This Week in Poland

Starting Off With Yad Vashem
This week, we started Sunday with a visit to Yad Vashem, the national Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem. After walking through the museum with our guide, we heard a survivor, Ruth, speak. Ruth grew up in Poland and was hidden in the attic of a Christian woman, and her story made an incredible impact on all our students. We learned about Jewish resistance, loss, and survival.
Traveling Poland to Face the Past
On Monday, we flew to Warsaw. There, we learned about Oneg Shabbat, the buried documents and photographs that were hidden in the Warsaw Ghetto by the resistance fighters. We traveled to the Warsaw Cemetery, learning about the rich, vibrant Jewish life that flourished in Poland before the Jewish community's ghettoization. We walked to the Warsaw Ghetto Wall, which now stands innocuously in a residential neighborhood.
On Wednesday, we traveled to Parczew exploring the Jewish history and the partisan resistance that took place there. After lunch, we went to Majdanek, outside Lublin, initially a forced labor camp.
Watching History Play Out Today
While this week has been heavy, it has remained important to educate ourselves about the wealth of Jewish life and history that existed in sites like these, and all that was lost in the last century. We go into this Shabbat ready for rest and filled with pride in our Jewish roots.
Our semester trip to Poland always remains a highlight for both staff and students, as it allows us to delve into our past while we prepare the next generation for the future. Alexander Muss High School in Israel is proud to provide our students with the knowledge and the tools needed to combat the ignorance of Jew-hatred and stand up for their Jewish identities.
You can learn more about how AMHSI is the answer for the next generation of Zionist leaders here.