by Steve Smith I've long had a fascination with the East End of London and its industrial heritage from when dad took us there as kids to visit a tailor, dri...

On December 7, 2019, the Poland group met for lunch at the Cote Brasserie in Chiswick, London. All were there except for Gabrielle, who had house guests; Jef...

The trip to Poland has affected all of us in different ways. This is where we can share our feelings. Gabrielle Dear Cousins, It has been a week and I am sti...

The POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, to give it its full title, is an impressive edifice. In the square adjacent to the building stands a monument...

I didn't accompany the family to the Jewish cemetery at Okopowa. The visit was arranged for the family to pay their respects and help clean up the area aroun...

There's not much to see of what was once the Warsaw Ghetto. Our tour focused mainly on the uprising of April 19, 1943 to May 16, 1943 and the monuments that ...

There's not a lot that remains of the Lodz ghetto. which was the last ghetto in Poland to be liquidated, in the summer of 1944. We walked around the streets ...

We're now leaving Chmielnik on the way to Kielce, where the Polish headquarters of DS Smith PLC is located. DSS was founded by our grandparents / great-gran...

We left Krakov early in the morning, boarded our bus and drove some 91 kms. to Chmielnik, our first stop en route to Warsaw. The Zmideks of Chmielnik date ba...

After a snack at the canteen, we took the tour bus to Birkenau, the largest of the more than 40 camps and sub-camps that comprised the Auschwitz complex. The...

I wasn't alone in being apprehensive about going to Auschwitz. We didn't know what to expect and how it would make us feel. It has taken me three days to pr...

We arrive in Krakov, then continue to Warsaw.

I'd planned everything to the last detail: train times - check; Polish weather conditions - check; suitcase packed, unpacked, repacked, shoes dilemma resolve...