T. W. Will be the Jewish Service of morning prayer shanghai looks in warsaws main synagogue led to proudly by the chief rabbi of poland. The fact that theres a noise behind me because the people who have prayed are now having breakfast together is a sign. That there is jewish life and. A resurgence of jewish life in poland for many a highly Unexpected Development earlier. This was the country that nazi germany chose as the epicenter of a systematic genocide in which 6000000 jews died across europe we dont talk a lot about auschwitz as a. Christmas this person has that as a gift a great gift. We desperately need the rabbi. Thats. Not fundraising. I choose i said it before that. Might try to have a Catholic Bishop is among the various public figures attending this Interfaith Service in warsaw. The host michel she trick chief rabbi of poland the answer of a everyone. That was an interfaith prayer wishing that anti semitism will finally disappear. Change doesnt happen overnight. It takes time but as long as you see youre going in the right direction that gives you gives you energy and gives you. And its that hope that sustains the work of michael shoot rick this is his office and warsaws no cheek synagogue also a home for the american born rabbi. You never find what you want it. The son of a new york rabbi he 1st visited the country in the 1970 s. In search of his roots his grandparents had left europe before the 2nd world war in communist ruled poland sheetrit found a few jews struggling to preserve what was left of their heritage the diaries as i wrote. In 79 my impressions when i met different people remember one thing is that although this person has the mrs on the inside of the dorothy at the outside you know and i thought that that was. Like being somewhat embarrassed of being interesting i realized later that was a tremendous statement of being jewish because nobody had it on the outside and almost no one had on the inside so you know having to understand what something meant here. After the collapse of communism shoot now a rabbi himself relocated to warsaw and embarked on his mission his aim was to reestablish jewish religious life in poland this is the 1st time that a jewish prayer book was reprinted in poland after the fall of communism this is the original page was from a few 26. 00 this is probably from. 9192. Before that there were few if any jewish religious books here now 30 years on warsaw has a flourishing Jewish School again with 200. 00 students this year will see the 1st of them graduate you want to name the years because children attend the school like thousands of other polish jews it was only after the fall of communism that she started to embrace her jewish identity. Thanks also to the dedication of chief rabbi michel shooter rick just oh yeah. Well then you know its almost that. Yeah the Jewish School has been a blessing for you want any mere ska her husband lukash and their 3 children. They all get it its all. Very. Very this is something i dont like but the big record. Of possible for me is that this never remember melkor and i think the so and the minority here is a real minority so its real sometimes it feels like you know we only hear where on talk that will find them put or theres a growing climate of trust that the reapers that were getting the think thats the most important things will star wars years that obviously there are still many prejudices and. Traumas left over from the 2nd world war and theyve been passed down from generation to generation. You can used the war didnt just destroy or at least try to destroy Human Dignity thing to a great extent it also destroyed the mutual trust between peoples including the trust between the jewish and polish peoples. Its december and hanukkah are the jewish festival of lights is approaching the rabbi offer some guidelines to the teachers. An important question is whether to give the children presents that hanukkah. A few 100 years ago there was the socalled hanukkah go to children were given money to buy themselves something. Today its perfectly fine to give jewish children a small present on every hanukkah evening. You dont have to of course it used to be hanukkah get some chocolate yes. Were living here under strong christian cultural influences that the Christmas Season is that a similar time of the year to hanukkah. So lets give the children presents we present. She trick has been working in poland for the past 30 years the school is one of many funded by the american philanthropist ronald s. Slaughter to promote jewish life in Eastern Europe we need somebody to go to poland. I heard about this rabbi Michael Sitrick so we hear what im over we saw him. And we said this is the right person we installed him initially in the synagogue. 1919 next may. And also was involved in the game the school look here mainly a kindergarten but it was interesting is that the men who got to pose. He became much more of. A much more polish and as he started to learn polish we desperately needed the rabbi and the rabbi. But michael wasnt just any rabbi. I remember. Oh yes 1st trip no that was already filed so it must have been early 1000000 t. S. He just arrived after flying nonstop from new york or what that was and that tired but he still had a session with where the teenagers. And they were pestering him with questions and eventually michael replied says ok guys. Tomorrows another day i just sleep over it and hes trying to rise from the armchair. And whoop the girl just shopped him back that you understand were good legs generation of jewish mothers in this country we need to know everything now monica and stanley suave karl you have ski remained faithful to their heritage even during the communist era. Began before that you know. Much earlier and this is monicas a book the 2nd one by the way of the summit there is no reason other than problem the quiet skis researched this aspect of jewish heritage 1st some 90 percent of the Jewish Population of poland were murdered during the German Occupation most of those who survived did so by going underground or pretending to be christian and losing their jewish identity these old