What you see above is the cremated remains of 18,000 people that were shot over the course of two days in the concentration/work camp of Majdenek near the town of Lublin where we are staying.

It was a cold but pleasant morning that greeted us this morning in Lublin. We rose early for breakfast and then prayed together for our day. I prayed that God would allow us to still see Who He is, even in the dark events that we are studying. Little did I know what I was praying for- today would be the hardest day yet.

Lublin is a very pretty town, with many of its buildings still standing from before the war and even some left from the 14th century. It is the perfect example of the Old World. We strolled through its streets this morning, learning about Polish history (quite a checkered one) and exploring the Medieval town, which is situated on top of a hill and contains a fortress. The original gates to the city are still standing, although very little of the city itself remains inside them.

The Fortress: Lublin:

The Majdanek showers

Unfortunately, we could not remain long happily strolling through midieval streets. Sadly death is always just around the corner in Poland. The work camp at Majdenek was not originally meant to be a place where thousands died. But the Germans there showed so little interest in keeping their prisoners alive that conditions became unimaginablely brutal. Prisoners were not fed enough food to stay alive yet were forced to do manual labor for the entire day. Stronger prisoners stole the smaller prisoners' food. People regularly beat each other up. There was no cleanliness, no compassion, no humanity. Those who could not work were poisoned by gas, cremated and thrown in a pile.

A Watchtower

Finally, even this proved too natural for those involved, for all the Jews must be eliminated. As the Russians approached, the guards lined up the remaining 18,000 Jews and shot them, forcing them to fall on the corpses steadily piling up in the ditches the Jews themselves had dug. It is a scene that I can almost not think about and maintain my sanity. Where can we have hope in the face of indescrible brutality? It must be in God, for God alone is good and just and in control of all. Man is not good. Truly without God, "every intention of the thoughts of (man's) heart was only evil continually" (Gen 6:5b)

A Cremation Oven

The ditch where 18,000 bodies lay

It was a quiet bus on a way over to lunch, which happened to be McDonald's. I was pleased to find that lunch at McDonald's in Poland is much the same as in America. We then briefly visited a Jewish school, a Yeshiva, where I had trouble staying awake. Then we travelled throughout the beautiful countryside of Poland, visiting a mountain resort town and the River Vistula. Finally, we headed back for dinner, good peasant food in enormous quantities.

Me, very excited for Mickey D's

First, bread was served with basically bacon grease spread. Then we had pierogies, which were very good, very buttery and garlicly. Then they brought out sour soup with eggs in it. It was served in bread-bowls and we thought this was the main course. But it wasn't! Next came plates full of potato pancakes. And we didn't know what to say. But that was not all- next came waffle bowls full of ice cream. Because so many people didn't want ice cream, they gave me two! I think I passed out from exhaustion.

But now I am sitting and digesting and getting ready to leave Lublin for more adventures.

From Theresa/Grandma:

Charlie has given a good description of our day. I have been surprised at the Italian Baroque facades on the buildings of Lublin where the pedestrian mall runs many blocks. This was the area that Charlie wrote about when he told where we walked just after breakfast. We are in the Europa Hotel just off of this mall area for two nights. Our rooms are comfortable and nice. We see the news each morning in some language or other!

The day was sober for many reasons, but one was that our dear Israeli guide, Shalmi, believes that his grandparents were among those Jewish people murdered at Majdenek Labor Camp in about 1943. When I think of the happy times I had with my own grandparents as a child and in my growing up years, it made me very sad for Shalmi and so many who never knew their grandparents or even their parents because of the slaughter that happened during WWII in this area. We have all been reading a book called ORDINARY MEN about one reserve police battalion 101 from Hamburg, Germany which did much of the killings in the camps.

It was good that we had a McPerogi lunch (that's my name for a Polish McD's!!), a ride through the beautiful countryside outside of Lublin (which is the largest city in east Poland). Corn, buckwheat, hops (for beer), tobacco, berries and sugar beets were growing on large farms on either side of the road. The air was perfect - 68 degrees and low humidity. The Vistula R. flows all through Warsaw and here in Lublin. Charlie and I tell each other each day that "we MUST get a map of Poland"!! We are so grateful for your prayers.

The Brits and the US folks are getting a lot of fun trying to imitate each others' languages - we taught Paul, one of the pastors from Manchester, UK, how to say with a southern accent "I as full as a tick" after eating that huge peasant meal tonight!!