Jewish Poland 3rd day - Majdanek to Izbitsa to Lizhensk - Wednesday 30 November 2016

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The snow was still falling as we went through the morning routine of up, davening and breakfast. Don davened in the minyan whilst I made breakfast and prepared the packed lunches for the bus. Today we had another long and difficult day ahead.

Our first stop was Majdanek. From the bus we saw this huge area surrounded by housing. The first question you ask yourself is “how did the local populous not know what was going on?” They could see thousands upon thousands of people walking five abreast with one suitcase from the railway into the camp. After all the railway did not run directly into the camp.

We walked through the biting wind in the snow to the reception area. The next question you want to ask is “how on earth did people survive the cold, even before the selection process was invoked, wearing such thin clothing, poor fitting shoes, and such little food?”

Our first stop was the reception area. Sara explained the process of the separation of men and women, the separation of those under 15 from their parents, and those who were considered able to work vs those considered unfit for work. All were asked to undress, all were shaved, all were disinfected and all showered. It was pointed out that showering with hot water opens the pores. Upon entering the camp, 70% of the Jews were selected for immediate extermination, and trhey proceeded directly from the hot shower room into the gas chamber. There they were gassed with Zyklon B + carbon dioxide = cyanide. On the walls were the blue stains that cyanide poisoning leaves. Those who were the 'lucky' selected 30% took their showers and then dressed in thin rags and set to work. We stopped to contemplate the chamber and recited kaddish.

In another barrack we saw crates holding tens of thousands of shoes. The shoes were going to be made into Nazi boots. The clothes were searched for precious items and they were reused to make clothes for the soldiers. The human hair was sold to stuff sofas.

We then went to the “bedrooms”. The bunks beds were three high and two beds across. The mattresses were of straw and if you were lucky you had a top bunk to avoid bed bugs and human excreta pouring down on you during the night. On each row of bunks slept five or six persons. People slept with their shoes in the bed to avoid them being stolen.

We then went to the crematoria which were in a separate area away from the camp. The people who worked in the crematoria were selected and then murdered every month so that they could never tell the world their story of how they helped stoke the fires with human corpses. Before going into the fire the bodies were processed - i.e. checked to see if they were concealing anything precious or if they had gold teeth. These were removed. Ornaments were made to order from the gold for the officers. Here we held another tekes, reading poems, reciting kaddish and the memorial prayer for the dead. Then we defiantly sang songs ending with Am Yisroel Chai.



Back on the bus we had the luxury of warming up with hot drinks.



From there it was to Izbitsa. This town now looking like something painted onto a chocolate box (the wooden houses of various colours standing in pristine snow) used to be a Hasid town. 85% of the population was Jewish. Now it is Judenrein (free of Jews). During the war Nazis and Ukrainians guarded the town so that nobody could escape. It was a town used for the ingathering of Jews. All exited the bus (except the Cohanim and me) to visit the grave of Rabbi Mordechai Yosef Leiner whose famous work was Mei HaShaloach. As the group climbed a steep slippery hill to the grave they were confronted by the barking of a fierce sounding dog. Within the ohel at a high point in the cemetery, Rav Tzvi told more about Rabbi Leiner as a rabbinic Hasidic thinker and the founder of the Izbitisa-Radzyn dynasty of Hasidic Judaism.

Also in the cemetery is a most unusual grave. Its headstone contains a date of birth (23 August 1931) but no date of death. Furthermore the engraved graphic shows a basket of bread between two fish. Apparently the priest of this town suddenly discovered that he was Jewish and he then went to Israel to discover his roots. He setup this stone for himself and arranged that upon his death he wished to be buried in this cemetery. However there does not seem any definitive information about whether he is still alive and if so then precisely where today. He would be over 85 years old now.



Back on the bus to visit Lizhensk. En route we had to make a loo stop and we found a garage. The men chose a convenient wall inside the garage shop to daven mincha.



We arrived at a very posh looking hotel (The Olive Hotel) and I thought that this looked a bit up market for us to be staying. But then we noticed a sign to the Jewish synagogue. We entered a building and climbed several flights of stairs to be welcomed by Aharon and tureens of parve 'chicken' soup and potato kugel. Aharon is the keeper of the synagogue which is rarely used, and the Jewish cemetery. In the cemetery is the ohel of Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk. Followers of Rabbi Elimelech write notes and pass them through the iron cage which surrounds his tombstone. There is an anteroom where we all sat around and Rav Tzvi told us stories of his life and his works. He was one of the three “Fathers of Hasidism” in Poland spreading Tzaddikism in Poland. We learnt the 'Adaraba' niggun (tune) of Noam Elimelech (the prayer said before prayer).



Then we drove to Tarnow for an overnight stay at the Tarnovia Hotel. Dinner was again supplied by the kosher caterer who seemed to follow us around the country.

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