BACK TO POLAND | Full Documentary | 2024 Tisha B’Av Film by Shloime Zionce

AR [Music] the protest please do not arrest anybody since October 7th there's been a massive outbreak of anti-Semitism all over the world things that I would have thought people would have only said in private are being said very very loudly in public at Columbia University nearly 3 weeks guys one of the things I've heard which was unbelievable to me was people running around screaming at Jews go back to Poland go back to go back to them to go back to Europe yeah go back to Poland fre fre free things are getting heated on college campuses from coast to coast protests are growing and they're not peaceful by any means right now go back to Europe [Music] hold it you say interesting I'm a person who has always tried to take everybody very seriously and if the anti-semites are saying go back to Poland I say you know what why not let's give it a shot see what Poland is all about so we went to Poland oo hick up bro we are we are in a Race Against Time and uh we have to [Music] go okay that was the close one we almost missed this flight but we're on thank God thank God thank you [Music] me zence good luck on your trip [Music] Poland a country with a vast and Rich Jewish history Jews have lived in Poland for over a thousand years and they felt so comfortable in Poland that they used to call it Poland which in Hebrew was a combination of two words po Lin here we will live my family on both sides my mother's side My Father's Side were pretty much all from Poland my great grandparents came to the United States after World War II and Poland was all they knew up until then Poland was the place they lived it was the place they celebrated their life celebrations it was where they got married had families everything was Poland Poland is in our [Music] blood so if things were so great in Poland why did my family leave Poland and why did other Jewish families leave Poland did everybody have the chance to leave Poland what about the people who stayed in Poland I wanted answers and I was not going to stop until I found them [Music] makes no sense to me life is just interesting like that you ever heard of Beats by Dr Dre this is Beats by amuna catering so little surprise um last night I was talking to my father and I told him about the trip I'm doing and all the places I'm going and he really wanted to come along so got him a ticket and he's actually going to be meeting us joining for the for the whole trip and I think it's going to be very special to experience Poland together with him visiting the towns that that our families come from together with him [Music] thank you very much [Applause] we have made it to Poland we are back in [Music] Poland we just landed in Kow thank God I mean we landed a long time ago but uh there were lines at passport control that is my father standing behind me brought him along to join for this experience I'm very happy to have him [Music] here it's a company from New York theas see this your company [Music] yeah you're from Hungary yeah yeah very nice okay I'm shalom nice me too it's like oh my gosh we got candy we got candy they're not kidding around [Music] hot delicious [Music] we are now in the Jewish area of Krakow this is an old area where Jews lived for hundreds of years and all the buildings that surround us are all Jewish buildings Jews prayed here Jews worked here Jews lived here if you take a look around the neighborhood you'll see everything here is Jewish that's Abraham rotner store here you have Aon Weinberg store and of course just around the corner right over here you have Kim coen's store he was a merchant who brought things into Poland he imported them from outside and would bring them to sell over here this street is Shera street it's known as the wide Street and this was the main street here in the old Jewish neighborhood of Kow 65,000 Jews lived right here this street was the border between the Jewish neighborhoods of Kow and the Christian neighborhoods of Kow and this synagogue right here is called the or the high synagogue because you could go up to the top and see into the other side into the Christian neighborhoods of kakow on this old Jewish Street there's another synagogue the CAA synagogue there may not be any Jews left here but I'm going to leave my [Music] mark e [Music] look at this intricate detail you could tell that somebody carved it lovingly into the stone in honor of the person who was buried [Music] here we about to walk into the ru synagogue which was built in the year 1553 and named after Rabbi mha Isis who was the rabbi here [Music] this building right here used to be the kevra synagogue [Music] still have some of the old AR left from back in the day doesn't really feel appropriate for the moment because this was a synagogue I do want to say a few words of prayer where you from from the United States oh nice don't film me you are not allowed to film okay okay okay imagine getting kicked out of a building that was stolen from your people because your filming makes them uncomfortable has anyone thought about the fact that there's a restaurant there that makes me [Music] uncomfortable here in KRA out we find some graffiti that reads ven in English that would be where are are the Jews where are the Jews of kakow where are the Jews of Poland [Music] Once Upon a Time long long ago here in Kow lived a man named Isaac yakovich Isaac was a very poor man who one night dreamt that under an old bridge in Prague there was a buried treasure he traveled all the way to Prague and showed up at this bridge when he arrived at the bridge he met a security guard who would not allow him to go under the bridge and the guard asked him what are you doing here he said I had a dream that there's a buried treasure under the bridge in Prague the security guard laughed and said I had a dream that there's a man named Isaac yakovich who lives in kcko and under his oven in his kitchen there is a Varity treasure Isaac understood the message and went back home he dug under his oven and there he found a buried treasure this is isaca Street and this is the synagogue he built with the money that he found in the Treasure he