Poland Trip Description

Albion College's Holocaust Studies Program Service-Learning Project in Poland takes place every other year in May. Our next trip will be May 2019. Students, faculty, and staff members spend time in Poland working, learning, and visiting sites related to the Holocaust and Polish Jewry.

The group first goes to Wrocław, mostly doing hard physical work restoring a Jewish cemetery. In the evening, the group meets to discuss readings and their experiences.

They then travel to Kraków, where they explore Kazimierz, the city's historic Jewish quarter. The group visits Oskar Schindler's former factory at 4 Lipowa Street, where in 2001 Albion College students dedicated a large historical plaque which adorns the building. They visit other historically and culturally important Jewish sites in Kraków, as well.

Finally, the group makes an excursion to nearby Auschwitz-Birkenau.

During the spring semester, students going on the trip meet for a mandatory one-half-unit proseminar that covers the history of Poland, the Holocaust, Jews in Poland both before and after World War II, and the transformation of Poland since the fall of communism.

Reflections and photos from previous trips can be found on our blog. The site for our trip in 2015 can be found at http://campus.albion.edu/poland15/.