Back in Warsaw

Our Last day in Warsaw went very smoothly compared to the rest of the days. Once we arrived in the hotel after the long and interesting train ride we went to bed and woke up in the morning just in time for the dreamy breakfast. After that we came into the room to get ready. We left and decided to devote the whole day to walking around ghetto Warsaw, starting at its southern border- Sienna Street. This street was important to me because of the fact that Mary Berg (a girl who wrote a diary which I read) lived there at first, until they were sent to Chlonda Street. Just by Sienna Street we saw a fragment of the ghetto wall still standing. This was to show the border- Later that part of the ghetto was cut off, “the little ghetto” as the war progressed. Than we walked to Chlodne Street, where Mary Berg moved to. Adam Czerniakow, leader of the Judenrat in the Ghetto also lived. It was a wealthy street, and along that street was where the bridge connecting from the “big ghetto” to the “little ghetto” was. We saw Adam’s “white house” and walked along the street. After that we visited the Korzac’s orphanage (the one that was originally located outside of the ghetto, before they were forced to relocate). We also visited the Jewish cemetery. I don’t think I have ever seen a cemetery so big in my life. This moved me because it showed how many Jews lived before the war in Warsaw (though there were many, many more). We visited the graves of some famous people, including Adam Czerniakow. The cemetery was surrounded by a tall fence made of bricks, and in the entrance the place seemed never ending. We never had time to walk through all of it, or even nearly half of it. We then left to eat lunch at an Asian Kebab (restaurant) which also served Shawarma in the middle of Poland. We walked to Pawiak street in hopes of finding the prisoners Jail in which many Jews, and non-Jews were held- some prisoners of war (from other countries), and also Polish citizens. This was where Mary Berg and her family spent most of their time in the Ghetto; they were not treated as badly as some of the other prisoners. They were there as “exchange” prisoners from America. Some People in the Pawiak Jail were tortured in the basements and many killed- it was a feared place by all inhabitants of the ghetto. The Nazis put it there to scare the Jews and warn them. We finally found the Prison (after visiting the Jewish park which was used to be the hang out spot of the Jewish people before the war, and was NOT included in the ghetto boundaries during the horrible times). There was a monument built for the prison. Other than empty space and a some what of a renovated basement building nothing was left. There were memorials for all of the fallen polish citizens and Jews. The place seemed to be very highly respected and honored by the Poles because most of the prisoners were polish fighters. It was getting cold, and late- and we knew we had a long night ahead of us. We stopped at a bakery to eat some sweet baked goods and drink hot coffee (since the lady did not understand we wanted TEA). We then took a cab to the hotel.

Yanush Korzak memorial in the cemetery

Old ghetto houses on Prozna st.

Another old house of the Ghetto where the Jewish ghetto poet Schlengel used to live. Schlengel wrote the words to the song "Kan Hatachana Treblinca" from Poliker's Avak VaEfer record (Yakov Gilad's mom, a survivor, translated it to Hebrew) :

The rennovated house in Chlodna 20 and Zamenhof colorful grave in the cemetery, There is a street called Zamenhofa and another one called Esperanto, which is the international language that Zamenhof created.

P.S- I wanted to take pictures of the elegant hotel, so at about 10:00 I went down to the lobby to photograph. I left the keys in the room. I came back and knocked on Ely’s door. No answer, I thought he was still in the shower and couldn’t here me. So I went and knocked on Mom’s door. After about 30 minutes of knocking back and forth I decided to go down to the lobby and ask for a key to room 555- he said no one was in that room. Turns out I was on the wrong floor knocking on the wrong doors- no wonder no one answered…

