  I had an uncomfortable feeling that it was not easy to shake.  Perhaps it is the grandiosity of the building itself?  Perhaps the plain clothed security following us around?  Perhaps the right wing government that, as our tour guide Anni would tell us later, was already invoking measures and making speeches that reminded her parents of 1938.

Anti-semitism, it seems, is never far from the surface ... even here, in the country in which the Jews were probably the safest.  Of course, following the viscous anti-semitism of Nazi Germany, there was the more tolerant, but also oppressive anti-semitism of the communist era.  And now, there is anti-semitism arising from blame being placed on the Jews for the 40 years of communist rule!  (Believe it or not ... after all, Karl Marx was a Jew ...)

Of course, when we returned to the bus and to Anni we learned what had not been mentioned by our Parliament guide, that the buildings architect was Jewish.  The hidden, unrecognized contributions of Jews to Budapest is truly amazing.  And what would become clear later, is just how frustrating this is to Anni ... not only that it goes unrecognized, but that the Jewish community is unwilling to stand up and ask for that official recognition.

Well, following our tour of Parliament we took off for the Castle District, for a quick tour of the Buda hilltop where this city began ... as a castle, cathedral and fortress.  

After a brief visit we headed off towards the small artist colony of Szentendre.  But on the way, we stopped for a brief visit to the Raoul Wallenberg memorial, located in a lovely park in the "Rose Hill" area of Buda, which was ... and still is today ... the traditional Jewish neighborhood of Budapest. 


Today, about 80,000 Jews live in Budapest, the third largest Jewish city in Europe following London and Paris.  On the way to lunch and the artist colony of Szentendre I had the opportunity to discuss the demographics of the Jewish community with Anni.  She noted that it is hard to tell just who is who and who belongs to what.  No one, she said, would 'join' a synagogue.  After all, that is how the Jews were rounded up by the Nazis ... by reviewing synagogue lists.  So, people anonymously support causes and Jewish programs of interest, but often, making sure that their names are not published, recorded, etc.  There is also little trust in the Jewish Federation of the community, which is still seen as a corrupt institution from the communist era, that can not be trusted to appropriately handle the funds contributed to it.  Rather, the respected organization in the community is the Joint Distribution Committee, run, Anni pointed out, by Americans and Israelis.

Arriving at Szentendre we made our way through winding narrow streets and alleys to the most marvelous of restaurants, "The Golden Dragon".  Now in America such a place would automatically mean, "Chinese".  But don't be fooled this was exquisitely prepared Hungarian cuisine in what is billed as the first privately owned restaurant in Hungary. (Opening in 1977) 

This "light" lunch, as Anni called it, consisted of a starter salad with mozzarella and assorted salamis, a beef broth soup with noodles, beef, vegetables and a quail egg.  This was followed by a goose breast prepared in a sweet au jus with sesame seeds, delicious mashed potatoes and sweet red cabbage.  Finally dessert, which I can only describe as a warm "matzah ball" of sweet cheese smothered in an amazing strawberry sauce.  Then to top it off ... espresso.  All I can say is 'wow'.  

We rolled out of the restaurant and made our way to the 'smallest synagogue' in the world.  Indeed the 14 of us plus Anni barely fit into the place.  It is impossible to relate the entire story here, but, Anni began to weave a most emotional story about the difficulties of the final months of world war two, the loss of the members of this small Jewish community and the building of this little synagogue as a memorial to them.  Only at the end of the story did we come to learn that this was not just any story, this was our tour guide Anni's story ... and this synagogue was her synagogue built by her and other family members in memory of her family and the other lost members of this community.  (Which, by the way, included a great uncle who founded Herend ... the well known Hungarian porcelain manufacturer.)

We then wandered the streets finding all sorts of treasures to bring home and boarded a boat to cruise back up to our Hotel on the 'blue Danube", which Anni noted, she has never seen blue!

Another lengthy day ended with a memorial service and reflection at 'The Line of Shoes".  On a high levee on the banks of the Danube, just a block from the Parliament is a memorial created by a non-Jew to the Jewish victims who were murdered by the Arrow Cross, a Hungarian pro-Nazi group in the final days of the war.  30 pairs of shoes, old, tattered and worn stand in silent testimony to what happened in this place in the winter of 44-45.  Here, Jews from the ghetto, randomly selected were brought.  They were ordered to remove their shoes and then a line of 10 or 15 was bound together with rope or wire.  As bullets were becoming scarce at the end of the war this war their evilly genius solution ... all bound together, one Jew would be shot.  As he  fell off the levee 15 or 20 feet into the freezing cold water of the Danube, the rest of the group, would be pulled in with him.  Many died instantly from the shock of the icy water, or succumbed to hypothermia as they floated as a group down the river.

Thankfully, down the river, there were those who would attempt to pull them out.  In this way, a few were saved from this evil scheme, including the elderly woman from whom we had bought beautiful Judaic treasures the day before.

For the third time we joined together in memorial and recited kaddish for our precious people.  Here, Anni noted, quite emotionally was an example of the problem that pained her so .... the memorial plaque at this place speaks of the murdered victims.  Conspicuously missing is the word "Jew".  When she asked the artist why this was the case he responded, "The Jewish community didn't want it there."  The Jews of Budapest, she noted are afraid to speak up ... and the official Hungarian community is unwilling to acknowledge that this was, in particular, a Jewish tragedy.  She noted the lack of official Hungarian participation in the memorial plaques at Dachau, where every other European country is listed.  Why?  and what will happen when there are none left to explain that ALL the victims remembered in the Line of Shoes Memorial were Jews?  Not just generic Budapest citizens.