got permission to build the synagogue in the year 1638 and it was completed in the year 1644 now while I don't know if the story is true legend has it that this is what happened but regardless of whether the story is true or not the message is clear sometimes you can travel far away because you're looking for something but it turns out that what you're looking for is is actually right at [Music] [Applause] home this place was known as jid or the Jewish Market prior to the Holocaust this place was teaming with Jewish people and the local non-jews would come to shop here this building right behind me is where Jews came to get their kosher chicken and beef [Music] this building is known as the altul or in English it would be the old synagogue built in the 14th century it is said to be the oldest surviving synagogue in Central Europe okay no problem no problem please take at office I'm not going inside no okay please take at office I'm not buying a ticket either I'm just not going to go office please information please okay have a good day so as you can see um we tried going into the synagogue but apparently a Jew isn't allowed inside without a ticket interesting because the building was stolen from us but I guess that's how the world Works Poland is a beautiful country we were traveling all around from City to City from Jewish neighborhood to Jewish neighborhood we're looking at Old synagogues beautiful masterpieces of architecture we're visiting Jewish markets Jewish cemeteries everything around us every building every street every stone has some Jewish history but where are the Jews we looking around there are no juice even on the streets we're seeing graffiti that says V Zen and the Eden where are the Jews a [Music] welcome to leens Jews have been living in this city since the mid 1500s and in its Heyday lens's Jewish Community had over 4,500 people [Music] we got we got lunch for you also [Music] hey M you're a guide I'm not a guide I'm a you're a guy I'm a guy this is Yesa kin founded by Rabbi mayor Shapiro and completed in the year 1930 it is one of the largest and greatest yeshivas ever built in Europe this is a beautiful synagogue which once housed so many students who studied here at the Yesa [Music] this is the Jewish cemetery of leov my mother's mother's father came from here and as you can see there's really almost nothing left but we're going to see if we can find any Jews no Shalom oh you're the caretaker he's he's the caretaker oh what's he's cutting the grass oh there I see it there's a wall [Music] [Applause] [Music] I don't know for sure but it's quite possible that I have uh ancestors who are very good there's no way to know anymore so no records it's almost no Stones left but we prayed a little and now we're going to go try and find the house [Music] if I could identify which house my great grandparents lived in I mean that would be that would be super exciting according to what I understand what they said was there's the fire station across from the fire station they said there's a row of houses that it's the last house and it's right by a parking lot which means that I think it's that house could it be what what do you think it's right across from the fire station there's a parking the last house on the block by a parking lot or may maybe this one though I don't know but she knows it's from before or she know they got no they got the address but she lost the address but they visited here so they remember what I think it's this one H unless it's unless it's one of these she also said it's next to a little a little few a few like shops which could be this is this a okay now I understand I I listened to the message again so the house was directly across from the fire station and the house was destroyed but they built a parking lot and that's where we're standing right now so there a lot of emotions um there's happiness there's sadness there's longing I don't know what I'm feeling but I'm standing on the very place where my great-grandfather grew up here in luberto Poland before the Holocaust [Music] W thank you very much we really appreci how do you say thank you in Polish jya jenya jya go thank you God bless you be well have a good night he he wishes you to be a happy person I I am a I am a happy person thank you I wish you also to be a happy person ask him can I give him a [Music] hug thank you very much you're a good man you're a good man thank you very much oh he dances there you go very nice does you know how to dance Jewish let's see let's see let's see what you got oh that's too much for me is he's not 78 years old he's he's he's 38 years old tell thank you thank you thank you very much really appreciate it you're I really enjoyed your company a lot of fun yeah I'm done you're going to L we're already on the way out of town out of Luber but I feel like I should go back to where my great-grandfather grew up I want to put on Fillin over there it's going to be meaningful to me and um we'll pick up some Jewish Sparks that may have been left [Music] behind who knows when was the last time that a Jew prayed here so now I'm going to have the opportunity to pray yeah could be almost 80 years since any Jew prayed here especially a Jew in my family I'm going to have the opportunity to rville and right here on the spot that my great great grandparents lived before the Holocaust [Music] the last thing is I was coming here expecting to see a house I ended up finding a parking lot but basically is nothing so I figured if they didn't leave anything for me at least I'll leave something for them [Music] from now on people will remember that a Jewish Family shakas Montel The Montel family lived here once upon a time [Music] as we were traveling through Poland and through Europe every single Arrangement every flight every car ride every hotel room every meal was all made possible by Le it's an incredible tour company that literally arranged every single detail from the concept of the tri trip until we were back in the United States nothing was left unattended to they provided the highest levels of quality professionalism Casas and Comforts from the flights to the cars to the hotels to the food every detail was