COMMENTARY
Bearing Witness in Poland Don’t just get it on the market. Get it the attention it deserves. NOTHING COMPARES.
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BrookhavenCommerce.org 16 APRIL 2022 | REPORTER NEWSPAPERS
Eric M. Robbins just returned from Poland with Jewish leaders from 10 US cities. This is his personal account. Seeing the Ghosts of Our Grandparents
and JDC have received significant financial support from us. This support, along with a collective of Federations around the world, has allowed them to build a robust infrastructure that builds the Jewish communities of Ukraine and supports basic needs.
It’s a seven-hour drive from Warsaw to the Ukraine border crossing at Medyka where thousands of people are seekReturning to Warsaw After ing safety and refuge in Po20 Years land. This is day two of my This is not my first time pilgrimage to Poland with in Warsaw, Poland. Twenty Jewish leaders from ten U.S. years ago, I came here to visit cities. We are all here to bear the small village, now part of witness to the modern-day Lithuania, where my grandrefugee crisis that has disfather was born. On this unplaced millions of Ukraiexpectedly warm and bright nians in a matter of weeks. day, Warsaw impressed me We are all here to do whatever we can to fund and sup- ERIC M. ROBBINS with its combination of modern and historic architecture. port the massive humanitar- President and CEO of There was a surprising ian effort underway to save the Jewish Federation calmness to the city, and Ukrainian Jews and other of Greater Atlanta strangely, it recalled the vidisplaced Ukrainians. brant Squirrel Hill Jewish We are committed to recommunity of Pittsburgh turning home and telling where I had the privilege of growing up. American Jews a story we never imagMy Pittsburgh Jewish community was ined would happen again. created by Jews who fled Poland and othIronically, we are driving through er parts of Eastern Europe. Still, it is eerie our grandparents’ Poland — once to be in this modern city where parts of home to the largest, most vibrant Jewthe walls of the Warsaw Ghetto still exist. ish community in the world and the inThe reality is that American Jews like tellectual birthplace of countless Jewish me were born in the very best place, at thought leaders, rabbis, and artists. As the absolute best time in world histoour bus continues eastward, it is hauntry. How stunning to now be a 21st cening to pass through towns with names tury American visiting a country that is like Lublin and Chelm, made famous absorbing millions of refugees, most of in the stories of Isaac Bashevis Singer whom were living quite modern lives just and Sholom Aleichem. It is even more a month ago. That so many of them are haunting to see signs for Polish towns Jewish feels like an old nightmare. like Oswiecim, Majdanek, Sobibor, and In Warsaw, I was nearly hit by a biTreblinka — the places where our peocycle while absent mindedly walking in ple were herded like cattle, tortured and the bike lane. I later met the individual gassed. who nearly ran me over in a nearby cofOnly 10,000 Jews remain in Poland. fee shop and we had coffee together. He But today, millions of refugees, Jewish let me interview him and I recorded it on and non-Jewish, are pouring into Pomy phone. He was a Pole who was hostland seeking safety and shelter from ing refugees in his flat and had many the destruction, and brutality of Rusfriends doing the same. He was not sursia’s unprovoked war on Ukraine. This prised by the war in Ukraine and said time, we are here for them. that he knew it was brewing for years. The current situation reminded him of Our Partners on the Ground the world’s response to World War II and My fly-in to Poland and the Ukraine how long it took the world to wake up to border was organized by Jewish Federwhat was happening. He said it was easy ations of North America (JFNA) which to imagine that we were like two peocoordinates the heroic on-the-ground ple having coffee in Paris in 1939, talkwork of our overseas partners, the ing about what was happening in GermaAmerican Joint Distribution Commitny. It underscored the unpredictability tee (JDC), and the Jewish Agency for Isof this war and all the possible scenarios rael (JAFI). that could play out. These two organizations are doing As I walked the streets of Warsaw and lifesaving work to protect and support neared the central train station, I saw refJewish and non-Jewish refugees. Both ugees everywhere. Families without fahave been deeply engaged with Jews in thers were camped out on blow-up beds, Ukraine for more than 75 years. Both resting on benches, eating meals, and have established a strong infrastrucgetting supplies from temporary tents. ture as they work in coordination with Some were passing through and some each other and with other NGOs in eastwere trying to settle in Warsaw. ern Europe. The scale of it was heartbreaking. For as long as there has been an annual Community Campaign in Atlanta, JAFI reporternewspapers.com
