Discovering the Beauty and Culture of Jewish Life in Warsaw

Visiting Poland for the first time is an amazing experience and should be at the top of most people’s lists when thinking about a European vacation and a Jewish Heritage Tour.

World Heritage Sites designated by UNESCO preserve cultural and historical artifacts from Poland’s past. These sites make great destinations for travelers to this country, which I will describe later in this article. There’s also a growing appreciation for the rich Jewish heritage. You can trace the history at your own pace, even beyond the deeply affecting Holocaust memorials, and visit synagogues that are being sensitively restored.

After traveling around Poland, I realized Warsaw was different. Rather than being centered on an old market square, the capital is spread across a broad area consisting of diverse architecture, which includes restored Gothic, communist concrete, modern glass, and steel. This medley is a sign of the city’s tumultuous past. Warsaw has suffered the worst of what history could provide, including virtual destruction at the end of World War II, and survived. As a result, it’s a fascinating accumulation of neighborhoods and landmarks. Excellent museums interpret its complex history, whether it’s the joys of Chopin’s music, the Polin Museum of Jewish History, or the tragedy of the Jewish ghetto.

The Palace of Culture and Science, a gift to Warsaw from Joseph Stalin, is a huge complex, and at 231m high, it remains the tallest building in Poland. Love it or despise it, every visitor to Warsaw should visit this iconic, socialist realist PKiN (as its full Polish name is abbreviated). It’s home to a huge congress hall, theaters, a multi-screen cinema, and museums. It reminded me of the Merchandise Mart in Chicago, and I later found that the Russian architect had lived and worked in Chicago for many years before returning to Russia. Take the high-speed lift to the observation deck on the 30^th floor (at 115m) for breathtaking views over Warsaw. In the Old Town, you will be surrounded by beautiful 17th- and 18th-century merchants’ houses and a lively square, which is filled with street vendors, cafes, shops, galleries, and some of Warsaw’s top restaurants. It’s a special place to watch and wonder. All of the buildings around the square are reconstructed based on paintings of the area. However, the most fascinating thing to see was how much effort had been put into rebuilding the square to look as it did before WWII. This gives it a feeling of history, albeit sometimes with a Disney-esque feel to it.

Old Town – New York Jewish Travel Guide

The Lazienki Royal Park is a magnificent palatial garden complex that was built by King Stanislaw August Poniatowski during the second half of the 18th century and features the neoclassical Palace on the Water (Lazienki Palace) surrounded by magnificent gardens, canals, and ponds. The gardens are stunning, and there is an abundance of wildlife, including peacocks and red squirrels that will actually come and eat out of your hand. The monument to Chopin was magnificent. Enjoy a free Chopin concert here, held every summer Sunday at 4 p.m. The best park in Warsaw is stunning and breathtaking!

A stop at the Umschlagplatz is a must. This is where the Nazis established a holding depot for hundreds of thousands of Jews, next to a railway station, for deportation to the death camps. The monument, symbolizing an open railway car, was erected in 1988, close to the 45th anniversary of the Ghetto Uprising. It has four memorial plaques that state in four languages the tragic fate of so many. Carved on the stonework are the first names of the 400 most prevalent Jewish-Polish names, each honoring 1,000 victims. It is a beautiful memorial in the Jewish ghetto.

The Umschlagplatz – New York Jewish Travel Guide

One of the highlights of my visit to Warsaw was the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews.

This is the first and only museum dedicated to restoring the memory of the civilization created by Polish Jews over the course of a millennium. The museum’s building faces the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes in Warsaw, and it completes the memorial complex. At the monument, they honor those who perished by remembering how they died. At the museum, they honor them and those who came before and after them by remembering how they lived. The museum’s core exhibition is a journey through the 1,000-year history of Polish Jews. You will automatically immerse yourself in the story. You will encounter those who lived in each period; their words are quoted throughout the exhibition. You will enter the scene—a salon, tavern, home, church, synagogue, or schoolroom. There are surprises in drawers, which you can open; screens and objects you can touch; and much else that you can see: artifacts, photographs, documents, and films.

The POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw: Main exhibition, Gwoździec synagogue – New York Jewish Travel Guide

It takes a lot of skill to present such massive documentation, covering a millennium of history, in a format that keeps the visitor engaged for hours on end, and Ms. Agnieszka Biesiadecka, a licensed guide and tour leader (in English, French, and Polish), did exactly that at the museum.

Each visit to the museum will be different. There will always be something new for inspiration. As a side note, there is a great children’s area that offers activities and supervision for young children. There is also a great kosher coffee bar and restaurant, a bookstore, and a family research center.

The POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw: Main exhibition, Gwoździec synagogue – New York Jewish Travel Guide

It is a must-visit in order to understand 1,000 years of Jewish life. It’s beautiful, informative, thought-provoking, and powerful. It’s one of the best history museums in the world that copes very delicately with some of the most sensitive issues of Jewish history.

For those interested in more recent history, Soho Factory is a fairly new place on Warsaw’s cultural map. That’s where the famous Neon Museum is located, and there you will find some of the best restaurants as well as design shops. This is the place to be! The Neon Museum is not your typical museum, but a small hidden gem that is phenomenal in its content. You will see unique neon pieces that you will not find anywhere else. It is awesome, stunning, and meaningful! If you would like to chill out, visit Vistula Boulevard. This is a great place to enjoy the sun by the river bank and watch a stunning sunset with Warsaw’s skyline in full sight. Many locals meet here for an after-work beer or a leisurely picnic. It’s a nice place for families and friends to gather.

Vistula Boulevards- New York Jewish Travel Guide

I had the privilege of a private tour of the former villa of Jan Zabinski in the Warsaw Zoo. Zabinski was the director of the Warsaw Zoo before and during WWII. Upon the creation of the Warsaw Ghetto, Dr. Zabinski and his wife started hiding Jews in his villa and, unbelievably, in the Zoo itself. This was documented in Diane Akerman’s excellent book, The Zookeeper’s Wife, and became a Hollywood movie with the same title, directed by Niki Caro.

Jan and Antonia Zabinski saved the lives of dozens of Jews through various methods, including hiding them in animal enclosures. Many cages in the zoo had been emptied of animals during the September 1939 air assault on Warsaw. Żabiński decided to utilize them as hiding places for fleeing Jews. Over the course of three years, hundreds of Jews found temporary shelter in these abandoned cages on the eastern bank of the Vistula River before finding refuge elsewhere. In addition, close to a dozen Jews were sheltered in Żabiński’s two-story private home on the zoo’s grounds. In this dangerous undertaking, he was helped by his wife, Antonia, a recognized author, and their young son, Ryszard, who nourished and looked after the needs of the many distraught Jews in their care. Israel’s Yad Vashem: The World Holocaust Remembrance Center later recognized the Zabinskis as Righteous Among the Nations, a title bestowed upon non-Jews who helped save Jews during the Holocaust

Villa Zabinskich- New York Jewish Travel Guide

Next was the discovery of The Beauty of the Nyzek Synagogue: This synagogue itself is a living, breathing piece of history, being that it’s the only synagogue in Warsaw that survived the war and is still functioning as a daily place of worship. This small synagogue, built between 1898 and 1902, is hidden away, surrounded by Soviet-built apartment blocks, and was designed by an unnamed architect in the Romanesque style with Byzantine and Moorish ornamentation. There is a men’s section on the ground floor, and the women’s section on the mezzanine can accommodate up to 600 people.

Noyzk Synagogue, New York Jewish Travel Guide The building was the only one of 400 synagogues to survive the demolition of the city during WWII. At present, Nożyk Synagogue is the main place for gatherings and services for Jews in Warsaw. A Mikveh, or ritual bath, is located in its basement. During the summer, they have services at around 7:15 for Shacharit and around 20:30 for Mincha/Ma’ariv; e-mail or call for the specific times. It’s a small synagogue in an area of skyscrapers and a living memorial for Poland’s Jewish community.