cemeteries are precious reminder of polands extensive Jewish Population before the holocaust ringback with was like an eye open open their eyes opening or know that the presence of those thrones of jewish presence of various powers in my circle of friends there were many who had jewish ancestry. And learning thing to do with we didnt. Feel jewish and when we were children because we were not introduced into it. The cry of skis have been living their lives in accordance with jewish traditions and scripture for 2 generations now their son daniel was prepared for his bar mitzvah the jewish coming of age ceremony for boys by rabbi shoot rick. Of the. Chief rabbi is now off on a trip to southern poland. Hes constantly on the move. And sometimes that means mobile conferencing in the car. Today hes talking to a Jewish Community in pittsburgh. Just steps aside. He setting up an Exchange Program for young jews from poland and the u. S. I think that our biggest challenge im not very practical and its still its last but still existing on follow up is we dont necessarily have the professional staff to follow up the way we show up with a plethora of projects to watch over it often seems like too much for one person. Who said it was going to be easy. I can say that the Jewish Community of poland in the last 30 years has gone from a stagnating dying dysfunctional Jewish Community to a reemerging vibrant dysfunctional Jewish Community. Were still dysfunctional but at least now were alive were vibrant were creating. Today there are once again jewish communities in nearly all of polands larger towns and cities optimistic estimates say the country is now home to up to 12000 practicing jews this renaissance has led to a growing demand for kosher food today rabbi shute drek is visiting 3 businesses catering to that demand were only welcome to film and one of the profit of vodka distillery having no. Luck. So the production line 1st all the office of action for. Jewish dietary laws divide foodstuffs into kosher and nonkosher the chief rabbi checks production for compliance certain additives such as pork paste gelatin. Not permitted. It happens to be that today theyre doing a production for israel but its not always are these stickers in hebrew so you could see all the stickers are in here but theres going to israel after inspection the firm is given an international kosher certificate is a popular drink during the passover festival so this in here actually some when you see it signed in hebrew by our scotia supervisor its. With a a lock here here and here and here and here. So we know that when we come back to the passover the passover production that it really is from that alcohol most of the kosher vodka is for export only a fraction will stay in poland one of the small. Kosher. Very nice you know me and i products the main market is israel also we produce and so this product to the United States and to the company cups of coffee kyra. Also some amounts we produce and so on and see you know we are trying to write market coffee or i thought of all kinds of also for cultural products so at least to share your styling in poland which means there is among. People who. Think its not going to be cooked communi if you think about coalition jewish people but i think most people dont know that the roots are from Jewish Community so i think if this is true in progress so. If so have. Information from getting information about their rights and they can raise. Very well. Im very happy that i wasnt the only jew who want the labors of doing both of them because otherwise it would have been very lonely. But if those jews then adventurously decide and some do that they want to live their jewish lives elsewhere if their free choice were not making a religion out of juice and poland its not an oblique geisha but that certainly is a right and it gives me also the private satisfaction were hard to kill. And they want to keep us that way the question heres another question certificate i know the firm is just getting it we need it. And this is the confirmation for kosher distillation next thank you i hope i havent caused you too many headaches. And the rabbi leaves with a present. Very important kosher for passover. So far our impressions have been positive but jewish gentile encounters dont always run this move lee lets go. Relations with the polish government have been strange recently the right wing nationalist government introduced legislation in 2018 that caused deep offense to jewish sensibilities it made it illegal to suggest that the polish state or people were in any way complicit in the holocaust perpetrated by the nazis it basically was to offend the good name of poland the polish shouldnt be blamed for things that they didnt do but there was then a great concern is but there were polls they did bad things and how we going to deal with that and one for more importantly it was. The. Problem that. The reaction there were hurtful statements. There were hurtful statements made by some poles that were hurtful statements made by some jews. Protests met with a wave of anti semitic rhetoric in the media and on the internet. Named the bills as controversial work and with a little hand polls feel insulted when the press in europe or the International Media refer to the german concentration camps as polish death camps or that hurts the poles you have to understand that its one of. The polish people them sir. Elves suffered during the 2nd world war and 6000000. 