In Poland, Searching for Jewish Heritage

[elleng]

A writer and his sister journey to the childhood homes of their parents, places where once Jews like them could thrive.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/02/travel/poland-jewish-heritage.html?_r=0

[Behind the Aegis]

1. I suggest "Shtetl" on PBS.

We have an app on the TV that let's us watch PBS stories already aired (It's like "Hulu.&quot . There is a program called "Shtetl", which is about two Polish Jews going back, to different places, in Poland. It is 2.5 hours long.

[question everything]

2. Thank you. I don't remember hearing about it

but hitting your link brought me to the movie. It is close to 3 hours, and I cannot watch it now but will later.

[ellisonz]

3. My grandparents returned home to Plock after the war...

...everything was gone, their families murdered. They married with my grandfather's best friend as witness before ending up in America. They never went back. One day I would like to visit.

[Behind the Aegis]

4. Sadly, that is the story for many Polish and Hungarian Jews.

I don't know if it is the same for other areas and countries, but those two were among the worst. A story most people are completely ignorant of in regards to the aftermath of the Holocaust.

[ellisonz]

5. They went on to marry 4 more times in 4 more countries.

As someone with an academic background in history, I think the end of the war is definitely the least studied and understood part of it at that level. Common knowledge is near non-existent. Most people wouldn't be able to pick out "Displaced Persons Camp" out of a multiple choice question if given similarly named choices.

[Behind the Aegis]

6. You are correct about the knowledge base of after the war.

I have been reading and watching more and more about it and it is amazing how much has been left out of the story. To most, it is simply this...pre-WWII (Jews treated bad), Holocaust (Jews killed...not murdered), Israel (Jews get a gift). Somehow, magically, the three years between the end of the European War (May 1945) and the creation of modern-day Israel (May 1948) are "not there."

[ellisonz]

7. You could sail a cargo freighter through the hole!

But yes, the choice to go and where to go wasn't easy on either side of the Iron Curtain. There were years of waiting before my grandparents and our other family survivors were able to get visa's to come to America. It wasn't like a desperately poor and war ravaged Europe was saying hey Jews come settle in our towns and even if they had, were people just supposed to trust?