This past weekend, we took a field trip to Lidice and Terezin, two of the most important sites in the story of the Holocaust in the Czech Republic.
We first stopped at Lidice, where we viewed the Children’s Memorial and the Lidice Museum. Then we headed to Terezin, where we visited the Jewish Cemetery, the Crematorium, Small Fortress, Ghetto Museum, Hidden Synagogue and Magdeburg Barracks. In between, we had a delicious lunch at the Hotel Memorial (where they have lots of advertisements for elaborate weddings … that’s another story).
My favorite story: Right behind the crematorium in Terezin, there was a big, flowering tree. One day in the camp, a teacher brought his students there and told them this: Most of you don’t know where your families are now. After the war, you will probably not be able to find them. On the first Tu Be’Shevat after the war, come back to this tree, and at least you’ll have each other.
And thus, on the first Tu Be’Shevat following the war, about 15 students returned to the tree. And they’ve been coming back ever since - bringing with them their children, their children’s children, and entire families. Hundreds of people assemble there every year on that date - even though the tree has been quite damaged by floods and storms since then.
