hillside

by four-foot high green met-
al fences, are the final resting
place of more than 2,500
people. Several of the stu-
dents visiting the site said
they could relate to the
tragedy at Tykocin because
they can fathom 2,500 men,
women and children. Num-
bers like the four million
who perished at Auschwitz-
Birkenau are simply too
massive for them to grasp.
While Tykocin may pro-
vide the students with a
slice of death they can
grasp, Oded Cohen is quick
to point out that it was little
more than a footnote to the
Holocaust. Referring to the
17,000 stones at Treblinka,
he said, "Every city has a
boulder. Every town has a
stone. Tykocin isn't even a
pebble. It's the gravel that
lies between all those
stones."
Although cynics may find
the Poland experience to be
overrated, Oded Cohen is
among those who believe in
the importance of visits to
Poland.
"A visit to Auschwitz
changes any human being,"
Cohen said.
The comments of the stu-
dents, during and immedi-
ately after their journey to
Poland, have convinced
many that the benefits, in
terms of enhanced Jewish
identity, make the effort
worthwhile.
"Our generation is unaf-
fected by the Holocaust,"
Nathan Abrams, 17, said
while on a bus taking his
group to Warsaw after a day
at Auschwitz and Birkenau.
Abrams, a student at the
JFS Comprehensive School
in London, England, spoke
softly when questioning the
level of Holocaust education
Diaspora Jews receive.
"Perhaps our school is fail-
ing to educate children
about the Holocaust," he
said, although he added that
he did see recent improve-
ments. "It's too distant for
most of us."
Seeing the camps made
him appreciate the gravity
of the Holocaust and realize
that he must one day pass the
lessons on to his own children.
Students, educators and
laymen all question the abil-
ity to convey such serious
messages in a classroom, es-
pecially as the passing years
limit the tangible ties that
bind Jewish children to the
Holocaust. As the survivors
die, the human links to the
Holocaust are disappearing.
"It's no good reading it in

books," said Andrew Cur-
zon, 16, also a student from
JFS in London. "Now that
I'm actually here, I can feel
what the books were talking
about."
Many educators insist
that on-site visits are the
best way of transmitting the
Holocaust's importance and
drawing young Jews to the
Jewish people. Tova Tzar,

"To come to Israel
(without seeing
Poland) is like
meeting a person in
middle age and
attempting to
develop a
relationship
without knowing
anything about his
prior life."
Yehiel Poupko

who helped write the Israel
Education Ministry's cur-
riculum for trips to Poland,
believes the excursions can
help young Jews from
around the world who some-
times feel that they want to
distance themselves from
their roots. She designed the
Israeli trips to Poland with
an eye toward strengthening
commitment to Israel.
Diaspora groups also
stress the Zionist message.
The fact that most groups
fly to Israel from Warsaw il-
lustrates the importance or-
ganizers place on the Jewish
state.
All of the groups cling to
Jewish symbols throughout
their Polish journeys. They
hold memorial services at
death camps and ghettos
throughout the country and
the ceremonies almost al-
ways end with "Hatikvah."
Israeli participants wear
shirts emblazoned with
Stars of David and the word
"Israel." Many non-
Orthodox young men from
the Diaspora take to wear-
ing a yarmulke whenever
they appear in public in
Poland. The message is
clear: We are here, they
want to tell the Poles. Our
grandparents were killed,
but we have survived.
Charles Savenor and his
friends wore yarmulkes and
Jewish stars as they walked
through Polish streets.
"From the look in people's
eyes, you'd have thought
they were seeing ghosts," he
said. ❑

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