People enter a JCC of Krakow building to help
coordinate aid for refugees.

Volunteers help the JCC of Krakow organize supplies for refugees from the war in Ukraine.

Philadelphia-area rabbis Gregory Marx, David Levin
and Jon Cutler helped unload bags containing
crucial materials for refugees.

Within two weeks, they were flying over the
Atlantic Ocean, according to Marx.

Upon arrival, the men expected to see a city in
disarray. “People living on streets or in tents,” Marx said.

But Krakow wasn’t like that. Instead, despite the
massive influx of people, it was orderly.

Ukrainian refugees were living with city residents
or in quarters put up by nongovernmental organiza-
tions. They were using convention centers and shop-
ping malls, among other locations.

“The people of Krakow are remarkably industrious
and inventive in helping the refugees,” Marx said.

“Most of the people will be taken into Polish homes
until they’re able to get back on their feet.”
That part, though, may take a while.

While the scene in Krakow was more orderly
than expected, the refugees’ lives were not. As Marx
put it, in many cases, they come across the border
with nothing but a trash bag of clothing and fear in
their eyes.

Their houses have been destroyed and their fam-
ilies separated. In many cases, women and children
are crossing to Poland while men are staying back,
either to fight or to protect their homes.

The rabbis were trying to offer assistance to “people
who otherwise have nothing,” Marx said.

One woman told Levin she’s teaching her child
never to speak Russian again.

“She said, ‘I don’t hate Putin. I hate the Russians,’”
Levin recalled. “’It’s the Russians who are tying peo-
ple up and shooting civilians.’”
Another woman told Marx about the harsh nature
that they were not alone, according to Levin.

“People are deeply grateful that we are here,” he
said. “That people are here on this side to welcome
them, to treat them with kindness.”
Ornstein was grateful for the assistance.

His JCC is not a humanitarian organization, he
explained. But it needs to become one during the war.

It would not be possible without the financial sup-
port from the Jewish community, he added. Ornstein
is seeing that “the Jewish world stands with us.”
“When we were persecuted, the world stood mostly
silent,” Ornstein said. “We cannot be silent when oth-
ers are being harmed.”
On the night of April 12, the rabbis and other
volunteers held a Passover seder. Its attendees were
Polish, Jewish and Christian. Marx said they were all
celebrating “the festival of freedom.”
“To share the story of what does freedom mean?”
Levin added. “The values of Passover are playing out
in the world as we speak.”
On April 14, the rabbis departed from Krakow,
flew back over the Atlantic and arrived home a day
before Passover started. They said they had to get
back for the important holiday. But they returned
home with a message.

“We did not go to Ukraine, but we saw the results
of that violence,” Marx said.

“It’s very hard to look into the eyes of someone who
left home and who with her child has left her husband
behind to defend his country,” Levin added.

“You cannot turn away,” Marx concluded. JE
Photos courtesy of Rabbi Gregory Marx
18 APRIL 21, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
of her journey. Marx asked if she considered herself a
refugee. She said no.

“I lost my home, but I’m going to find a new home,”
she continued, according to Marx.

“She’s going to stay here in Poland,” he added. “I
don’t think she’s going to go back.”
The rabbis spent much of their time in Krakow
doing behind-the-scenes work, as a language barrier
prevented them from talking directly with many of
the refugees. On April 13, for example, they took 60
suitcases, opened them and made piles of medicine,
toiletries and blankets, among other items.

But though most of their work was practical, as the
rabbis prepared to fly home on April 14, they still felt
like they bore witness.

JCC of Krakow Executive Director Jonathan
Ornstein, who is originally from New York, told the
rabbis at one point that, “What the people of Poland
are doing today for the Ukrainians is what they did
not do for the Jewish community in World War II.”
And that’s the message that the local Jewish leaders
will bring home, they said. Levin was impressed that
the JCC was aiding both Jews and non-Jews. Ornstein
estimated that 90% of the people his organization is
helping are not Jewish.

Marx promised that he would speak about his
experience during High Holiday services this fall.

What he saw and what he did, as well as the “atroci-
ties committed by the Russians,” as he put it.

“The sin of World War II was the sin of silence,”
Marx said. “We have to be here to be accurate
reporters.” Despite their situation, the refugees recognized
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