May 2017 – tangential travel

May 29, 2017

Warsaw – Day 3

Warsaw Spire – Wikipedia

The Warsaw Spire is a complex of Neomodern office buildings in Warsaw, Poland constructed by the Belgian real estate developer Ghelamco. It consists of a 220-metre main tower with a hyperboloid glass facade, Warsaw Spire A, and two 55-metre auxiliary buildings, Warsaw Spire B and C.[3] The main tower is the second tallest building in Warsaw and also the second highest in Poland.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Spire

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Warsaw Uprising Museum – Wikipedia

The Warsaw Uprising Museum (named Warsaw Rising Museum, Polish: Muzeum Powstania Warszawskiego),[2][3][4][5][6][7][8] in the Wola district of Warsaw, Poland, is dedicated to the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. The institution of the museum was established in 1983, but no construction work took place for many years. It opened on July 31, 2004, marking the 60th anniversary of the uprising.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Uprising_Museum

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Warsaw Old Town – Wikipedia

The Warsaw Old Town (Polish: Stare Miasto, and collectively with the New Town, known colloquially as: Starówka) is the oldest part of the capital city. It is bounded by the Wybrzeże Gdańskie, along with the bank of Vistula river, Grodzka, Mostowa and Podwale Streets. It is one of the most prominent tourist attractions in Warsaw.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Old_Town

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Church in Wilanow

With Michael and Ruth Leiserowitz

May 29, 2017July 11, 2018

Warsaw Day 2

A brilliant tour of Polin with my host Michael Leiserowitz, official guide.

POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews – Wikipedia

POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews (Polish: Muzeum Historii Żydów Polskich) is a museum on the site of the former Warsaw Ghetto. The Hebrew word Polin in the museum’s name means, in English, either “Poland” or “rest here” and is related to a legend on the arrival of the first Jews in Poland.[1] The cornerstone was laid in 2007, and the museum was first opened on April 19, 2013.[2][3] The museum’s Core Exhibition opened in October 2014.[4] The museum features a multimedia narrative exhibition about the living Jewish community that flourished in Poland for a thousand years up to the Holocaust.[5] The building, a postmodern structure in glass, copper, and concrete, was designed by Finnish architects Rainer Mahlamäki and Ilmari Lahdelma.[6]

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/POLIN_Museum_of_the_History_of_Polish_Jews

With Lisa & Samuel Kassow & Michael Leiserowitz

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Temporary Exhibition – Jukebox, Jewkbox

Jukebox, Jewkbox! – history of popular music written on gramophone records

Newsletter

Source: www.polin.pl/en/news/2016/07/06/jukebox-jewkbox-history-of-popular-music-written-on-gramophone

The Resource Centre

Aleks and Magda

Praga – Wikipedia

Praga is a district of Warsaw, Poland. It is located on the east bank of the river Vistula. First mentioned in 1432, until 1791 it formed a separate town with its own city charter.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praga

Praga

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The streets of Warsaw

May 28, 2017

Warsaw Day 1 – Tour 17

My first day in Warsaw on this tour with my hosts Michael & Ruth Leiserowitz.

Michael is an official guide at POLIN and Ruth is an eminent German historian.

Ruth Leiserowitz – Wikipedia

Ruth Leiserowitz (born Ruth Kibelka, December 25, 1958, in Prenzlau, Brandenburg) is a German historian. Her work and study primarily deal with the wolf children, a group of German children orphaned at the end of World War II in East Prussia. Since 2009, she has been the deputy director of the German Historical Institute in Warsaw. In 2014, she was awarded the Cross of Merit First Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany by German president Joachim Gauck.[1]

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Leiserowitz

Michael and Ruth work with me on the the Kaliningrad and Sovetsk KehilaLinks Jewish websites for Jewishgen.org

Kaliningrad, Russia

Source: kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/kaliningrad/Home.html

Sovetsk, Russia

Source: kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/sovetsk/Home.html

Visit their Jews of East Prussia site:

Seiten zur jüdischen Geschichte in Ostpreussen – Jewish History in East Prussia

Source: www.judeninostpreussen.de/

Two updated important booklets for Warsaw and the Jewish Warsaw map.

Our first stop is Wilanow Palace

Wilanów Palace – Wikipedia

Wilanów Palace or Wilanowski Palace (Polish: pałac w Wilanowie, Polish pronunciation: [ˈpawat͡s vvilaˈnɔvjɛ]) is a royal palace located in the Wilanów district, Warsaw. Wilanów Palace survived Poland’s partitions and both World Wars, and so serves as a reminder of the culture of the Polish state as it was before the misfortunes of the 18th century.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilanów_Palace

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The Palace of Culture and Science

Palace of Culture and Science – Wikipedia

Constructed in 1955, the Palace of Culture and Science (Polish: Pałac Kultury i Nauki; abbreviated PKiN) is a notable high-rise building in Warsaw, Poland. It is the center for various companies, public institutions and cultural activities such as concerts, cinemas, theaters, libraries, sports clubs, universities, scientific institutions and authorities of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Motivated by Polish historicism and American art deco high-rise buildings, the PKiN was designed by Soviet architect Lev Rudnev in “Seven Sisters” style and is informally referred to as the Eighth Sister.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Culture_and_Science

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Warsaw – Wikipedia

Warsaw (Polish: Warszawa [varˈʂava] ( listen); see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Poland. It stands on the Vistula River in east-central Poland, roughly 260 kilometres (160 mi) from the Baltic Sea and 300 kilometres (190 mi) from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population is estimated at 1.750 million residents within a greater metropolitan area of 3.101 million residents,[3] which makes Warsaw the 9th most-populous capital city in the European Union. The city limits cover 516.9 square kilometres (199.6 sq mi), while the metropolitan area covers 6,100.43 square kilometres (2,355.39 sq mi).[4]

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw

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The Nozyk Synagogue

Nożyk Synagogue – Wikipedia

The Nożyk Synagogue (Polish: Synagoga Nożyków) is the only surviving prewar Jewish house of prayer in Warsaw, Poland. It was built in 1898-1902 and was restored after World War II. It is still operational and currently houses the Warsaw Jewish Commune, as well as other Jewish organizations.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nożyk_Synagogue

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May 9, 2017May 11, 2017

Zog Nit Keynmol – The Poem

Here is an idea for your school students or youth group:

Recite the poem, Zog Nit Keynmol, written by Hirsh Glik 20, in the Vilna ghetto in 1943.

Do it in your own language!

And then SHARE it with us!

The song is the anthem of the Survivors. With their rapidly diminishing numbers, we want our youth to continue the legacy.

Be creative like Giedrius Galvanauskas of Atzalynas Gymnasium in Kedainiai, Lithuania.

Inspired by his English teacher, Laima Ardaviciene, Giedrius used a Lithuanian translation, background music on (1) viola and (2) piano, with a backdrop of old images of his hometown, Kedainiai, and even added English subtitles.

The viola was played by Tzvi Friedl of Perth Australia.

Translated by Roza Tzvi Ben Litay and Sergey Kanovich

Wouldn’t it be great if you recited it in your own language and chose photos from your heritage town and then shared it around the world?

The viola version

The piano version

Here is Aaron Kremer’s English version by Freydl Mrocki of Shalom Aleichem College, Melbourne, Australia.

Tzvi Friedl on the viola

Atzalyno Gimnazija, Kedainiai, Lithuania

The students take me on a multicultural tour of Kedainai, the last stop being the two former synagogue complex, one of only a handful in Lithuania. The centre is run by Rimantas Zirgulis, director …

Source: elirab.me/my-bond-with-atzalyno-gimnazija-a-school-in-kedainiai-2/