Borders

Hi all,

Thanks so much for tuning into my blog on the latest happenings in my trip in Eastern Europe.  In this post, I’m going to update you all on my closing days in Belarus and entrance into Poland (I just crossed the border today!) These past few days have been mind blowing and thought provoking because my own understandings of borders, in all mediums, have changed.

On Sunday, our helix group had the chance to visit a town in Eastern Europe that in particular has a lot of meaning for me.  Our group visited the old city of Navahrudak in Belarus, which was the home to some of my favorite historical heroes – the Bielski brothers, leaders of the Bielski partisans during World War II. 

The Bielskis (Tuvia, Zus, Asael, and Aron) were four brothers who, after witnessing the death of their parents and family members at the hand of the Nazis, fled into the forest in Belarus to start a camp and combat unit that would take in any one who wanted protection and help local Soviet partisan movements in the fight against the Nazis.  The brothers saved Jews from ghettos all over Belarus and by the end of the war had saved 1,236 people.  Their mission was to survive and to leave nobody behind. They were by far one of the most successful partisan movements in the war and I look up to the brothers as heroes.

After watching the movie Defiance in high school, a film that is about the Bielski story, and then reading extensively about the brothers during my first year at college, it was a very special experience for me to walk through the town they lived in and visit the museum in the bunker where the brothers conducted one of their largest rescues.  Our group visited the “Museum of Jewish Resistance” in Navahrudak and one of the highlights for me was learning about the Bielski network and seeing an underground tunnel that Jews in the Navahrudak Ghetto built that enabled them to escape into the Naliboki forest and join the Bielskis. Over 250 people escaped through this tunnel and to see it with my own eyes was amazing.

The following day, our group visited and explored the city of Grodno in Belarus.  Grodno is a beautiful, pleasant city with a history that is very interesting.  With a population that used to be over 60% Jewish, the history of Jewish culture in the city thrives with the memory from the locals.  One of these locals, a man named Boris has dedicated his life to saving and restoring Belarus’s last standing Jewish choral synagogue.  Walking inside the large white synagogue was amazing because on one hand, the synagogue is crumbling – with floors caving in and walls lacking paint, half of the building is completely unfinished.  Yet on the other hand, this old synagogue is growing as more and more people come to visit it and donate money to see it refurbished.  I hope that one day this synagogue can be completely finished so that the Jewish population in Grodno can enjoy it.  Until that day, I will always appreciate what it stands for – that Grodno does not forget its Jews and is working every day to rebuild the culture it once had.

Inside the Jewish Choral Synagogue

Today was our group’s last day in Belarus.  This morning our group visited a very small agricultural town, literally in the middle of nowhere, in search for the Peski shtetl, which in Yiddish means “sand.” While walking through Peski, our tour guide/translator Lucy met a woman who said she could introduce us to a friend who had lived in Peski her whole life and knew all about the Jews who once lived there.  The woman she introduced us to was named Nadjeita who was 86 years old and had lived in Peski through two worlds wars, a civil war, and the fall of the Soviet Union.  While staying in the same home, Nadjeita has technically lived in Poland, Occupied German Territory, USSR, and now Belarus. To Nadjeita, we were complete strangers – we might as well have been from Mars, or even further, the USA, yet she was so happy to see us visiting. She was so happy to tell us her story.  She told us all about her old town and its relationship with the Jewish people.  Nadjeita had several Jewish friends growing up – they went to school together, they invited each other to family meals, and they played sports together.  She described Peski as “one team” – one home, one community. It didn’t matter what religion one was.  She described that during the second world war the Jews were taken away to live in a ghetto, segregated from the non-Jewish community.  She never saw her Jewish friends again, knowing they were all killed by the Nazis.  Nadjeita has lived through so much and it was amazing to speak to her.  Her enthusiasm and kindness left a hand print on me. I remember scribbling viciously in my notebook as she spoke, trying to capture everything that she said.

Nadjeita (stripped sweater) telling her story to us with the help of our translator Lucy (black sweater) What an amazing moment.

Moments like these, whether it be seeing a tunnel that saved hundreds of lives, walking through a synagogue that is determined to rebuild, or getting to know a stranger whose words will be forever impacting, have made this trip so amazing and unforgettable for me. I am happy to be in Poland now, having just crossed the border of Belarus-Poland on the train today. But one thing I’ve learned is that borders are not just permanent lines that divide countries – they are ever changing maps that grow and contract, that divide and save, that separate and connect.  Nadjeita has been in 4 places at once because history knows no permanence – borders can exist and not exist simultaneously. There was no border between her life and the life of the Peski Jews - they existed together. Today, as the train was stopped at the Belarus-Poland border, I took a moment to appreciate that I was in two places at once and took a deep breath, remembering the long history of the land I was visiting.

I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings as I will be exploring the old city of Bialystok with the Helix project and thanks so much for reading.

All the best,

Arielle