“They were writing for us”

YIVO Study Tour of Lithuania and Poland, June 16-29, 2025

by JOSEPH REIMER

In June of this year, my wife Gail and I participated in the YIVO study tour of Lithuania and Poland. Gail had been to Poland, but I had never been or had any extended contact with YIVO. I had little idea of what to expect. I did my advanced reading, and yet the experience was surprising, stimulating, and exhausting.

The first surprise was our group. We were a large group of 32 participants, mostly from the States, but with a strong contingent from Melbourne, Australia. The majority of us were older, but several brought their grown children, so we had two generations present. While the Australians were mostly the children of survivors, the Americans were mostly not. Everyone was intensely interested, engaged, and considerate of one another.

The second surprise was Professor Sam Kassow. We knew in advance that Sam would be our teacher, but who knew what that would mean? Sam has a vast amount of knowledge of this history at the ready and can explain this history in such clear terms that we could all glimpse the complexity of our ancestors’ experiences in these dark lands. In addition, Sam tells a great story and sings Yiddish songs. He was such a hit that one member of the group filmed his presentations, so we can have them for our on-going reference.

The third surprise was Irene Pletka, the vice chair of the YIVO board of directors and curator of YIVO’s Study Tours, who led this rigorous trip and seamlessly became part of the group. Irene’s generosity was felt most keenly at the end of the trip where she arranged for us to be VIP guests at the klezmer concerts that were part of the Jewish cultural festival taking place in Kraków.

The trip was fundamentally from Vilna to Warsaw to Kraków with varied stops at different locations including Treblinka and Auschwitz-Birkenau. It was not for the faint of heart. The pace and flow of information was non-stop, rarely leaving any downtime. There were also moments of great satisfaction throughout the trip. Individual participants were able to locate the graves of loved ones, connect with their family roots, and share stories of where their people came from. Conversation among group members was open, supportive, and enlightening. Friendships developed.

The most moving moment for me came when we were in Warsaw at the Jewish Historical Institute. Sam was guiding us through an exhibit and sharing the riveting story of Emanuel Ringelblum and the Oyneg Shabes group who risked their lives in the ghetto to write, gather, and hide an elaborate record of the experience of Jews in those terrifying times. When Sam concluded, I asked, “Who were they writing for?” Without hesitation, Sam responded, “They were writing for us.” At that moment I realized, “We are here to witness what they lived through.” Their deep wish was for us to know. We have come all this way to let them know, “We hear you, and it deeply matters.”