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The "New Jews" of Poland Celebrate Rosh Hashana
It was a typical day at Helen’s clothing store in the small Polish town of Wlodawa, save for an increase in foot traffic from customers who wandered in seeking respite from the oppressive heat. Many had come from surrounding areas to attend the "Three Culture Festival," an event that included performances by the Warsaw-based Israeli Folk Dance group, Tsnunit, and Poland’s only Jewish choir, Tslil, both begun with seed funding from JDC.
Helen looked up from behind the cash register, spotting a middle-aged man fiddling with the hats. "It is hot outside, I am looking for something to protect me from the sun," said the gentleman, trying to meet her gaze. But the store owner was fixated on his t-shirt which prominently displayed a Star of David (Magen David). Immediately she closed the shop door. "Are you a Jew?" Helen asked, her voice trembling. Yossi, director of JDC programs in Poland, told the woman about himself and the Jewish community in Poland. With fear still evident in her eyes, Helen closed the store and invited Yossi to a coffee shop. "I am the only the only Jew in this town and nobody knows," she said. She went on to explain that, before World War II, Wlodawa had been a shtetl, full of Jewish life, with a prominent rabbi and synagogue, Cheder Torah study groups and a Jewish day school, among other community resources. "When the Germans occupied the town they gathered all of the Jews, including my mother —: who was eight years old —: my grandmother and great grandmother," she said. "They took them for a long walk to the concentration camp of Sobibor." One of the German soldiers saved the lives of Helen’s mother and grandmother, who were hidden by a Polish family until the end of the war. "My mother married a Pole and only on her death bed told me the truth of her family history. Now you are the only person who knows that I am Jewish," said Helen (Basia), who has vigilantly guarded her secret while practicing Catholicism, attending church each Sunday. Basia gave Yossi the full name of her parents and asked him to try to find any possible relatives in Israel; he discovered an elderly Holocaust survivor, living in Herzelia, who is most likely her uncle (her mother’s brother). Some months after their first encounter, when Yossi visited the JDC Children’s Summer Camp in the nearby town of Okuninko, Basia arranged to meet him and brought her husband, as well as Daniel, her 15-year-old son. Impressed by this gesture, Yossi invited the family to attend Kabbalat Shabbat at the camp. "It was the first time that they participated together in a ceremony like this," said Yossi. "They told me that it was a very moving experience for the three of them, even thought they were also afraid…" The family was fearful of being "found out" as Jews. "We were scared that maybe one of the non-Jewish workers at the camp would recognize us, and that it could bring problems in our town," they admitted. Still, intrigued by the nugget of discovery that had been dangled before him, Daniel told Yossi that he wanted to learn more about Jewish culture and history. "Immediately I invited him to the Jewish Student Organization (PUSZ) Camp," explained Yossi. Since that time, Daniel has been participating in PUSZ programs. "Little by little we can see how his Jewish identity is developing," said Yossi. "His family is in regular contact with me. They wish to visit Israel and meet the elderly uncle…" In celebration of the Jewish New Year, Daniel plans to attend a PUSZ event, which is one among many High Holy Day and Sukkot festivities in 13 cities throughout Poland, including dinners, educational programs, and synagogue services. While the main Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur observances will take place in Warsaw, smaller scale celebrations will occur in Krakow, Wroclaw and Lodz, and JDC’s Jewish Service Corps volunteer in Warsaw will be traveling to four cities in Poland to teach the local youth about the High Holidays and support Jewish renewal efforts for the youngest generation. |
