Guiding in Poland

He began guiding in Poland after many years of guiding in Israel. He was reluctant at first but then found the subject interesting - the Shoah involves the extreme of human experience and has influenced the behavior of Jews and Israelis. This makes the subject compelling and very important to teach. The important aspects to convey depend on the group. If the group does not know much about the Shoah, then he provides a simple chronological understanding. If the group is more knowledgeable, he looks at the complexity and the dilemmas. For deniers and for youth, it is sometimes necessary to shock them to keep their attention and reach them. When asked if he, himself had become emotional while guiding, he says that he tries very hard not to. He focusses on creating an experience for the participants. The interviewer asks if his perspective has changed. He says his views today have been influenced by educators with whom he has worked. He has also become more aware that he used to show inappropriately graphic pictures and has stopped, e.g. showing naked bodies. A key point he makes is that we cannot identify with victims or survivors; we can only try to understand the period. ; Places where he likes to guide: He prefers to guide at places he knows better; that leads to better guiding. For example, in Majdanek, he cannot convey what happened but feels that that he does a good job conveying what he intended to convey. But, at Birkenau, he is not able to convey things as he feels them; he has not found the right line of guiding as he has at Majdanek. How do you measure your success? Partly, he measures success by the reaction of the participants but, sometimes, they are satisfied but he knows he could have done better. It is not a matter of knowledge but a matter of expressing what is important in the allotted time. Comparing guiding in Poland with guiding in Israel, he said that in Poland he is an educator with a feeling of holiness toward the subject. In Israel, there are places with a feeling of holiness but also places where he takes people for pleasure. What is difficult for him and what are his plans? While traveling he is far from home, family and children while relating stories of the horrors inflicted on other families. But he envisions doing more in Poland because it needs to be done and he now knows how to do it. He wants to continue learning more about the relevant history. He benefits from the guiding in Poland and in spite of everything has learned to enjoy some aspects of travel there.