This June, Mike and I will be participating in the meaningful Ride For The Living, an incredible 60-mile journey (which I will do 14 miles) from the darkness of Auschwitz-Birkenau to the light of JCC Krakow.
I’ll be riding alongside hundreds of participants from around the world in a powerful tribute to Jewish resilience and renewal.
My grandfather, Philip Warshauer’s family, I believe was from Warsaw, but his family immigrated to the United States around 1920. Mike’s father, Mates Kit, grew up in Maków Mazowiecki, a small Polish town located on the Orzyc River, near Warsau. It had about 7 thousand people at the time, 60 to 70% were Jewish. He was the oldest of 6. He left his family in 1936, against his fathers wishes, to escape the Nazis at age 21. He left behind his grandparents, Szlama-Moszek and Szajna-Rachel, and his aunt and uncles, Chaim, Abram-Icek, Shimon-Berel and Sara Raisel. Tragically, they were all murdered in Auschwitz in 1942-1943 along with most of the Jews of Makowa. Out of a population of 35 million, 3.3 million were Jewish in Poland before WWII. Less than 10% survived. Mike and I plan to visit Makowa to see what remains and learn about his Father's life there.
It may surprise you that just an hour from Auschwitz, Jewish life has been reborn and thriving for almost two decades. Today, 80 years after the Holocaust, JCC Krakow is home to 1,200 members, including 56 Holocaust survivors, dozens of young families, children attending the first Jewish preschool in Krakow since the war, and an entire movement of young people just now discovering their family's long-suppressed Jewish heritage.
This community’s strength reaches far beyond its gates: JCC Krakow has supported more Ukrainian refugees than any other organization of its kind in the entire world. Having been victims only 80 years ago, this community has a special understanding of the responsibility to save others, and they’ve now supported over 450,000 Ukrainians since Russia’s invasion.
I would be grateful for your support as I embark on this physical and spiritual journey to uplift the JCC’s mission of building a vibrant, welcoming and compassionate community.
Ride For The Living is JCC Krakow’s largest annual fundraiser, and is completely funded by the friends and family of participants like you.