21.04.2011                      17.Nisan, 5771                      Chel Hamo'ed 1; Tag 2 des Omer

Feature:

First Person: An IDF delegation confronts the past

The army’s Witnesses in Uniform program enables soldiers to travel to Poland for a journey through history.

Maj. Peter Lerner, the spokesman for the Central Command, blogged on the IDF Spokesman’s website about his recent experiences in “Witnesses in Uniform,” a special week-long program run by the IDF in Poland as a way to contribute to commemorating the Holocaust and heroism in the army.
Sunday continued from Saturday – no sleep and diving right in to the heart of the Jewish community in Warsaw, Poland.
The appropriate place to start such a visit was obviously…the Jewish Cemetery. The cemetery is huge, with approximately 300,000 graves; the vast majority of those from well before World War II and the Holocaust. Rich people in fancy family plots, respectable rabbis that led the spiritual community, cultural leaders, writers and composers. Also graves after graves of loved ones laid to rest with kind words and admiration….