We then spent a few moments in reflection about this first week ... all that we had encountered and all that we had experienced.

What an incredibly packed couple of days!  We headed back for dinner and to pack and prepare for a 5a.m. wake up call to catch a flight out of Budapest and on to Prague.

Day 5: Budapest

Day 5: Budapest

Day 5 began as we woke up in the very nice Sofitel Hotel in the Pest bank of the Danube.  Our  Budapest guide Anni took us first to the top of a Buda hill for the best overview of the city.

From there it was on to visit the Dohany Synagogue.  Why Dohany?  Because that is the street that it is on ... according to Anni the convention for most congregations in Budapest.  It is an absolutely magnificent structure that defies description here ... beautifully and ornately decorated AND the second largest synagogue in the world.  (Second to only Temple Emanuel in NY I believe).

There Anni told us the very sad story of Hungarian Jewry ... who remained mostly untouched until the last months of the war.  Because the Hungarians were German allies until the end of the war they were left alone (mostly because the Hungarian military was off fighting on the Russian front), and (for the most part) they left their Jews alone as well.

Even as the allies were occupying other parts of Hungary a ghetto was formed around the Dohany Synagogue and the Jewish of the city were rounded up and placed there.  In the meantime, Jews of the country side still under Hungarian/German control were also rounded off, placed in cattle cars and sent off to Auschwitz.  In fact, the last transports to Auschwitz were the Jews of Hungary and as we learned, any pictures you have seen of the Jewish victims in Auschwitz are of these Hungarian Jews. For some unknown reason, even as the Germans were losing the war and even as the SS was dismantling other camps and beginning to destroy evidence of what they had done, they allowed the documentation of these last transports to the death camp.

The Jewish community of the Hungarian countryside was virtually wiped out.  Thankfully, even though conditions in the Budapest ghetto were horrific and there were many, many brutal incidences and too many deaths and murder, the people of the ghetto were saved from final demise as the German's simply ran out of time and possibility to deport the residents of the ghetto.

As I said, this did not mean that there were not terrible times.  The courtyard of the sanctuary became a mass grave as there was no cemetery in  the ghetto It is now a memorial to all those who died in the ghetto.  

In a courtyard behind the Synagogue is another beautiful memorial to the Hungarian victims.  It is a silver tree that actually is an upside down menorah. The branches of the tree hold the names of the thousands of Hungarian victims.  The tree itself was funded by Tony Curtis (a Hungarian Jew) and by those who have bought leaves on the tree.

A good amount of time was spent browsing and purchasing lovely handmade Judaica, created by a (now) elderly woman, who as a youth had incredibly managed to survive a murder attempt by the Arrow Cross ... A Hungarian band of Nazi sympathizers who terrorized the city in the final months of the war.  (more on that below)

Leaving the synagogue we traveled to Andrassy Street.  Today, having achieved freedom this beautiful street has begun to regain some of it's pre-war and pre-communist era magnificence.  This street, in great measure, is why Budapest was considered the "Paris of the east".

Originally the street was built as an avenue leading from the Buda side of the city to the millennium exhibition, which was held in 1896 to celebrate the millennial birthday of the country.  

Lined by upscale stores the upper floors were often the apartments of the store owners.  And here's the little secret you won't learn on a normal tour of the city, most of the architects and residents of these apartments were Jewish!  Anni (her University studies in art and architecture) guided us through the buildings, noting the plaques in front of each building noting the date of construction and the (Jewish) architect and (Jewish)  residents.

The buildings are slowly being restored to their original beauty.  Having survived the war, these buildings did not survive communism.  As a symbol of the equality of all, the communist government painted the buildings, inside and out a dismal grey.  Moreover, glamorous apartments that had once been the residences of one family, were subdivided between several families.  Buildings that had once been the homes of 4 or 5 families became small apartments of 20-25.

Anni herself experienced this, watching the government order her family to share their apartment with 2 other families moved in from the countryside.  There was always the possibility that a member of one of these families might have been working for the secret police, and so, certain thongs were never discussed ... And in this way Anni's own Jewish identity was hidden from her, until in a burst of great pride following the 1967  war, her parents took her to the Dohany synagogue and revealed to her who she truly was.

Following our walk up and down the boulevard we returned to our lovely hotel to prepare for Shabbat.  

We were welcomed for Shabbat by Congregation Sim Shalom, a small Reform congregation.  The services were led by the Cantor as the rabbi was away with the youth group visiting London.  Following services we were joined for a "traditional Hungarian Jewish meal" at Rosenstein's restaurant by the Cantor, the Rabbis husband and two other members of the congregation.  The dinner was filled with lot's of calories and fascinating conversation with the members of Sim Shalom.  The Cantor, for instance is a charming young man who converted to Judaism.  He is now studying to be a Cantor with the "neolog" seminary in Budapest.  (Neolog is best described as Orthodox lite).  The rabbi's husband is an American physicist who was teaching at a university in Kentucky, when, on sabbatical he met his future wife when he attended services at Sim Shalom.  Another member of the congregation is a retired journalist.  It was fascinating to discuss with him what it was like to be  a journalist behind the Iron Curtain.  We were joined by another young woman who also had a fascinating story I am told ... but I didn't hear it so can't report it here.

So, you think this blog is long?  You should have experienced the day!

Totally exhausted from a looooooong day, we headed back to the hotel and to bed to catch a few hours of sleep before an early rise and visit of some more fascinating sites on Saturday.