Poland is not an inexpensive place for American tourists to travel. In the handful of major Polish cities the best accommodations are up to a very high American standard. In second tier cities three star hotels are the best you are likely to find, and I found them acceptable. In Warsaw I spent three nights at the Bristol Hotel which is very nice but expensive, and I spent one night in the Sheraton which is much the same. In Bialystok I spent two nights in the Golebiewski Hotel which is three star. It wasn't great. The Crystal Hotel in Bialystok which is also three star may be a somewhat better choice.
The food in Poland is quite good in my opinion. I didn't have a bad meal there, even at very ordinary places we stopped on the road. The food is more natural and less processed than in America. I had some excellent Jewish food there. In fact better than anything I've ever had here in America. Like most else, the food in Poland is not particularly cheap.
The People Most Polish people even in Warsaw speak little or no English. Naturally communication is difficult, and I recommend employing the services of a guide/translator. My guide/translator was Krzysztof Malczewski. He's a great guy, and provides excellent service. I recommend him without hesitation. Anyone wishing to contact him can ask me for his email address which I will provide. People I met in Poland were friendly enough. They could tell I was American but not necessary Jewish. I didn't have any bad experiences with people, though my time and exposure there was quite limited. I always felt safe. Driving in is very aggressive, and roads are very poor by American standards. I met a handful of very exceptional Polish people who are very interested in the subject of the Jewish legacy in Poland. They appeared to be essentially free of prejudice or bias against Jews. They seemed genuinely excited to be visited by me. In my opinion they are deserving of support and encouragement, and contact with them by visiting foreign Jews is essential. Fact is that there are not enough Jews left in Poland to develop and preserve the Jewish heritage there. The participation of enlightened well meaning Poles is in my opinion a wonderful thing.
The Standard of Living Poland is quite poor by American standards. It's not unusual to see intelligent, educated, cultured people living at a standard that we would regard as "working poor". It is a struggle for many Polish people to provide the basics. However, in the cities I didn't really see very many homeless or destitute looking people. Much of the housing is substandard. People have relative few material goods. What they seem to have is their pride, and their families. There appears to be no economic boom there at this time. I noticed little construction going on in Warsaw. There may be a small number of people who are doing quite well. Taxes are very, very high. Membership in the EU is a very hot issue. A majority of stock in all major Polish banks is owned by foreigners. Politically the people seem somewhat confused, and uncertain as to where to turn.
Zabludow Zabludow appears to be a shadow if it's former self. It has about 3,000 people, a little more than half the population it did before the war. It is right on a main road quite close to Bialystok, about 12 miles to the Southeast. It is on the very small Rudnia river which is a right tributary of the much larger Narew river. It is largely a farming community, and I was told it is a little bit poorer than average, but not as poor as some. It has a rather shabby run down look, with little if any recent economic development in evidence. The people are largely Catholic, but there is a large Russian Orthodox minority. If you start driving to the East from Zabludow, you encounter some very nice countryside.
Though it has only been about 60 years since the destruction of the 400 year old Jewish Community (70 percent of the town in 1890, 52 percent in 1939), you would need not only the aide of a historian but an archeologist to discover much evidence of it in Zabludow today. In my opinion this is due in large part to the fact that virtually the entire town was burned by the Germans on June 26, 1941. Also it may be due to the fact that since the war the Poles have had almost no interest, and made almost no effort to commemorate or preserve anything of Jewish Zabludow. For so many years the opportunity for foreign Jews to show an interest was severely limited by political conditions in Poland. Hopefully all of the has, and will continue to change a bit so more can be done in the future to commemorate the community and preserve what very little is left. The only obvious physical sign of the Jewish community today in Zabludow is the horribly damaged remnant of one of the two original Jewish cemeteries in the town.
Click pages below for photos Page One Page Two Page Three Page Four Click here to read my poem Inspired by my visit to Zabludow Web: 2003 Tilford Bartman