RAKEVET LAILA LE KAHIR

NOY: After a long and very moving day in Auschwitz I and II, we got on bus driving to Krakow. After about an hour and 45 minutes, we finally arrived- it was 8:05, and the last train to Warsaw left at 8:00. We ran into the dirty, stinky train station- only to hear that the last train left. We were exhausted  and after dreaming of the soft beds in Sofitel Victoria we were all disappointed. We drove to the hotel we spent the night in last night and told them we missed the train. The lady at the front desk checked if there are any other trains leaving to Warsaw (she must of really wanted to get rid of us), turns out there was one- leaving at 22:40, arriving at Warsaw in 4 in the morning. Ima and Ely were for the idea, me- not so much. We ate at the restaurant in the hotel and left for the train station. After running around trying to find a bankomt that took Ima’s credit card, we finally reached the train. We were told that we can buy tickets on the train, so we stood in line. Ima came up with the idea of buying tickets for the Sleepers (little bunks in the train that you can sleep in). The conductor of our train (who did not understand a word of English) told us to get on the train. A young man translated to us what he said and he told us to go on the train and buy the tickets there. We squeezed into a little hallway in the back of the Caron with about 5 other people and their suitcases. The train left and we were still standing. We stood there for about half an hour- waiting in line to buy the tickets(the line was on the train). When it was our turn, we bought the tickets and were handed 3 sdeenim with the numbers of the bunks on them. We walked into the little room, only to find out we were sharing it with 3 poles- One was sleeping. The other two were drinking beer and staring at us. I got shivers. I told mom I thought they were drunk and she tried to get us other bunks. They had none left, so we had to sleep in the bunks we were assigned. They were not drunks, but it was still akward to share a “room” with them. There were 3 bunks one on top of the other on two sides. About half a meter was sperating the two sides. I slowly climbed up to the higest bunk and layed down. Ely got the bunk under the sleeping pole. Mom slept on the higset bunk on the other side, on top of the two other poles who later went to sleep too. So on my side was me- then under me was the sleeping pole, and under him ely. Pay attention- because soon you will understand why im giving you so much details. I layed there thinking to myself “how did I end up in this situation?” after about 45 minutes I managed to fall into a light sleep. Then I woke up. Im not sure what exactly woke up- but I would defiantly place bets on the fact that one of the poles was snoring INCREDIBLY LOUD. After hearing him snore for about half an hour, I thought to myself- “god, if I’m going to get any sleep tonight- I must find a way to get him out of the room”. Apparently the guy under me woke up too, but he had a little less patience then me. Hetleft the little “room” and returned 5 minutes later with the conductor. The conductor was a chubby man with white hair and round glasses- A beer belly and 5 chins. He gave the snoring man a nudge and started talking to him in Polish. The snoring man was half a sleep, and looked at him in confusion. After that for about ten minutes the man stoped snoring (probably cuz he was holding his breath or trying really hard not to fall asleep). Finally he fell asleep and the snoring conitued. The man under me became even more impatient, and woke him up again and began yelling in polish. I'm looking down at all of this cracking up. The poor man was looking at him in complete shock and not understanding what exactly he was asking him to do. The pole yelled at him for a while and all I understood from the conversation was “egotistic”. Apparently the pole thought that the snoring man was being egotistic by snoring. The snoring man then held his breath for 20 minutes scared half to death of falling asleep, and finally fell asleep (and so did we)- and continued snoring. The impatient man gave up on trying to stop him- and finally realized that snoring wasn’t something the man could control. You cannot imagine how extremely hilarious I found the situation to be, and hearing poor ely’s experience (who was lying In the middle of all the drama) was even funnier. There you have it- my side of the story- probably one of the weirdest experiences of my life- sleepers on a train in Poland.

Ely’s View of the train ride: Noy was obviously not awake for the entire story. When we walked onto the train 2 Poles, a fat one and a non fat one, were sitting there drinking a beer. About 30 minutes into the ride the two decided to go to sleep, and they opened up the second bed. When I saw that the fat Pole was about to go to the second bunk I was like “If a man like that was going to sleep above me I would have a beer too.” The fat man was asleep in minutes while the other guy was just sitting there doing nothing. After about 20 minutes he decided to go to sleep too, and literally 2 seconds after he laid down he was snoring like an elephant. By this time I knew I wasn’t going to get any sleep. After about an hour, the guy above me step down with one foot on the snoring guy’s bed and started to talking to me in polish. I just sort of nodded my head and he understood that I had no idea what he was saying. He then woke up the snoring pole and asked him to stop snoring. The pole mumbled that he would and two minutes later he was back asleep, snoring. This happened again 30 minutes later, but this time the guy above me was pissed. He shouted at the man and told him he was being egotistical. The snoring dude tried not to snore, and he managed for about 10 minutes, but then he fell asleep, and started snoring again. he obviously couldn’t control it. 30 minutes later the guy above me steps out. 20 minutes later the conductor comes back with a small flashlight and shines it in his eyes. He explains to him he has to stop snoring. Once more the snoring guy tried to stop and couldn’t. by this time they guy above me had given up and I had to listen to the snoring for another 2 hours before we reached Warsaw. It was an interesting experience.

