Sunday, June 30, 2013

Changing my tune....

I admitted once before that while walking in Krakow, I was predisposed to eyeing any and all Polish octogenarians warily, hoping I could guilt them into looking shameful with my accusatory glare and it was a given - for me at least - that it was more than likely that they stood by silently and watched our people being herded onto trucks and trains before being deported to the camps...
Hearing Paulina speak did make me change the way I think.  It's not that I've suddenly welcomed them all with open arms, but rather I'm trying to look at them as individuals rather than as a whole group. And Paulina (check out a previous post about this amazing woman) wasn't the only one. 
While walking with Isabella in Sosnowiec, we seemed to attract quite a bit of attention (this leads me to believe that Sosnowiec isn't a Polish city that is high up there in the Polish tourism trade....) An old man sort of followed us around a bit, eavesdropping despite the fact that he didn't understand English.  He finally approached Isabella and they began to talk.  She translated that he remembered the Jews, and what had happened and at some point he was tearing up, clearly sad at reminiscing the sad history of his native country.  At first, being the cynical Israeli (thanks Yisrael Feldman) that I am, I was slightly aggravated.  From what Isabella was saying I understood that he was upset that he was forcibly removed from his home to make room for the Jewish ghetto but it became clear to me that he was crying because of the whole situation. That the Jews were herded up, that they lost their homes, that his country was at war and that so many people's lives were lost.  He was also very angry at what the Germans had done to destroy his country and leaving Poland with such a deep dark stain that will never come out.
And then there was the woman whose house was literally on the property of the Strymeciece cemetery. Even after the government stopped giving her funds for the upkeep of the cemetery, she continued to care for it. She gave those long forgotten-about graves deep respect when no one would have known otherwise had she left them to further decay.
I admit that I still eye these old people with doubt, but I'm not muttering "Nazi!" under my breath just yet....


The caretaker of the Strymeciece cemetery's house. If you take the path to the left, the cemetery is right there in her backyard...

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