What a day!!!

Thank you all for your amazing postings... I report to the group and let them know that people are checking our blog...
Today was remarkable-- and I felt (and feel comfortable speaking on behalf of our group) that the history is now becoming oh so much more real.... We are in Poland. The drive from Berlin was magnificent... There was grapeseed planted everywhere-- miles upon miles of what looks like rolling hills of yellow flowering plants. The countryside was vast and lush-- and the rain didn't let us down in that it seems to come so appropriately and at such appropriate times.
So, we left Berlin early-- very early because Chaim insists that we be the first bus to leave-- as Lynne so eloquently said to me today "Competitive Holocaust Education".... We are first for everything because our dear Chaim would have it no other way... So, we drove into Poland and while we were driving, we watched Maude's video, The Hidden Child-- the story of her life during the Holocaust and then she spoke to us as the hills of Germany and then Poland served as the backdrop.
We then watched most of Schindler's List which numerous of our students had never seen. Powerful.... And, Michael talked to us about about the Jews of Poland....
When we arrived in Poland, we walked around the Jewish Quarter which to me was reminiscent of the Jewish quarter in Vienna.... We walked through two old and destroyed Synagogues and then headed back on the bus. We drove past Schindler's Factory and the hill on which Schindler sat upon his white horse watching the Jews of the Krakow Ghetto. We saw part of the actual ghetto wall and all shivered as we realized the implications of those very walls.
Next, we went to Kazimierz and saw the Umschlag Platz where Jews were shot in a courtyard that now is scattered with empty wooden chairs-- and it was here that we took turns reading testimonies from individuals who saw the horrors that took place in this very courtyard. And, so the tears began to fall... along with the rain...
Back on the bus... the rain stopped...
And, onto Plashov, a concentration camp where Pinchas (one of our Survivors) was imprisoned at a time. We looked at a statue of five individuals made of enormous stone and overlooking acres of land beneath which thousands were mercilessly murdered. And, the rain began to pour.
Back onto the bus and finally to our hotel-- where we listened to Pinchas share his testimony with the group... I will write more about his testimony but not right now, since we must awake in 3 hours for our very important day at Auschwitz- Birkenau.
After dinner, we met to debrief-- and our bus-- all 45 of us, sat in a circle outside and we talked-- and we cried.. and we laughed.. and we remembered.. and we hoped...
This group is remarkable. The students are full of such life and of such dedication to this cause and to the cause of injustice in our world. We struggled with what tomorrow will bring as we march from Auschwitz to Birkenau, we struggled with images of the little children playing today where thousands were murdered, we struggled with how we will ever be able to explain this trip to our families and friends upon our return, and we marveled at the unbelievable connection that we feel with one another. There were lots of tears and lots of hugs... and I feel confident that though we all are worried about tomorrow, that we are all closing our eyes tonight with a remarkable sense of unity and comfort.
This trip is way more than I could have ever anticipated.... and worth all the work and time and preparations to make it happen.
I hope to have more time to write tomorrow-- but to you parents and friends reading this blog, know that your children and friends are extraordinary human beings and that we are in awe of all they are contributing of themselves to this tough but critical trip..
Thanks for your support... Until tomorrow....