00 of them died almost 25 percent of the polish nation g. P. M. This legacy of the 2nd world war isnt better than the consciousness of generations of poles to this day that after all they suffered they were extremely sensitive to claims that the poles were responsible for the existence of the death camps in poland at the end there was an unnecessary. Problem that. More or less is no longer you know people remember it but its no longer a war and its a scar. When International Jewish organizations protested warsaw held discussions with the Israeli Government and the legislation was watered down rabbi shoot trick played a mediating role. But he prefers to focus on the positive aspects of life in poland. For instance that poland is represented by people like daddy popular a young kayaker who has competed for the country at the Olympic Games populi is as busy as the chief rabbi but he still finds time to get involved in the restoration of jewish cemeteries like the one in creep off in southern poland the cemetery was completely neglected for years. Challengers are going to try and improve things here 1st or launch an appeal on facebook we already have permission ive been busy and otherwise i have come to get this fixed up much sooner. Popular wanted to clear the cemetery. And restore its former dignity several months and a lot of hard work later its reopening theres a new memorial plaque listing the jewish residents of this small village who were killed by the nazis for rabbi shoot to make the commitment of these volunteers is especially appreciated. Our presence here expressed our memory. The jury spoke of life for the group of reason was closed after several centuries in august 94 to kill on 20 performers the nazis started to run for the police i would like to ask chief rabbi of poland michel shortly so few words. But if they had not started on the one hand my heart is broken down there on the other hand im very happy today. Its a broken because the jewish people are grieving who were killed simply because they were jewish above the parts uncovered. I would like to think our mayor for his words so called is not near he said that we must oppose anger and we must oppose hatred when it is still small in before to spread. The bookie. At the same time my heart is happy. Who would have thought when the war ended 74 years ago that respect would be shown to the dead in this Jewish Cemetery once again meant that the mass graves would be marked and remembered. All agree must all the that of almost the cloth as. In 142. 00 the nazi regime finalized plans to exterminate the entire Jewish Population of europe as in group of german troops dissolve the jewish ghettos in towns and cities throughout poland the jews were murdered on the spot or transported to extermination camps projects like darrius populace try to establish the names of the victims so that they are not forgotten. Yeah. I. Know there are initiatives like this all over poland for the past 30 years the restoration work has been focusing on a few more towns or villages each year michel shooter considers this one of his key tasks. Relatives of the people buried in poland often come from overseas to visit the cemeteries including from the u. S. Part of your family is going to my 2 kids my niece and nephew my sister my brother in law. My wife hiding out there somewhere. Special masters this whole point you called it a movie that you talk about having the holocaust and thats essential in it if. Its an obligation of every good. Not only through germany its really the obligation of every week human being to remember what happened at all and all that but if you think about that then perhaps the 1st thing we should do is make sure that every victim of the holocaust has a great moral to the others to me to the best of our ability will Never Get Close to your having grades for 6 to 800 amps not usually part of it because you put on 100. 00 more but theyre going to more even want to theres a tremendous value on. It sometimes said that michael shooter is the rabbi of both the living and the dead in poland. A little bit of a step of speech. We visit if you want to and lukash and their 3 children as well and the now as i was. Bashed for Students Exchange and then and there and hes english teacher was very very happy when key and he came back and she was like all of a very Good Progress after that because there was she it was no chance to speak you know polish it was have you want to is an actress and recently appeared in a swedish film her husband lukash is a theater director and has been working in slovakia the couple value their International Contacts lukash admits that living openly as a jew in poland sometimes makes her feel insecure. What was the tragic moment after the war you have to do is after all right in poland was the 68 because it was the moment when there is a half of my family had to go our go go out from poland 968. 00 brought further trauma to polish jews leading communist Party Figures blamed the student protests at the time on a zionist plot triggering months of anti semitic incitement many jews who had survived the shoah now fled the country however my life our war was the person 1st person who told me that marys know and to some it isnt in poland but now am i i am talking to myself where you had eyes and where. Antisemitism is prevalent throughout the world it may be worse with all the better but its prevalent. A lot its there with the Catholic Church a lot has to do with just internet age speech and all the things there is a but the result is that the for sure ainge way antisemitism in poland propelled war jewish kids into our school. And its true that theres an issue of systems you wouldnt say that all members of the church participate in the dialogue in the same way because i wouldnt say that all members of the church are without prejudice that this song may be actually probably some are prejudiced or anything but these are really exceptions to the overall picture than on him namely on the im thinking of the 2nd Vatican Council which is how to direct influence on the atmosphere in poland and developments here and i join you believe me to have the feeling that something great is happening if you want to get there and the communion. The Jewish Community center or j c c brings together warsaws 5 congregations its sunday brunch for jews and gentiles the food is good and its a popular Meeting Place parents can relax while their kids learn handicrafts. Rabbi she trick often comes here to. You won an emmy years and her children try to come every weekend. Daniel craig ascii is also here suffering from down syndrome is no obstacle to becoming a fully integrated member of the Jewish Community. In the villages nearby nearby here or you hear him here was very important to me than i could celebrate my garments