Walking Through Poland

I first heard about Muss from my older siblings and cousins, who all described it as life-changing. From the moment I arrived, I knew why. I’ve already built friendships that feel like family and discovered new meaning in what it truly means to be Jewish.

This past week, our group took an unforgettable journey to Poland to study the Holocaust where it happened. We began in Lublin, standing among thousands of headstones in one of the world’s largest Jewish cemeteries—a silent reminder of the life that once filled these places. Next, we visited Majdanek; walking through the barracks, gas chambers, and crematorium, I struggled to process that I was standing in the same place where so many lives were destroyed. We had a student-led ceremony there, where we sang together, bringing a sense of unity and light into such darkness.

Later, in a beautiful but empty shul called Lancut Synagogue, we met a non-Jewish man who has devoted his life to preserving it—a glimpse of resilience and hope. We even celebrated our madricha Yael’s bat mitzvah there, reviving a sacred space once filled with Jewish prayer.

Shabbat in Krakow was filled with joy and songs, but there was also a backdrop of a community that once was. During Havdalah in the town square, Polish people gathered to watch us. It was bittersweet; both empowering and unsettling to realize how rare it still is to see a group of Jews singing openly.

The hardest day came at Auschwitz and Birkenau. No words can fully describe the feeling of standing on that ground—a place of so much horror and loss. I found myself journaling and recording my thoughts just to make sense of it, to hold on to the reality of what I was seeing. We ended on Monday at a mass grave of children and families, where we read letters from our parents. In that moment, everything became real—the importance of Jewish pride, the strength of our people, and how much we take for granted: each other, our Jewish strength, and the gift of being here to remember.

Overall, this experience shifted my perspective on Israel because if it weren’t for our Holy State, not only would we be less populated as Jews, but my classmates and I wouldn’t have been able to come on this extremely special program, and walk where our people were discriminated against and murdered. We are all witnesses to this inhumane event, and we are obligated to Never Forget.