Haredi schools visit Poland's Holocaust memorial sites

For the first time possibly, Haredi schools in Israel are organizing delegations to visit the Holocaust memorial sites in Poland:

Every year, tens of thousands of Israeli students walk through the gates of Nazi death camps and visit former Jewish ghettos. These trips have traditionally been attended primarily by students from the state and state-religious school systems.

Now, for the first time in Israel, an organized delegation of ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students has traveled to Poland. The trip, initiated by the Netzach education network—the ultra-Orthodox division of the Education Ministry—along with the municipalities of Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh, marks a historic shift in the ultra-Orthodox community’s engagement with Holocaust remembrance and collective national memory. Although the participants came from religious high schools rather than traditional Haredi yeshivas that avoid core secular studies, they are still ultra-Orthodox students from Haredi homes.

Rabbi Menachem Bombach, founder of the Natzach network, emphasized the national significance of the trip. “When ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students follow a path that was previously reserved for students in state schools, it symbolizes that the memory of the Holocaust belongs to all of us. The Holocaust did not distinguish between Haredi, religious or secular Jews, and its memory should be shared by everyone.”

Shai Calderon, head of the Education Ministry’s ultra-Orthodox division, echoed this sentiment: “This is an important journey that every young man should experience. Confronting the memory of the Holocaust and connecting to the national story of the Jewish people are essential parts of our Jewish and Israeli identity. This trip allows yeshiva students to become part of the collective memory that unites all segments of Israeli society.”

It's also something women have to study, and there's a vital point to make that women were some of the biggest victims of the National Socialists' tyranny at the time too. Something that certain past Haredi movements refused to attend museums dedicated to the topic based on, and one NYC museum also capitulated to. If this is changing, this trip being made by Haredi schools to Poland is certainly a good start. Let's just hope they recognize the legitimacy of women who were victims, and also those who fought against National Socialists at the time.

Memorial Day Tradition Celebrates Third Year

For the third consecutive year, I’ve chosen the days leading up to Memorial Day as appropriate for honoring all of those who paid the ultimate price in service to their country by publishing war stories written by my father, Ted, who served as a low-ranking enlisted man in the U.S. Army during World War II and returned home wounded, but alive.

The stories first appeared in my father’s self-published 1992 autobiography, “Some Events in One Life: Mine!“ Not published for any commercial gain, he printed up a dozen or so copies of that book as a means to provide his six children — including yours truly — and their heirs a personal look at his participation in one of history’s most-harrowing events, World War II.

Links to each of those installments, 12 in all, can be found here.