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Together,
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Between October 29 and November 4, 2015, eight Boston-area students of varied backgrounds from Wellesley College and Brandeis University traveled to Poland with Combined Jewish Philanthropies to learn and volunteer with From The Depths, a non-profit organization which works on the ground to memorialize and educate the public about the Holocaust. Learn more about these incredible five days from the resources below.
Background Information
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During our five days on the ground, students worked hand-in-hand with Poles of many backgrounds to recover Jewish history, most of which was wiped out. We excavated Jewish tombstones used by the Nazis to make roads, and helped restore an abandoned synagogue not used since the Holocaust. We learned from and served with dozens of From the Depths volunteers throughout Poland, including firemen and “strongmen”, and we toured sites important to both Holocaust memory and Poland’s Jewish future. Click on the image to the right to learn more about our itinerary, and to read the bios of our staff and student participants |
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Photos and Video
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Click on any of the images to the right to view our Facebook album of photos. |
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Media Reaction
Warsaw Ghetto’s Creation Marked in ‘Active Memory’ Vigil
WARSAW – More than 200 Israeli and American students gathered in the heart of Warsaw’s former Jewish ghetto on October 31, holding candles to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the ghetto’s erection by Poland’s Nazi occupiers.
Organized by the Israel-based From the Depths organization, the vigil took place at the former site of Mila 18, where the ghetto’s young Jewish fighters took their last stand against Nazi deportations to the death camp Treblinka... click here to continue reading.
New Program Looks to Reinvent the Holocaust Memorial Tour
A new joint initiative between an Israeli NGO and the Jewish community of Boston is attempting to increase the participation of non-Jews in Holocaust memory programs by flying them to Poland to restore tombstones.
Called “Together, Restoring Their Names,” the program, an alternative to “heavily scripted…death camp tours” such as the March of the Living, aims to “craft a new kind of experience for young adults in Poland – one that engages not only Jews, but their peers of all backgrounds,” organizers say... click here to continue reading.
Called “Together, Restoring Their Names,” the program, an alternative to “heavily scripted…death camp tours” such as the March of the Living, aims to “craft a new kind of experience for young adults in Poland – one that engages not only Jews, but their peers of all backgrounds,” organizers say... click here to continue reading.
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Together, Restoring their Names was featured on TVP Krakow, one of the largest television news stations in Poland. TVP reported on the group's volunteer work in the small town of Olkusz, where students dismantled a wall made of stolen Jewish tombstones and returned the tombstones to the local Jewish cemetery. This work was largely covered in other Polish media outlets, links to which can be seen below along with translations of the articles. |
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Click on any of the webpages below to read what the Polish media
wrote about Together, Restoring their Names
Translations can be found below each article
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Post Trip
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From the Combined Jewish Philanthropies Blog Together, Restoring their Names with From The Depths By: Chelsea Roston, Wellesley College Student I had the opportunity to take a five-day journey through more than 1,000 years of Polish and Jewish history on CJP’s “Together, Restoring Their Names” service trip to Poland. Time traveling between my Wellesley College student life and the events that took place throughout the Holocaust has inspired me to reflect... click here to read more. |
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Together, Restoring their Names participants are actively engaging their peers on campus with Holocaust education, including the following:
Digging into the Past: A Holocaust Education and Service Trip to Poland (Panel Discussion) April 27, 2016
Cecilia F. Nowell ’16, Comparative Literature/Political Science, Chelsea L. Roston ’19, Undeclared, Roza
Trilesskaya 16 Economics, Arianna G. Regalado ’18, Undeclared, Delanie N. Goerig ’16, Anthropology,
Apoorva Arora ’16, Economics, conducted a panel discussion about their experience in Poland and the history of the region. Check out some photos below!
Resilience and Remembrance May 4, 2016
Join Wellesley College Students for an interactive Yom HaShoa event.
Yom's Lunch & Learn session "From Yom Hashoah to Yom Ha’atzmaut - the New ‘High Holidays’ of Israel" May 11, 2016
The deepest lesson of Yom Hashoah is in the responsibility it places on all of our shoulders. As Jews, we are all survivors. As a people who survived, we did not choose the path of bitterness and despair. We chose the path of recommitment to life, its challenges, opportunities and responsibilities.
The Jewish national calendar of Israel is populated by new holidays that Israel has placed at the center of our national and Jewish consciousness and which define and set aside the most significant time of the year in Israeli society. These holidays – bunched together within one week – are Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Memorial Day), Yom Hazikaron (Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers) and Yom Haatzmaut (Independence Day). It would not be an exaggeration to say these three days together constitute the "High Holidays" season of Israeli life.
Using resources from Makom - this will be an interactive class in which we consider the following question: What if our Israel celebration walked from Yom HaShoah to Yom Ha’atzmaut? What if the days in between these two monumental events in Jewish history were filled with reflection, anticipation, activity and celebration leading up to the commemorative day itself?
From The Depths Website Partnership
Students are volunteering to redesign the From The Depths website, an important part of the organization's image. Spearheaded by Cecilia Nowell, who is completing the project as part of a long term programming course.
Join Wellesley College Students for an interactive Yom HaShoa event.
Yom's Lunch & Learn session "From Yom Hashoah to Yom Ha’atzmaut - the New ‘High Holidays’ of Israel" May 11, 2016
The deepest lesson of Yom Hashoah is in the responsibility it places on all of our shoulders. As Jews, we are all survivors. As a people who survived, we did not choose the path of bitterness and despair. We chose the path of recommitment to life, its challenges, opportunities and responsibilities.
The Jewish national calendar of Israel is populated by new holidays that Israel has placed at the center of our national and Jewish consciousness and which define and set aside the most significant time of the year in Israeli society. These holidays – bunched together within one week – are Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Memorial Day), Yom Hazikaron (Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers) and Yom Haatzmaut (Independence Day). It would not be an exaggeration to say these three days together constitute the "High Holidays" season of Israeli life.
Using resources from Makom - this will be an interactive class in which we consider the following question: What if our Israel celebration walked from Yom HaShoah to Yom Ha’atzmaut? What if the days in between these two monumental events in Jewish history were filled with reflection, anticipation, activity and celebration leading up to the commemorative day itself?
From The Depths Website Partnership
Students are volunteering to redesign the From The Depths website, an important part of the organization's image. Spearheaded by Cecilia Nowell, who is completing the project as part of a long term programming course.
Questions and Comments
Thank you for your interest in this important project.
Please email Matt Lebovic with any questions or comments: mattl@cjp.org.
Visit FromTheDepths.org to learn more about current projects in Poland.