Expedition diary: July 15, 2021
The fifth day of the expedition began in Navahrudak with viewing the film by Tamara Vyarshitskaya and Michael Kagan “The Book of Curses” about the Navahrudak ghetto and one of its prisoners Benyamin Berkovich. The film was shot according to his diary and as an attempt to understand who the author really was and how his fate unfolded. Our Polish friends and us, we got a closed screening via Zoom and a discussion.
After the viewing, the main part of the group went to the next location of the route – Izabielin, and a few of us stayed in a cozy café in the center of Navahrudak to talk with Tamara Vyarshitskaya. Look for our philosophical conversation in the video notes in the Expedition Archive, and the address of the café, in the For Tourists section.
In addition to the film and conversation, we also had time to meet with an old resident of these places and record memories of living in the town of Lyubch. There were so many events and meetings that this day seemed to be one of the longest in the entire expedition.
On the way to Izabielin and Padarosk, we visited an old Jewish cemetery in Dzyarechyn. It must be said that everyone felt a big difference compared to the one in Zembin. The cemetery here is well-arranged and well-maintained.
After lunch, the Belarusian part of the group gathered again at the next location of the route. Previously, we planned to stay in the former town of Izabielin itself. But due to the lack of tourist infrastructure, we accepted the offer of our friends and partners to spend the night and hold online meetings in the cozy “Zyalyony Dub” farmstead in Padarosk located across the street from the former manor estate of the Bokhvits family. Our partners are engaged in the renovation of this building and park, as well as several other objects – see and read about it in the Izabielin location notes and in the Events and Meetings section.
“Zyalyony Dub” farmstead has everything for the rest, even a bathhouse, where a part of our team was “exiled”, to which they didn’t mind at all, and there are many beds on the second floor. The bathhouse itself has never been used, as it was very hot – almost forty degrees in the sun!
Our Polish colleagues also had a busy day. After the joint morning Zoom, during which they were in Tykocin, the whole group headed to Krynki where they visited synagogues and learned about the history of the Jewish community.
They also visited the old Jewish cemetery right there in Krynki.
The day was also rich in meetings with informants. After all, our expedition resembles a tourist trip only from the outside. We talked a lot with the locals and discussed what we saw and heard among ourselves. Look for one of the most interesting conversations with a lady from Krynki in the video notes of the Expedition Archive.
In the evening, we held a Zoom workshop on Yiddish songs and dances. The event took place in the Kaukaska synagogue. The singing part was conducted by our Polish expert Joanna Czaban, and dance part, the project participant Ewa Karasińska.
But for us in Padarosk it was a little more difficult. A thunderstorm was approaching and, despite the short distance from the cell tower and our special devices, the Internet was not very stable.
By the end of the day, we were too tired to continue, but our Polish friends had a Yiddish party that ended around midnight…
We will end this day with atmospheric photos of the Polish part of our group.
