I have pretty much spent most of the morning catching up on my sleep from the long flight from LA. I decided to begin my morning with an Israeli breakfast. Several friends recommended Benedict, known for their amazing breakfasts and brunches. It's a good find since it's open 24/7. I decided to walk towards the sea and go to the branch on Ben Yehuda Street. I wasn't disappointed. Usually I would order an Israeli salad which comes with delicious breads and yogurt, but today I decided to try the shakshuka. My meal arrived on a hot skillet and was delicious. Shakshuka are eggs cooked in tomato sauce, onions and spices. It definitely woke me up!! I haven't been there, but there is a restaurant in Old Jaffa called "Dr. Shakshuka" which I'll have to try next time I'm in Tel Aviv.
After breakfast I took a cab down to Neve Tzedek, the oldest part of Tel Aviv. Shabazi Street is the main drag and it's always fun to check it out. Cute boutiques, wine bars, restaurants and unique gift shops line the narrow road. Tourists and locals come often to enjoy the ambiance and quiet of this enchanting neighborhood. Each time I return to the area, it becomes more upscale and gentrified. Old, shoddy buildings become newly renovated and there are cranes to be seen everywhere. A great place to stop for a cappuccino and pastry is Caffe Tazza D'Oro, tucked behind Shabazi Street on Ahad Ha'am St. The mood is casual and the coffee outstanding. After being fortified, I continued my walk toward the Promenade by the sea. Watching and listening to the sounds and sights of the sea is one of my pastimes, and again the Promenade didn't disappoint. There is something soothing and calming walking along the boardwalk in the middle of winter and enjoying the clean, crisp air along the sea.
Tel Aviv, Israel - January 13, 2011
After a 14 1/2 hour flight from LA to Tel Aviv, I finally made it to my apartment in the center of town. Sometimes it's a good idea to break up the long flight with a short stop in Europe or NYC. In this case, I wanted to avoid any weather delays so I opted for the non-stop flight.
I woke this morning to a beautiful, warm (high 60's - low 70's) winter's day. What better way to deal with jet lag than to go out and walk in the sunshine. I decided to walk in the neighborhood and see what was new. I took a short 2 minute stroll to the new mini-mall serving several high-rise buildings in the "Tsammeret Park" neighborhood. A new market, Eden, was open and I spent at least 30 minutes walking through the amazing food displays. The fresh fruits and veggies, the displays of fresh lentils, dried fruit and just about anything you could expect to find at your local Whole Foods was there, including "Soy Vay", my favorite marinade from Trader Joe's. Who knew??
I continued my walk to the Kikar Hamedina, the circle of high-end, designer shops servicing a high-end Israeli consumer (of which I am neither high-end nor Israeli). You never know when you need to make that Louis Vuitton, Burberry or Ralph Lauren purchase!
As always, the most interesting part of walking through any city is people watching and Tel Aviv is no exception. Because people spend at least a good part of their day walking about and sitting in cafes, people watching can become an interesting way to gauge the feel of the beat of the city.
I woke this morning to a beautiful, warm (high 60's - low 70's) winter's day. What better way to deal with jet lag than to go out and walk in the sunshine. I decided to walk in the neighborhood and see what was new. I took a short 2 minute stroll to the new mini-mall serving several high-rise buildings in the "Tsammeret Park" neighborhood. A new market, Eden, was open and I spent at least 30 minutes walking through the amazing food displays. The fresh fruits and veggies, the displays of fresh lentils, dried fruit and just about anything you could expect to find at your local Whole Foods was there, including "Soy Vay", my favorite marinade from Trader Joe's. Who knew??
I continued my walk to the Kikar Hamedina, the circle of high-end, designer shops servicing a high-end Israeli consumer (of which I am neither high-end nor Israeli). You never know when you need to make that Louis Vuitton, Burberry or Ralph Lauren purchase!
As always, the most interesting part of walking through any city is people watching and Tel Aviv is no exception. Because people spend at least a good part of their day walking about and sitting in cafes, people watching can become an interesting way to gauge the feel of the beat of the city.