Auschwitz

(ELY: )We arrived at Auschwitz I museum at 12:00 in the Bus from Krakow. After checking in our baggage, we went on outside to tour the camp. Auschwitz I was mainly a work camp, although it did have a crematorium. We walked in through the famous metal sign “Arbeit Macht Frei”, into a plot of brick buildings in organized rows. Inside these buildings we saw the horrific living conditions the prisoners had to withstand. When the camp was first founded they slept on straw, and had to go to the lavatories out side. After a while, they received bunk beds, which they had to share two to a bed, and disgusting unsanitary restrooms and showers. They lived under conditions worse than slavery. In an adjacent building there was a large display of all the items the Germans took from the displaced prisoners. This included massive amounts of shoes and glasses, toothbrushes and food bowls, but the most disturbing display was of the prosthetic limbs confiscated by the Nazi’s. This wasn’t only the most depressing because of the fact the people needed these limbs in the first place, but also because we all know that none of these limbs’ owners survived the selections. I have seen pictures of these prosthetic limbs before, but seeing them in person is so much worse. It’s unbelievable how such an insane group of people, most of which were obviously mentally ill by the end of the war, could be so organized.
We also watched a short 15 minute film filmed by the Russians when they liberated the camp. This film instantiated the extreme hunger these people had to endure in order to survive. Just skin and bones.
However it wasn’t the hunger, or the confiscated items, or the Nazi’s terror, that moved me most. It was the cold. In every holocaust film we all ways see them shacking to death in the snow. But that really is something you can only imagine sitting in a warm living room on a comfortable sofa. I was wearing 5 layers, 2 pants, thick socks and boots, 2 gloves on each hand, a scarf and a hat, and I was freezing. I can only imagine how cold these people must have been wearing nothing but stripped pajamas. I would have never lasted more than 2 weeks of this terrible weather. And its not even January, when the weather is worst. It was very, very cold (the signs said 0 C, but with the wind it was much worse) and it snowed these very large junks of snow, which you could not walk into because they got in your eyes and you couldn’t see, and they froze your face. In this weather I’m surprised the Nazis themselves survived.

Around 2:30 we took a train to Auschwitz II (Birkenau), which was the real hell, the largest death camp in Europe. We hoped to see the IDF group perform its entrance ceremony, but we missed it. We talked to several of them and told them that we will stay to watch their final ceremony at 5:00. At the entrance was the famous train station, just like in the movies. The entire camp in general looked like a huge movie set. It was unreal. Its hard to imagine that the Nazis really did do all those terrible things in a place that besides its buildings and barbed wire fences was just a large plain of grass. Most of the camp’s buildings were destroyed, the Nazis made sure of that. All the wooden buildings, where the prisoners slept, were burned, but a few were recreated for the sake of display. Most of the brick buildings were still left standing although we do not know for sure that they are original. We walked inside a few of them, the smell was awful, and everything was dark and filled with old wooden bunk beds. We later walked over to the remains of the Crematorium. The Germans blew it up, but you could still clearly see its architecture.
Between the second and third crematoriums, There was a very large memorial, with plaques in many languages saying “Here 1.5 million people lost their lives, the majority of them Jewish. Let this be a warning to humanity”. As if to mimic our somber mood, it suddenly started to snow very hard and the cold became unbearable. The grounds, which consisted of green grass and mud, turned white literally within 60 seconds. This gave us a chance to sit there and reflect at the sought that 1,500,000 people were murdered in the very same spot we were standing on. Some of these people were our relatives, some relatives or our friends, but a very large number of them have no relatives. They all perished. Entire families now have no one to mourn at their loss, to remember them. That is why we all here, to remember these people and to make sure such terrible things never happen again. So that we won’t let them happen again.

(Ruthy:) To Ely’s description, I will only add that when we were standing in this memorial, seeing the destructed crematoriums to our sides, I thought I heard some distant singing. I followed the sounds and saw a small group of Ultra Orthodox Jews (earlier we heard their guide talk in English and a translator translated it to Yiddish) singing (not praying) by the crematorium. In this thick snow, I couldn’t understand the words or language, but the melody was prayer like, and became louder and stronger. It was hard to believe so few of them were singing. It made me reflect about hoe these people that we usually resent, kept us all Jewish through centuries in Europe, and many of them ended up in these crematoriums just as their secular “enlightened” Jewish brothers.