taken care of and there was somebody to talk to 24 hours a day at all times there was somebody who I could call to ask a question they would reach out to me as well to let me know in advance how things are going to be going I'm accustomed to planning my trips myself for the past 15 years I've been doing it all on my own and to have somebody come in and just take that completely in their hands their responsibility and just be a participant on the trip was an amazing feeling I knew I was in good hands I trusted them and the trip was better than we could have ever imagined no budget is too big or too small for Le they can arrange trips for one person traveling solo or for hundreds of people traveling together the lead can do it all if you are considering traveling to Poland Europe or anywhere else in the world consider calling Le and asking them to take care of you as they took care of me [Music] good morning that's how we start now everything you are loved you are happy you are not miserable um people do [Music] in 1939 ludge was a city bustling with Jews with over 233,000 Jewish inhabitants ludge had the second largest Jewish community in [Music] [Applause] [Music] Poland this place is very personal for me the address here is reek booki number one and this is where my great-grandmother lived when her family was taken out of the nearby town of tasab and brought here to ludge to be part of the ludge ghetto there's almost nothing Jewish left over but we're going to make sure that we leave something right [Music] here good morning how are you good morning how are you you speak English yes I speak every language which you want really you speak not not not uh yish yish no yish how about Hebrew huh Hebrew no no no no German very nice what's your name Sir Robert slowy slow me yes um do you know what is the name of this street the street of of the mark the street or the mark bski re bki Mark bki okay you know 80 years ago my my grandmother lived in this right here there was her house yeah proba can be this was the lodge ghetto yes yes yes of course so they they lived here but this is also uh a lot of uh history was uh happened here yeah yeah well it's very nice to meet you have a great day and I hope you have a lot of success with the flowers yeah thank you thank you be well you're welcome have a nice day thank you [Music] this is the new Jewish Cemetery of tashev which means that it was like built about 200 years ago it replaced the old Jewish cemetery which was in use before this my father's mother's parents were from here and there's a good chance that we have family members buried here in the cemetery but there's not really any way to know because most of the graves are unmarked and we have not yet found any Graves with family names on it so first of all there's all these uh flowers here that are triggering my allergies like crazy anyway um I'm L there tears coming down my eyes and it's not even cuz I'm emotional as you can see over here the cemetery was partially destroyed but a lot of stones stayed but clearly they were set up again because over there that one's upside down the Jews of stash didn't do that somebody with good intentions probably did that oh my gosh [Music] so as we're leaving the cemetery in stash I was looking at this lineup of gravestones which have been placed here at the door to the cemetery and I saw something interesting I saw this piece of farming equipment and I thought to myself could it be and then I came to the other side locals took this gravestone and they turned it into a piece of farming equipment there's literally a metal pole sticking through it this must have been used to plow fields or maybe as a to grind things and it's this is like the ultimate disrespect you take somebody who's passed away they're resting in peace and you you mess with them and this is this was common this was common and it's just [Music] disgusting oh we didn't put up a sticker come with me please you're a good man I feel it in 70 he happy birthday good for you you look young looking good strong here here can I give you some look you know what this is oh yeah to feel in yeah here this is for you you can have you're welcome [Music] we're looking in every city from top to bottom up and down right left all around where are the Jews V Zen and the Eden finally someone told us that there was a place we could go to find the Jews of Poland AR fry translated to English that would mean work will set you free the greatest lie Ever Told [Music] [Applause] [Music] this is awit probably the most famous of all the concentration camps in Europe tourists are coming all day they're visiting it's a museum you don't feel what actually happened here my great-grandmother my mother's mother's mother spent a lot of time here in aitz as a prisoner she was here and this is personal for me [Music] so we're walking through midic we see the barb wire fences we see the watchtowers we see the barracks we see the gas Chambers the guide takes us to the back of the camp and there is the crematorium where human bodies bodies of Jewish people were burnt after they were gassed in the gas Chambers then behind the crematorium there's this large concrete structure this structure is a maum and inside there are ashes of thousands of Jews who were burned in crematoriums and the ashes are stored right in there [Applause] [Music] ladies and gentlemen we have finally found the Jews of [Music] Poland if you take a look around the neighborhood you'll see everything here is Jewish that's Abraham rner store here you have arook store and of course just around the corner right over here you have K cen's store he was a merchant who brought things into po import them from outside and we bring them to sell over [Music] here Kim coen's store is now a non- kosher restaurant it's Jewish style but there's nothing Jewish about it except for the food kmer he what a beautiful Jewish name for a restaurant there's only one problem it's not Jewish anymore this is a non- kosher restaurant and the Jews of krco are gone this street is Shera street it's known as the wide Street and this was the main street here in the old Jewish neighborhood of CCO 65,000 Jews lived right here of