This morning we had a few hours to stroll around Krakow, so Len and I went
over to the Jewish quarter and wandered into a few synagogues. Of course, there
are very few Jews now, but they amazingly were able to save some of the old
synagogues, and there is a current effort to revitalize the area. We seemed to
be swimming in a sea of Israeli groups for a while. Several groups were clearly
from the army as they were mainly young men .... it was a bit of a surprise to
me that the army does tourism.
For the afternoon, we went to Auschwitz/Birkenau. I've decided not to blog
about it or to post photos. The enormity of the evil is just too vast for a
blog. Both Len and I lost branches of our family here, so it was an opportunity
to say Kaddish for them.
In the evening, Len and I went back to one of the synagogues where Chabad
was supposed to have an evening service. However, it was difficult to get a
minyan and when they finally did, they kicked me out, rather
unceremoniously, as I was not the appropriate gender to be in the room! I
managed to say Kaddish from the doorway instead. They zoomed along in Hebrew
(they were all Israeli's) so fast that it was absolutely impossible to keep
up. I have to say that they were not the least bit welcoming to us so it was
an unfulfilling finish to a draining day.
Tomorrow is our last day in Krakow so check back later for
more.
Donna
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