Krakow - July 24, 2010
One of the highlights of my trip to Poland was having the opportunity to meet and speak with Marty Weiss, a Holocaust survivor and volunteer at the USHMM. Mr. Weiss is a delightful man with a wealth of personal experiences and information about the Holocaust. He is friendly, animated and eager to speak about his life. His attendance on our group tour gave everyone the opportunity to get a personal window into the tragedy of the Holocaust.
One of our last "field trips" with the museum group was our visit to the Wieliczka Salt Mines located on the southeast outskirts of Krakow. They have been worked for 900 years and used to be one of the world's biggest and most profitable industrial establishments when common salt was a rare commodity. Since the mid-18th century, these mines have become a huge tourist attraction, giving visitors the opportunity to walk underground for about 2,000 meters in the oldest part of the sale mine and see its subterranean museum. The mines have been placed on the original UNESCO list of World Heritage sites.
Nine centuries of mining in Wieliczka produced a total of 200 km of passages as well as 2,040 caverns of varied size. The tourist route starts 64m deep, includes twenty chambers, and ends 135m below the earth's surface.
It was quite an experience getting to the deeper levels of the mines. After descending several staircases and riding in a small, rickety elevator, I finally arrived at the deepest level of the mines.
The unique acoustics of the mines have made hearing music here an outstanding experience and our group was given the opportunity to attend a piano recital while enjoying dinner in the underground mines. This was certainly an opportunity of a lifetime.
Korniaktow/Budy Lancuckie - July 22, 2010
Our tour of Poland with the USHMM has ended. It was a life-altering experience to visit first-hand the areas where the horrors of the Holocaust took place. In addition, for me it was a personal experience. As a daughter of two Holocaust survivors, it was especially meaningful and at the same time eerie to step on land that had been the scene of so much tragedy and death.
With a tour guide/translator/driver, I set out to visit the small villages where my father was born and where he had spent his youth. It took several hours by car, driving through Rzeszow, to begin to see the farmland and scattered homes along a two-lane road. Passing signs with familiar sounding names (my father had spoken to me of working and living in different towns in Poland), I knew that I was getting close to my destination. After seeing the signs indicating that we had entered "Budy Lancuckie", I began to feel my father's presence. My guide/driver pointed out an old, deserted two story building that he knew had been a schoolhouse in years gone by. Maybe my father had been a student in this building. The sun was shining brightly as we entered the town of Korniaktow. This was the village where my father spent his youth. He often told stories of how he helped his mother in the garden and how he often went into the big city with his father to barter grains and farm animals for other goods.
After asking local villagers about two families that I knew had been neighbors of my father, they directed us to their homes. You can imagine the amazement of both families as they opened their doors to the daughter of someone who had once lived close by. The guide was able to translate Polish-English and it was quite miraculous to be able to stand in the homes of families knowing that my father had stood there some sixty years before.
The first home that we visited was that of the Mach family. The elder Tadeusz Mach was no longer alive, but his daughter and grandchildren greeted us. They showed us the barn where the elder Mr. Mach hid my father during the years of the Holocaust. I could barely hold back my tears.
The second home that we went to was that of the Wojtyna family. Miraculously, the elder gentleman, Julian Wojtyna, was still alive at 96 years old! His Polish commentary which I have recorded and plan to send to Yad Vashem, was his recounting of the days during WWII when he aided my father and other Jews who were trying to escape from the Nazis. His family made us feel extremely welcome. To my amazement, Mr. Wojtyna's daughter went to the kitchen drawer and opened it to reveal that she had saved letters from my father after the war. For some reason, she felt the need to hold on to them and save them. I held back my tears as I recognized my father's handwriting. This was truly a dream come true for me -- to be able to stand in the home of a Christian family who had the courage and humanity to save my father from his death.
I am deeply indebted to both of these families and will remember them in my heart forever.
With a tour guide/translator/driver, I set out to visit the small villages where my father was born and where he had spent his youth. It took several hours by car, driving through Rzeszow, to begin to see the farmland and scattered homes along a two-lane road. Passing signs with familiar sounding names (my father had spoken to me of working and living in different towns in Poland), I knew that I was getting close to my destination. After seeing the signs indicating that we had entered "Budy Lancuckie", I began to feel my father's presence. My guide/driver pointed out an old, deserted two story building that he knew had been a schoolhouse in years gone by. Maybe my father had been a student in this building. The sun was shining brightly as we entered the town of Korniaktow. This was the village where my father spent his youth. He often told stories of how he helped his mother in the garden and how he often went into the big city with his father to barter grains and farm animals for other goods.