those 65,000 Jews who lived here in these neighborhoods 97% of them were murdered in Cold Blood when you look around this Cemetery you can see how many hundreds of people possibly thousands were buried here and it just gives you an idea about the large number of Jews who lived here in cist out but if you walk right over here there's this area that's completely overgrown there were so many more Graves that were located here but they were destroyed during the Holocaust look at this intricate detail you tell somebody CED lovingly into the stone in order the person who bu but this stone is now a part of the wall because this Cemetery was destroyed Once Upon a Time this was the largest synagogue in krackow but now you can see it's being restored yet even after its construction is completed the Jews of krackow are not here [Music] anymore this building right here used to be the KRA synagogue now it's a bar and restaurant not kosher while the building now serves a new purpose it's impossible to erase the remnants of what's left of this beautiful ancient synagogue this ancient Cemetery holds the graves of so many beloved members of cow Jewish Community but now it is a tourist attraction this Treet was the border between the Jewish neighborhood of CCO and the Christian neighorhood of CCO and this synagogue right here is called the or the high synagogue because you can go up to the top and see into the other side into the Christian neighborhood of craco today unfortunately the synagogue is no longer in use now it is a book and gift shop [Music] this sign reads in memory of the Bosak family residents of Kazmir this family lived here from 1633 until the year 1941 just for context this family was here longer than the United States has been in existence now they're gone this square is known as the umag plots behind me is a building that was used by the police and the German SS but this Square was used as a place where the Jews were forced to gather here and from here they were deported on trains taking them to their deaths in concentration camps throughout Poland each one of these cheers in the uml plots represents a thousand Jewish Souls who were taken from here to their deaths in concentration camps welcome to the Jens Jews have been living in this city since the mid 1500s and in at Heyday the Jewish Community had over 4,500 people today sadly there are none this is a beautiful synagogue which once housed so many students who studed herea unfortunately there's nobody left and it pains me to think what Rabbi mayor Shapiro would think about this place seeing it so empty and the void of life as you can see not only did the Nazis kill the Jews of Lublin but they also destroyed the cemeteries they didn't let the people live and they also didn't let them die in peace here you can see remnants of the gravestones which used to be in the cemetery that are now strewn about alongside the walls at the edge at the start of World War II stash had over 11,000 inhabitants more than 50% of whom were Jewish on November 8th 1942 the Nazis gathered all of the Jews in the town square and they shot at Jews indiscriminately killing hundreds Witnesses say that Jewish blood ran down from kovka Street into the sarna river right here according to the plaque is buried over 100 children who the Nazis pulled out of the Jewish orphanage in lein and killed with brutality they're buried right here [Music] so we spent all week looking for the Jews of Poland uh it was a very sad week now we are on the way to Hungary for shabas to the T of sha we're passing through the country of Slovakia we're in Slovakia right now so we figured we got to leave them a little something to know that the Jews were here [Music] my true [Music] jus [Music] get [Music] [Applause] [Music] Poland was not the only country where Jews suffered a terrible fate during the Holocaust right here along the banks of the Deno river in Budapest 20,000 Jews were shot to their deaths and these shoes commemorate those who were killed on this spot one of the things that was most disturbing about visiting my donic as opposed to aitz or other camps midanik was right outside of the city of lbl so the people outside of the camp the people living in Lin they knew exactly what was going on and the people inside of the camp knew that the people outside of the camp knew what was going on yet no one was able to stop it the killings went on the torture went on the suffering went on for years it just makes you think if this was happening in the year 2024 would our neighbors step in would the people who call themselves our friends stand up for us would anybody care only a few months ago on October 7th 2023 Simas we had the largest murder of Jewish people since the Holocaust yes some people did step in some people offered support some people offered helping hand but the World At Large no they turned their backs on us them to go back to Europe yeah go back to Poland sadly if history teaches us anything Jewish people have been betrayed Time and Time Again by their neighbors and it's sad to say this but we don't have many friends around the world yes there have been people who have risen to the challenge and have helped the Jewish people during trying times people such as Ral Wallenberg Fang Shan ho and Oscar Schindler but sadly they were the minority and not the majority it's Tish this is the day that the first B mikdash and the second B mikdash both holy temples in jerus in Jerusalem were destroyed we know that the B mikdash was destroyed because of because of baseless hatred hatred between Jewish people we can't afford it any we cannot be divided we cannot be fighting we need to be together loving people for no other reason than they are your brother or they are your sister during the Holocaust the Nazis did not care what kind of Jew you were whether you were religious not religious hidic Lithuanian Safari they killed all Jews equally on October 7th the Hamas terrorists did not care what kind of Jew you were they killed Jews because they hated Jews it's time for us to stop looking at all external factors let's see each other for what we are we need to be together as a nation as a family with baseless love [Music]