Article:Going back to Poland: a grandson's quest for answers

Zenon — Wed Aug 26, 2009 4:42 am

Author: Zenon

Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 4:42 am

I just came across this article Going back to Poland: a grandson's quest for answers in The Miami Herald by a journalist Daniel Shoer Roth. I highly recommend you to read it if you want to learn a little more about history of Poland in 20th century.

Read the abstract below:
"(...)''Why are you here?'' Anna Przybyszewska, director of the Genealogy Project of the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation, asked me.

''I came to find out what my grandfather never told me about his past,'' I answered.

``And what did you find?''

``I found his birth listing, visited the house where he grew up and got an idea of what the Sandz shtetl was like by talking to one of its last witnesses.''

Przybyszewska looked at me with skepticism.

''Is that all?'' she asked.

Suddenly, I felt a sense of emptiness. I realized that I had only seen the tip of the iceberg. I could have examined the state archives of the Polish government. I needed to better recreate the atmosphere of Opa's childhood by collecting more testimonies.

''You came for a very short time,'' Przybyszewska said. ``You need at least a year. It all depends on how important this is for you.''

I felt frustrated. It is very important for me, I told her.

Not only because of my closeness to Elias but also for the commitment I have as a Jew -- and a journalist -- to the history of my people. Hundreds of relatives of my four grandparents died during the Holocaust. I have a moral obligation to work so their memory will not also perish.

In retrospect, the visit made me even more aware of my responsibility.(...)"

Read full story: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/columnists/daniel-shoer-roth/v-fullstory/story/1147088.html

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Article:Going back to Poland: a grandson's quest for answers