We have returned from our first group tour of Irena Sendler sites in Poland. This is not something we will plan every year, many of you have been asking.
The group for Poland 2017 was unique and wonderful to travel with. They were a diverse group of individuals brought together for one purpose, to share the story of Irena Sendler.
You can look on our Life in a Jar Facebook page for photographs from this powerful trip.
Every year there are more and more Irena sites to visit. We went to the tree, the secret meeting place, the monument for Zegota, the street named after her, the Museum of the History of Polish Jews, and the apartment she lived at during the war, and much, much more.
Thanks to Antony Lishak, we visited the Warsaw Zoo and the villa at the zoo. We had a special, private tour. Irena stayed at the zoo for a very short time after her escape from Pawiak.
Members of the group also toured Auschwitz-Birkenau and Treblinka.
We had a marvelous dinner, with guests including: child survivor, Elzbieta Ficowska, Rabbi of Poland Michael Schudrich, leaders of Irena Sendler Schools in Poland, descendants of child survivors, translators for Irena and the head of the Irena Sendler Award for teachers.
A huge thanks goes out to Marzanna Pogorzelska and Margaret Marczewski, both of who were our tour guides. Margaret is a descendant of a child survivor and Marzanna is the head of Lowell Milken Center Europe and a former national Irena Sendler Award winner. She was also a Lowell Milken Center Fellow. Liz Cambers Hutton, a member of the original Life in a Jar girls, went on the trip also.
We also had downtime in Warsaw and Krackow, both beautiful cities.
2018 is Irena Sendler Year in Poland, as proclaimed by the Parliament.