for. Because i was born into a jewish family. Q at the ceremony i said to blessings in hebrew. Love the reading from the torah i spoke about the exodus from egypt. To here starving again. Rabbi shooter rick simplified the bar mitzvah procedure for the young man he has known him since he was a child daniel craig took part in the seminars shoot gave in the 1990 s. When the jewish revival began. The young Jewish Community in poland has made Great Strides since its beginnings in a small village in southern poland 30 years ago in the 1990 s. Shooter it organize seminars on jewish life at an Education Center encouraged out today its a hotel and guest house for a family get together is this is the rabbis 1st time back in many years for companies that havent seen these people 1520 years and all 5 reckon that. Maybe if only this one thing. That we would have plastered over here on the grass here we would sing we would dance we do everything trying in our own little safe space let people see what judaism was about its impossible to. Be jewish in poland and not feel the presence of the absence. So of course that was a recurrent topic of our conversations and of course we never came up with any extraordinary Intelligent Solutions to the problem because there arent. Decades after the holocaust many polish jews had become disconnected from their roots you know all these stories there was that was a time when people just realized some of them yes just realize that there were too many of us right many of them you said yes and even those who knew never had a chance to experience they never had a shot before not some some did but many didnt and so it was really a 1st chance it was also a chance just to be openly jewish. You know enough to worry about anybody making a comment or wondering what it meant so. In a lot of ways it all started here. We had a dinner. In 1900 i looked at these kids movies and they were not kids anymore knew they were in the thirtys and fortys and ill never forget we sang the song called rosa games with the ways and means and we said. Way to sing the song. Well mother be sung to his children all those 100 who remember the song were heard the song please join and you know 1st 10 then 20 the 80 kids 80 of the 100 was singing a song from the so selfconscious sung to them by their mother theyd probably never heard before since that. Was was a year later in 1990 the Mater Foundation funded the 1st jewish heritage seminars in. 30 years ago a kosher meal was made in this kitchen for probably the 1st time since the 2nd world war and this is the bit 1st about the been strange for you with what was kosher food for example that share at 1st but then we got used to you know people here that believe exactly yes if you have used it we asked that after the 1st workshop they knew how to cook that is staff got to know us and they soon learned the songs that we sang in the dining room the others attest they also knew what happened on friday evening and on saturday morning you have an awesome people think. Theyre going. In communist poland jewish life wasnt. Abstract concept. And look at winds and before that i only knew what i had seen on t. V. We didnt know better we were anxious about it but that all changed when michael came to board. When shogun were listening to him speaking about what you would do it was important to them it was so special. Because he related to their he got down to their level they spoke with him he said they saw him slow on the floor and talk to them so we out of this was the this the exactly the where we realize he was special. Stunna suave and monica k. F. C. Were 2 of the 1st participants they were finally able to practice their jewish faith openly no need to hide and be discreet as in the communist era stunna suave even led prayers sometimes many of those attending were Holocaust Survivors all told or. During the war there were 2 of them so they were not adults some of them were very little children or babies some of there were 8 or 10 and those sort of 5 to know either because they were hiding somewhere or they were given the. Boot stunna suave and monaco were born after the war. This was very helpful make me more. Knowledge. Make me know how do the things that regular joes will because this is not something that i got from my family and also this is true about all or almost all people of my generation and younger so those who lived in ball on were jewish in some way in the seventys or in the eightys where most of the very assimilated and very far from. Jewish involvement. You know 8 weeks a year for 67 years the rebirth of jewish religious life in poland began under somewhat spartan conditions. It was a wonderful times you know very warm memories. And this is where we had a little synagogue a makeshift synagogue was set up in a covert Education Center. Marked a new beginning for judaism. Everything from. Basic things in judaism sure about kosher holidays history to what does it mean to be jewish how do you feel about being jewish and also getting to know each other icebreakers and sometimes fun things that we everybody reenact the biblical scene. And on friday nights we put all the different benches that we could find and wed have the prayer outside which is really i think everyones favorite moment of the week. But there was also criticism from unexpected quarters for some people jewish life in Eastern Europe was unimaginable after the holocaust the fact is that jewish people and particularly people who are 2nd generation his parents fled d the holocaust so appears so why do you want to do it. And i said to these people because they were jewish kids we must do what we can to give them a jewish life it is ridiculous to protest the gains in the rebirth of jewish life where it had been murder because you dont regulate like. Jews have a right to live and live as jews wherever they were if this is the only problem then a we need to get out of Europe Europe is a graveyard its particularly visible around the house with its birth. If you anybody with jewish historical sensitivity travels around europe. It is a place of that and it was very painful very painful that after this