After asking local villagers about two families that I knew had been neighbors of my father, they directed us to their homes. You can imagine the amazement of both families as they opened their doors to the daughter of someone who had once lived close by. The guide was able to translate Polish-English and it was quite miraculous to be able to stand in the homes of families knowing that my father had stood there some sixty years before.
The first home that we visited was that of the Mach family. The elder Tadeusz Mach was no longer alive, but his daughter and grandchildren greeted us. They showed us the barn where the elder Mr. Mach hid my father during the years of the Holocaust. I could barely hold back my tears.
The second home that we went to was that of the Wojtyna family. Miraculously, the elder gentleman, Julian Wojtyna, was still alive at 96 years old! His Polish commentary which I have recorded and plan to send to Yad Vashem, was his recounting of the days during WWII when he aided my father and other Jews who were trying to escape from the Nazis. His family made us feel extremely welcome. To my amazement, Mr. Wojtyna's daughter went to the kitchen drawer and opened it to reveal that she had saved letters from my father after the war. For some reason, she felt the need to hold on to them and save them. I held back my tears as I recognized my father's handwriting. This was truly a dream come true for me -- to be able to stand in the home of a Christian family who had the courage and humanity to save my father from his death.
I am deeply indebted to both of these families and will remember them in my heart forever.
Treblinka - July 20, 2010
All that remains of the horrors of Treblinka are a symbolic set of tracks along with a huge memorial consisting of rock formations as far as the eye can see. On the day that I visited, the largest rock formation had a small Star of David laying at its base. Numerous memorial candles with melted wax had been placed at different locations where visitors had been. The vastness of the area and its quiet greenery felt eerily calm. Simply walking through this place of horror brought images of unimaginable crimes of humanity.
Lodz - July 18, 2010
We took a side trip to Lodz, Poland, a city which is well off the usual tourist trail. It is home to Poland's biggest film studios and one of Europe's most famous film schools. During the 19th and 20th centuries, Lodz grew to become Poland's second largest city.
During the Nazi invasion of Poland, Germany captured Lodz on September 8, 1939 and annexed it to the Reich in November, 1939. The city received the new name of Litzmannstadt after the Germany general Karl Litzmann, who captured the city during World War I. The Nazis planned to evacuate the whole community of Jews from the city of Lodz, however, as it was impossible to do it immediately, they established a closed ghetto on December 10, 1939. The northern part of the city including streets of the Old City and the Baluty District, was chosen as a location of the ghetto. Because the Jewish community was so large, it took the Nazis eight months to lock the Lodz Jews in the small area of the Lodz Ghetto. In April, it was surrounded by wire and wooden fences. Over the years, Jews from other parts of Europe and Romans were deported to the Lodz Ghetto.
The Radegast Station, or the loading platform, is one of the most important historical sites connected to the Lodz ghetto. From this place, tens of thousands of people were herded off to the death camp at Chelmno and then to Auschwitz. The original wooden building along with its loading platform still stands today. The railway station was built in 1937. The Radogoszcz (Radegast) Station was the so-called Umschlagplatz of Lodz, the site where people were assembled just prior to being shipped out, in most cases, to die. For years, the building lay in ruin. In 2002, a Jewish heritage organization proposed that a museum of the ghetto be created in the Station building. It is one of the major historical sites that tell the tragic story of the Lodz ghetto.
Unlike Warsaw, the city of Lodz escaped major destruction during WWII. Ul. Piotrkowska is Lodz's 3.6 km long north =south backbone. Most of the city's tourist sights, hotels and restaurants are located on this cobblestone street. There is a branch of the Muzeum Sztuki, one of Poland's best museums of modern art in Poland, located in the area of Lodz largest mall "Manufaktura". Many upscale shops and restaurants are located in the area of the Manufaktura, including an outdoor "sand" beach area. The largest 19th Century textile factory complex which was built by Izrael Poznanski is an example of a modern business which operates in restored 19th century buildings. Our hotel, Andels Hotel, is an example of a contemporary interior located in such a restored building. We purchased items in the local grocery store and enjoyed a picnic lunch watching sand volleyball players. Who could have imagined the horror that had taken place in Lodz just seventy years ago?
