Until recent years, tens of thousands of Jewish teenagers traveled to Poland on educational trips, often as preludes to missions to Israel, for an in-person look at Holocaust sites and why Israel rose from the ashes of this dark point in human history. The trips have long been considered a rite of passage in Jewish and Israeli education.
Although the Polish government welcomed these young tourists to the former death camps on Polish soil, the complete truth of some of the Poles’ complicity in the Holocaust was whitewashed. This lack of transparency caused tension between Israel and Poland, and Israel stopped sending its teenagers to Poland.
The trips are resuming, with an agreement between the two countries that the programs will show both Polish complicity and heroism regarding the Jews during the German occupation in WW II.
We join Yad Vashem in welcoming the renewal of these trips. We also echo its concerns about a Polish government that would require visits to certain sites, especially ones that may further the whitewash.
Complete historical accuracy, including the role of Poles in the persecution — as well as rescue — of Jews during the Holocaust is essential.
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