Thousands of Jews from around the world on Monday retraced the “Journey of No Return” for the Jews of Warsaw, a city that was once a citadel of Jewish people and culture.
They came here to pay somber tribute to the hundreds of thousands of Polish Jews murdered by the Nazis and to mark the 45th anniversary observance of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
The ceremonies officially commenced Monday at the Umschlagplatz, near the site of the vanished ghetto, with the dedication of a striking memorial marking the forced exodus of the Warsaw Jews.
It was from this yard, with its railroad siding, that 6,000 Jews were transported each day to Treblinka. It began in July 1942 and lasted some 8 weeks, until 320,000 Jews were disposed of.
The 12-foot-high monument, made of white marble and striped with black, is inscribed on its interior with the first names of the victims, names that will be intoned each April 19. Above the entrance is a sculpture in black of a “broken forest.” The rear pillar of the monument is split open to reveal a growing tree, a symbol of rebirth.
The sun poured down from a deep blue sky Monday morning upon the thousands of soldiers, guests and townspeople assembled.
After a welcome extended by Polish officials, a ghetto survivor named Miles Lerman spoke. Lerman, who also was representing the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council in Washington, quoted the inscription affixed to the wall of the ancient ghetto of Venice: “Your tragedy must remain forever in our memories, because our memories are your only graves.”
The ceremony ended with the laying of wreaths by dozens of delegations from abroad.
Then came the 50-mile-long processional by road to Treblinka, in the tracks of the victims of 1942, who lie buried under the grassy meadows there.
Thousands of Jewish and Polish children marched from the entrance of this infamous camp to the stone monolith that shouts its message to the sky: “Never forget.” There, at one of the largest graves in the world, the crowd recited Kaddish, the prayer for the dead.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
