Impressions by Rebecca Rogowski, Jewish Studies:

The weekend before summer term 2018 began, a group of nine undergraduate students from Judaistik, Frei University, journeyed to Warsaw, seeking to learn about the city´s Jewish history and contemporary Jewish life. Though the new term´s work has delayed this travelogue, impressions of Warsaw remain strong.

We departed from Berlin´s Hauptbahnhof Thursday afternoon, arriving to Warsaw´s central station after a long but entertaining journey. After checking into a centrally located hostel, we set forth to explore the city for an exciting three day visit.

Warsaw´s Jewish history is of course both rich and tragic, and we knew in advance we would see only a little bit of all that the city had to offer. Our exploration began with a beautiful view of Warsaw from the rooftop of the University´s library. That evening we strolled through the city´s rebuilt and very charming Old City. It was difficult to imagine that only some decades before, the area was in complete ruins, consisting only of piles of bricks. The cityscape provoked many thoughts, and within the group, as we got to know each other, our discussions became ever more enjoyable and interesting.

Our first morning began with an Israeli breakfast, reminding us that like in Berlin today, Israeli restaurants could now often be found. Our official program began with a visit to the famous Nozyk Synagogue, which sadly is the only surviving house of prayer remaining from the countless ones that existed before the Holocaust. There, Mr. Ben Zajac told us of the building´s past and present, and about the city´s Jewish community today. We then proceeded to the German Historical Institute of Warsaw, where we were greeted by and had fruitful discussions with Deputy Director Prof. Dr. Ruth Leiserowitz and Dr. Sabine Jagodzinski. Importantly, Prof. Dr. Leiserowitz informed us about the internship possibilities for students from Judaistik. Dr. Jagodzinski then guided us through the Institute´s research library and described the Institute´s many activities.

Saturday began with a memorable visit to POLIN, the city´s fascinating Museum of the History of the Jews of Poland. From there we made our way to Grochów, today a district of the city, where before the war a socialist-Zionist kibbutz existed. There we met Dr. Maria Ciesla, also from the Institute, and an expert on the history of this chapter of recent Jewish history. Today only one building from the kibbutz survives, but thanks to the historic pictures Dr. Ciesla showed us, we got a good sense of the place. We even learned that the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, one of the Holocaust´s most fateful events, was partially planned there!

Knowing that so many important and interesting places were still left to see, we spent the rest of our time wandering through the city, departing for Berlin late Sunday afternoon.

We would like to thank everyone we met in Warsaw who made our visit so special. And extra special thanks go to Patrica Fromme Valladares, Tirza Seene and Christian Schorer from FSI Judaistik for organizing perfectly this memorable journey!