It was getting late but we were waiting for the ceremony of the Israeli soldiers from “Edim BeMadim” at 5. This was a very organized ceremony with speakers and light and a huge Magen David zer of flowers.
We heard them sing, pray, play the Trumpet and read. We saw them stand Dom and salute for the Izkor and the Kadish. We heard the group’s “Ed” (a survivor) and an “Av shakul”. They were from different cheilot and with different dragot. Very colorful combination of hats and uniforms. We talked to their mefaked (Tat Aluf Bemil Ron Kitry) and laughed at the order to take of the “cham zavars” which were these black collars that they were wearing (like their mefaked said, now you’ll have “kar zavar”…
We sang Hatikva with them and headed back to Krakow pretty late.

KRAKOW

After taking Savta to the airport (sad that she cannot continue the journey with us) we hopped on a train to Krakow, enjoying our own private cabin. The hotel in Krakow was situated perfectly and we were on our way to discover Krakow after a very short time.

In the photos you can see "Kikar HaShiluchim" in Krakow Ghetto (famous from "Schindler's Lists"). Here is where the "selections" took place.
This ghetto looks a lot more like one would expect, with most of the old buildings still standing. Warsaw ghetto on the other hand, was completely destroyed in the war and the ugly communist buildings took the place of the old ones. We visited a small museum in a Pharmacy that was owned by a Pole that helped the Jews throughout these terrible years and was given "Chasid Umot Olam" later. In the pharmacy we saw an exhibit of drawings, depicting life in the concentration camps, drawn by an Israeli survivor, Josef Bau, who was also depicted in the movie in the marriage scene . He was saved because of Schindler.





Here is the entrance to the partly rennovated factory:

The Jewish quarter (where Jews lived before the war) is full of Jewish Synagogues, cemeteries and...restaurants. Every year there is a huge Jewish festival here in Krakow. The Religious life in this town was very prosperous and many important rabbis lived here.

Ely and Noynoy on a bridge crossing the Wisla river walking from the ghetto to the old Jewish quarter.

Part of the time, it was snowing heavily, with strong winds...

BELZEC 17-III-1942

(Noy:)We woke up and ate breakfast at the very nice hotel. We then decided to stop by Belzec death camp on our way to the hospital In Warsaw. We arrived and the first thing I saw was a field of ashes. Of course not real ashes, but black rocks of different sizes covered the grounds. They were there to give it a feeling and look of ashes. Nothing was left of the camp because the Nazi soldiers destroyed it the moment they were done with their massive murdered of about 500,000 Jews. This field was surrounded by a forest, and right outside were railroad tracks which were used during the holocaust to transport Jews to the death camp, their first and last stop. When we walked towards the memorial Ima noticed a date on one of the walls- it was March 17, 1942. This was very ironic because it was today- that date was the day the first killing of Jews In Belzec began- about a month earlier they tested the gas chambers. The memorial was designed in a very touching way. The field of “ashes” was surrounded by a sidewalk- on it the names of the small towns and villages in which the Jewish people came from before they were sent to Belzec. When we got there we saws a group of polish teenagers with the mayor of the village (according to Tomek). The Polish students had a ceremony along with their group leaders. It really surprised me and touched me that even polish non Jews cared to visit the death camps and hold ceremonies as great as they did. It also showed me that even the polish teenagers at school learn about the holocaust, just like in Israel and any other country. After that a group of Israeli Hasidim arrived. They were a group of teen girls with their leaders. They were all wearing the Israeli flag across their back- it meant a lot to me to see all of these different people gathered with the same purpose- to learn and see of the horrors of the Nazis and the holocaust during world war two, and hopefully try to prevent it from ever happening again. Other than the Polish teens and the Israeli Jews, there were some Jewish girls from Great Britian. As we were walking down the memorial, I looked at all the names of the many small villages and was in complete shock- I still could not believe how a group of anti-Semitic people could get together and form this stereotype about a group of people, and wipe out that whole race. I could not believe that all these little towns we passed by in Ukraine were once filled with Jewish People. This thought shook me. The thought that the Nazis were able to kill 6 MILLION Jews shook me. It still does, and it always will. And when I see Auschwitz tomorrow I will be shaken again. Never will I let this thought leave my mind. Belzec was meaningful to me and even more probably to Ima and Savta- because this was most likely the place where Savta’s family, my mother’s family- and my family was killed. Belzec was a death camp in which it was impossible to survive. The train loaded with Jewish people knowing nothing about their fate reached the station and dropped them off. They got undressed- and went to their death in a shower. No bunks to sleep in, no time to think- to gather your thoughts, no time to say goodbye. This is why Belzec meant so much to me.