journey back to be said that you dont really exist because there cant be jews here very painful. And wrong. The seminar buildings where this jewish renaissance began are just an hours drive from the infamous extermination camp auschwitz birkenau. And theres another point we should point out when we go up this kind of bridge you look to the left and to the right and youll see train tracks lots and lots of train tracks and you understand why the germans built the biggest death camp here is because you have the crossroads of so many different train tracks from all over europe that that thats a clear point when you see it here you understand so why do they build it here. It actually thing it gets harder to visit this place than easier. When it really became harder. And so theres 3 with 2 things one is once my daughter was born and they get a natural way when you walk here when you dont have children you think you know could have i survived and once you have a child you think could could your child have survived and their frequent becomes a completely different experience and the other thing for many many jews its. I mean its a horrible place for any human being to be but for for jews its also becomes personal because many of us have family that was here. Chamber 3 catch him before he has chamber 5 and this is the sauna the rabbi travels to auschwitz birkenau several times each year people many visitors from israel and the u. S. Ask to meet him at the site where their relatives were murdered with hes also a senior religious advisor to the Auschwitz Foundation which administers the site as a museum and a memorial rabbi shooter it says keeping the memory alive is crucial it seems that in europe the shock of the holocaust of this genocide the more genocide in history. Kind of silenced those people who refused to wear the lesson and it seems not 75 years later for many people do know the lesson there are those who never knew the lesson and now want to speak. In a loud voice about. You know denying the holocaust belittling the holocaust. So while some people are saying you know weve learnt nothing thats not true humanity has learnt a lot it doesnt mean that all of humanity has learnt everything. And so even standing a place like this im hopeful because you just see the numbers of people visiting today. Gives hope that they will be changed when they leave how can you be the same person. Michael shoot rix on call an austrian jew from vienna was a prisoner in auschwitz henry starr was brought there in august 944 on 1 of the last deportation trains from the german concentration camp at that in todays Czech Republic when i thought whats the difference some of this. The platform of its. Slaughter. A. Shot of the came down like its in front of the muscle. This is the place where. You know we call like this and my my uncle told me the story when they arrived on the train from to raise a child into raising. The world war one veterans were treated better because there was some level of jewish selfgovernment enter a sense that some level but these 3 or the veterans were treated better and mangled they were lined up 5555 and they were in the same line as some vets world war one veterans and mengele sent the veterans straight to the gas chambers. And my uncle and his brother followed immediately with them figuring they were going to a better place based on their experience in theresienstadt and then mangle had his guards kicked my uncle and his brother to the other side saying that you jew cant decide your fate as you couldnt even jew could even decide to be killed. And so ironically mengele saved my uncles life. Which is bizarre. Henry stars survived auschwitz and emigrated to the United States where he started his own family michael shoot learned a lot from him. Who was one of those who spoke quite frequently about it so i cant remember if i was 11 or 13 i would say certainly by 13 i but i cant tell you you know from what age but. Certainly when i was in high school. This was something that you know ill call henry would tell me about how important whats this for you i do you. Interested in you see. This play a role. Absolutely yes to what extent. You know the ideas that you just i very much it took away from that i think. Took away from that that you just you cant be indifferent as something is wrong you have to try to fix it. Was. Can its December Christmas in warsaw the capital of catholic poland the Jewish Community is celebrating hanukkah the festival of lights the Opening Event is as always open to the public more songs jews are no longer a client a star and community. Simply put it was the place i was supposed to be. Michael superrich has dedicated the past 30 years of his life to reestablishing jewish religious life in poland hes committed to keeping memory alive and to working for the present and the future. Oh looks like its still the place im supposed to be a. Bit. Eco india. How can a countrys economy grow and harmony with its people and the environment when there are do or look at the Bigger Picture india a country that faces many challenges and people are striving to create a Sustainable Future clever projects from europe and india equal. In 30 minutes on w. Millennialists do some things a bit differently and other things very differently. The older generation on the labor market. Their focus not confident and optimistic it was nothing less than to change the blow for. The check the polls a generation was. Made in germany. 90 minutes on d w. Hey listen now. Thats one. Video game music sounded like 30 years ago. Todays tracks take the experience to another level. To him composer no blue going through. Featured in. His music is spent on to give you. Sounds good. Video game music on d w. E. This is the live from Berlin Germany moves to possibly lift the pandemic lockdown is expected the government today will announce further measures to reopen the economy and parts of public life look at whats next for germany also coming up cautiously getting back to work india also eases its lockdown for some businesses despite the fire of emerging in the country. Look back at another real time germanys capital