During the Nazi invasion of Poland, Germany captured Lodz on September 8, 1939 and annexed it to the Reich in November, 1939. The city received the new name of Litzmannstadt after the Germany general Karl Litzmann, who captured the city during World War I. The Nazis planned to evacuate the whole community of Jews from the city of Lodz, however, as it was impossible to do it immediately, they established a closed ghetto on December 10, 1939. The northern part of the city including streets of the Old City and the Baluty District, was chosen as a location of the ghetto. Because the Jewish community was so large, it took the Nazis eight months to lock the Lodz Jews in the small area of the Lodz Ghetto. In April, it was surrounded by wire and wooden fences. Over the years, Jews from other parts of Europe and Romans were deported to the Lodz Ghetto.
The Radegast Station, or the loading platform, is one of the most important historical sites connected to the Lodz ghetto. From this place, tens of thousands of people were herded off to the death camp at Chelmno and then to Auschwitz. The original wooden building along with its loading platform still stands today. The railway station was built in 1937. The Radogoszcz (Radegast) Station was the so-called Umschlagplatz of Lodz, the site where people were assembled just prior to being shipped out, in most cases, to die. For years, the building lay in ruin. In 2002, a Jewish heritage organization proposed that a museum of the ghetto be created in the Station building. It is one of the major historical sites that tell the tragic story of the Lodz ghetto.
Unlike Warsaw, the city of Lodz escaped major destruction during WWII. Ul. Piotrkowska is Lodz's 3.6 km long north =south backbone. Most of the city's tourist sights, hotels and restaurants are located on this cobblestone street. There is a branch of the Muzeum Sztuki, one of Poland's best museums of modern art in Poland, located in the area of Lodz largest mall "Manufaktura". Many upscale shops and restaurants are located in the area of the Manufaktura, including an outdoor "sand" beach area. The largest 19th Century textile factory complex which was built by Izrael Poznanski is an example of a modern business which operates in restored 19th century buildings. Our hotel, Andels Hotel, is an example of a contemporary interior located in such a restored building. We purchased items in the local grocery store and enjoyed a picnic lunch watching sand volleyball players. Who could have imagined the horror that had taken place in Lodz just seventy years ago?
Oswiecim - Auschwitz-Bierkenau - July 16, 2010




Auschwitz-Birkenau was the killing center where the largest numbers of European Jews were killed during the Holocaust. By mid 1942, mass gassing of Jews using Zyklon-B began at Auschwitz, where extermination was conducted on an industrial scale. Some estimates run as high as three million people kiled through gassing, starvation, disease, shooting, and burning. 9 out of 10 were Jews. In addition, gypsies, Soviet POW's, and prisoners of all nationalities died in the gas chambers. The largest single mass deportation during the Holocaust occurred between May 14 and July 8, 1944 where 437,402 Hungarian Jews were deported to Auschwitz in 148 trains.
The facility was established by order of Reichsfuhrer SS Heinrich Himmler on 27 April 1940. Private diaries of Goebbels and Himmler reveal that Adolf Hitler personally ordered the mass extermination of the Jews.children were often killed upon arrival. Children born in the camp were generally killed on the spot.
So called camp doctors, especially the notorious Josef Mengele, would torture and inflict incredible suffering on inmates.
The horrors of Auschwitz-Birkenau have been recounted widely. Books, manuscripts, films etc. have established the extraordinary evil committed by human beings.
Our trip to Auschwitz was emotionally difficult and trying. Every step that I took, every tree that I saw, every blade of grass could not remove the images of death and horror that Auschwitz conveyed. Throngs of people were witnessing Auschwitz the same day that our group was there. Schoolchildren, the frail and elderly, people of all nationalities and races were here to witness the gravesite and memorial to the millions killed.
So much has been written about Auschwitz. There is no need to write more. The memories that I have of being in this place will be with me forever.
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