(Ruthy:)Despite the need to get to Warsaw to take care of Savta’s arm, we decided to start the day in the Belzec Death camp, just out side the town in which we spent the night.

According to the articles in the Rohatin book (where saba Arye had an article as well), it seems like many or most of Knihnize’s Jews (500 people) were sent there on September 1942.

When we reached the gate, I was stunned. There was a date written in Iron letters and numbers on the gate. It only said 17-III-1942 (with the Hebrew date as well)
That was the date of the first transport to Belzec. (On February of 42 there were some “experiments” before the camp opened “officially”).
Very few cars were in the parking lot, but in a matter of minutes, the place filled up with Official Poles wearing black suites and holding memorial wreaths and some other Poles including (which was most touching to me) a few elderly simple men who came with their Bicycles from the nearby town, as well.
At 11am, a short ceremony started. We didn’t understand one word and yet it was probably for me the most soul touching ceremony I ever heard. The people took burning “nerot zikaron” into the memorial when the ceremony was over.
Than, busses arrived too and the place was filled with Orthodox Israely and American girls with their Israeli flags and youth.

Nothing was left of this very efficient horrible machine.

A huge field was covered with Bazelet stones, and looked like a huge grave yard with the snow covering the ground.

A long path leads around the field with names of all the shtetls and towns whose Jews were brought to Belzec, in chronological order. Of course we found Knyhnize as well as Savta Ahuva’s town Narajov.
After the trip to Ukraine, in which we were all involved in the navigation, we knew a lot of the villages and towns’ names that we passed through. All Jews free now.

A little museum tells the story of this factory.
The most astonishing fact is that only 2 people (!!) survived this place. One of them was murdered in the 50’s just before serving as a witness in a Nazi officer’s trial.

Just a simple place. No Barracks, no beds, nothing. A train station and gas chambers and a very efficient system.

(Noy:) I am now writing this in the car on our way back to Warsaw. Why Warsaw, you might ask yourself- We should be on our way to Krakow. The following will explain everything. I will now try to summarize our day yesterday as best as possible- it will be very hard, because so much happened.
We woke up in our minus 5 star hotel (it was snowing and everything looked beautiful) and got ready for a long day. Our plan for the day was to attempt to cross the Ukrainian border and drive to Knihynicze where Grandma’s Grandparents and parents lived- and later where her two brothers wee born. We stopped by a nice hotel bar on the way to the border to drink something before the long wait to the border. This hotel, where the café was in, was a lot better than our negative 5 star hotel.
We reached the border and for some weird reason today was “going well” (explanation later) and they let us through with no hassle. We then started driving. On our way we saw the long line of cars waiting to cross back to Poland. The line consisted of hundreds of cars. You can imagine what Worry-doll-Ely’s reaction was. Right when he was done worrying about passing safely to Ukraine, he began worrying about whether or not we will get back to Poland before next morning.
We drove for quite a while in between small villages FILLED with churches- some old, some renovated- there were at least 3 churches in every village. Tomek told us that all these villages once consisted of many Jewish families- Now, of course, everything was destroyed and no Jews were left in the area. Ukraine was a very poor and not very technologically advanced country- and you can see that when you are driving in the streets. Every thing was destroyed- or abandoned. Horses with carriages passed the “highways” every once in a while. The roads were poorly made. Prostitutes, here too, were standing alongside the road. We passed through old town L’vov. The buildings there were very nice and old- some renovated. After L’vov we started heading towards Knihynicze- it took us at least 3 hours and much help from the Ukrainians people.
We reached this tiny village in the middle of no where, and asked a drunken man where the Jewish center was. Roosters were crossing the streets, and some ducks. We passed by a lake by which Grandmother’s family lived. We got out of the car and started to walk around. Here the ground was muddy and slippery from the melted snow. We went up a small hill near an old church which was the center of the village. It was slippery and Savta slipped. She hurt her shoulder, wasn’t sure if it was broken or dislocated (or both), in fact- we are still not sure.
We decided to head back, but before we did Tomek asked some local people if they knew anything about the Jews that once lived in Knihynicze- they called an old man out and he talked to us about his childhood and told us everything he knew about savta’s family. This old man was born in 1933, so he was a child when the war started and the Nazis came into their little village. He led us to the house which he claimed was the house in which the Rebisch family lived in. He told us they were very rich and had a tavern and a barn and a place to trade horses If anyone needed it. He also told us they were very orthodox wearing the matching garbs. He showed us where the synagogue was once and the mikve (both were located near the lake). He also recalled from his childhood seeing the nazi soldiers shooting several Jews. He also said that the rest of the town’s Jewish population was sent to the Rogatin ghetto. We showed him a picture of savta’s grandfather with some other family members and he claimed that it was taken inside that house. After talking to this man for quite a while (Tomek spoke to him in Russian though the old man spoke Ukranian and Tomek couldn’t understand half of the stuff he said), we said goodbye and decided to head towards the hospital in Rohatyn to get some help for savta. We reached the hospital, and Tomek ima and savta went in. From the outside the hospital looked pretty dirty and as if it was built during communist times. I do not have much to tell about this hospital because they left Ely and me in the car like little babies. We sat 3 and a half hours in the car- FUN STUFF. I went in to ask to use the restroom and they pointed to a door which led to another door. The toilettes were very dirty, and the room was very very small. The door barely closed, and there was no toilette paper. Outside there was a sink with a cup of pee in it. For a moment I thought It was soap, but later I found out that it was a cup of pee, I was very glad I did not use it J. The rest my mother will tell because she was in the hospital ( I’m glad they left us in the car) and she says it was horrible. Ely and I almost rotted in the car. Some nurses were staring at us through the window- every time we looked up there was a pair of them on one of the floors just staring. I tried to have a staring competition with one of them- but she won (but only because Ely pushed me out of the way).

