The time we have spent in Poland was one of the most meaningful and informational weeks of my life. Throughout High School, I’ve never really studied the Shoah in depth. Before going on this trip, while in school I spent about three days learning from a book not fully retaining the information and understanding the full extent of the events. This last week when we were actually able to go to Poland, I was apt to process and substantially widen my knowledge on a globally known topic. While I knew around six million Jews were killed and about thirteen million in total I never could literally picture it. Even though the concentration camps were awful places and knowing everything that went on there was horrific and tragic, going to them now expanded my awareness. Former to going to Poland I never knew who from my family or family friends were in the Holocaust and I really didn’t know to the full extent on how it changed Jewish history eternally.

The expectations I had about what I would learn were tremendously exceeded. At first when we arrived in Poland stepping on the same land my ancestors once did fulfill me with mixed feelings knowing what tragedies they went through. Previous to going on this trip I didn’t know how emotional I would get and how sensitive I would be to this subject. In addition, I didn’t know how connected I would feel just by being in Poland.

Going to the concentration camps and learning as we were visually looking at the sites where everything took place was very helpful in trying to understand a seriously compacted topic. Even though I still don’t know everything that happened in the Holocaust, I am much closer and aware. Throughout this trip, my knowledge reached a great extent and helped me grow a strong connection to everyone who lost their lives and a stronger connection to myself as a Jew. I now know more about our past than ever. I’ve had many strong feelings and emotions to parts throughout the trip. Most of the trip was sad and depressing, it was also definitely a tear-jerker. But in many cases, I have never felt a greater sense of hope for not only the Jews as a community but as an individual whole.