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December 22, 2000/Kislev 25, 5761, Vol. 53, No.13
ASU Jewish studies hosts Poland trip
BARRY COHEN
Community Editor
Valley residents have a chance to visit the "old country" with an impassioned expert.
The Jewish studies department at Arizona State University is sponsoring a trip to Galicia, Poland, and Berlin, Germany, June 27- July 11.
"This is a chance to see Poland through the eyes of one who loves it," said professor Jack Kugelmass, director of the university's Jewish studies program and trip leader.
The group, limited to 30 people, will split time between the museum at Auschwitz and various sites in the Galicia region of Poland. There will be an optional trip extension to Berlin July 8-11.
Kugelmass calls the Auschwitz museum, located at the historical site of the death camp, one of the most important in the world.
"This is the last time to see it before radical changes are made to the installations," he said. Historically, the museum has downplayed the Jewish presence at Auschwitz, both by the Polish Catholics who founded it and by the Communist government that formerly maintained it.
The large numbers of Jews murdered at the camp was "an embarrassment" to the Catholic population, Kugelmass said. The Polish state wants to portray Auschwitz as a camp where people of many nations of the world were killed, not Jews, said Kugelmass. Changes are being made to reflect a greater historical accuracy, he added.
While in Poland, the group will tour the Galicia region, site of Chasidic dynasties, shtetls, synagogues and "haunting cemeteries."
Kugelmass said he looks forward to visiting Kazimierz in Krakow, "the most significant unrestored Jewish quarter in Europe, even more significant than Prague."
In Krakow, the group will experience a Jewish cultural festival that, according to Kugelmass, is Europe's best.
In Berlin, tour participants will visit two museums - the Topography of Terror, on the site of excavated Gestapo offices; and Wannsee, a section of villas where Nazis planned the "final solution."
Cost for the tour is $2,800 for double occupancy, including airfare from Phoenix, lodging, guides and ground transportation.
The Berlin extension is an additional $400.
Contact Kugelmass at 480-965-8094 or JMKugelmass@aol.com.
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