(Ruthy:)The hospital visit will be described in detail only upon special request. If you think that it’s impossible to go back in time you are so wrong. We flew back in time and were placed in a communist hospital back in the 50’s? Maybe even further down the timeline. Dirty, deserted, broken, dark, primitive and cold.
The different doctors and nurses did their best but that was far away from what we wanted… No word in English to be heard. Tomek served as a translator but his Russian is not perfect and they prefer Ukrainian. Even the very “fancy” office of the head masters of the doctors (yes, Tomek managed to get friendly with them too) who were wearing very white ironed robes with bright white pants and matching shoes and even a matching stiff chef-like hat, even their office looked like a very successful set in a movie about Russia in the middle of the last century. The red dusty dial phone could probably be sold in eBay for plenty of money.
Alltogether a lot of energy with very little productivity. Finally Savta Miki had her arm stabilized in a very amateur way (again, more details are available including a demonstration), refused the pain killer shot (not wanting to get an infectious disease…) and with a lot of effort and debates, a letter was written in Ukrainian to be used in the border (see next chapter)on a small tzetale…
here it is:

The way back to the border went by smoothly.
In the border after we were able to skip most of the line (using the tzetale and some $5 bills and cigarette packs) we waited 4 hours before we were finally on the other side.
Again, many more details are available for those who will ask for them...
We still owe you an explanation for today’s title though. While we were waiting in line (after close to 3 hours when the time was 10:30 pm) Tomek left the car (to socialize with the other waiters that turn off the engine and get together to chat and smoke).
He met an old man who told him that he was waiting in line for 15 (!!) hours and added (very seriously): “Today is going very well…”

This was when we started to laugh hysterically (with Tomek).
4 Israelis and 1 Pole, in a car, at night on the Ukrainian border with hundreds of cars (with refrigerators on their roof and Vodka and cigarettes in their baggage) with soldiers wearing fur hats and 1 broken arm trying to understand the system behind the madness…


We finally reached the nicer hotel and stayed there, helping savta find a comfortable position, with Tomek’s help we brought the rest of the luggage from the Minus stars hotel stopping in the local emergency room to get a second opinion for Savta (using the Ukranian X-ray instead of the patient itself)…


Ps

The best explanation we found for the border system was the game: sulamot ve-chavalim. This was after we were able to climb a few ladders successfully, but almost after we almost slipped back on a huge rope when Tomek asked the soldier an “extra” question and was warned that the next question will lead him (with us) to the back of the line (with all the dollars, cigarettes and the doctor’s note about Savta’s broken arm) where we could spend the night (for free)…

Today is going very well...

(Ruthy:) We might write a whole BOOK about today.

For now just small pics from iphone because the good pics are too heavy

Ukraine, Savta's accident and the border will be described later (including the title's origin)