After you have paid for your retreat, you will receive an email with a registration form. Please fill out that form and email it back to ginni@zenpeacemakers.com.
Bernie Glassman began the annual Bearing Witness Retreats in 1996, with help from Eve Marko and Andrzej Krajewski. They have taken place annually every year since then.
Much has been written about these annual retreats; at least half a dozen films have been made about them in various languages. They are multi-faith and multinational in character, with a strong focus on the Zen Peacemakers’ Three Tenets: Not-Knowing, Bearing Witness, and Loving Action.
Most of each day is spent sitting by the train tracks at Birkenau, both in silence and in chanting the names of the dead. There is time to walk through the vast camps, do vigils inside women’s and children’s barracks, and memorial services. Participants meet daily in small Council groups designed to create a safe place for people to share their inner experiences. The whole group meets in the evenings to bear witness to oneness in diversity.
Although Auschwitz, the Place, is the main Teacher for this retreat, experienced Spirit Holders meet, with Bernie Glassman, each day to reflect on the retreat flow, schedule, events and make appropriate modifications if necessary.
We extend a special invitation to the 2012 Auschwitz Retreat for Young Adults, ages 18-28 at a reduced fee of $1000.
Young participants in the past have said that this retreat was crucial and formative, inspiring and guiding them in their decisions about life, work, and practice. Experienced retreat leaders will meet specifically with all Young Adults to provide extra support to them. Many participants raise money for this retreat by writing family members, friends, teachers, sangha members and work associates, requesting financial assistance to attend the Auschwitz Retreat. In return, they create a symbolic way of taking their donors with them to the retreat and undertake to share their stories and experiences with their donors when they return. We have encouraged begging as an important and inspiring practice (see Raising a Mala) for such a spiritual sojourn such as this. In addition, it might be possible for students to acquire university credit for their participation as a travel abroad course. f you want guidance for ways to raise funds for the retreat or to brainstorm ways to approach your university for credit, please contact Ginni Stern by: email or by phone 802-734-6223, USA.
November 5 – 9, 2012
After you have paid for your retreat, you will receive an email with a registration form. Please fill out that form and email it back to ginni@zenpeacemakers.com.
The 5-day retreat will begin on the morning of November 5 and end with a Sabbath dinner on November 9. Participants are asked to gather in Krakow by Sunday evening, November 4. The retreat will begin the following morning by bus to Oświęcim, 90 minutes away. We encourage participants to arrive in Krakow some days before to see the beautiful city and reduce effects of jet-lag.
There are a small number of single rooms. There are also double, triple and dorms (6 people to a dorm.) After you have paid for the retreat, we will be sending you a registration form. To help us with room assignments we are asking you to tell us your gender. If you have a desired roommate, please give us their name in the appropriate box. If you have special needs please list them in the comments box.
The fee includes all buses, food and accommodations at the Dialogue Center in Oświęcim (walking distance to both Auschwitz 1 and Birkenau). Travel to Krakow and your stay in Krakow are not included in the fee.
For more information, please contact Ginni Stern: ginni@zenpeacemakers.com, or by phone: 802-734-6223.
Final Registration in Krakow
Final registration will take place in Krakow, in the Saski Hotel Lobby, Sunday night, November 4. You will receive your registration packets including lodging information, list of names to read at the Auschwitz site, name tags and general information.
We are reserving a block of rooms at a group discount rate for Sunday night at the Saski Hotel. We recommend that you get reservations at this hotel (please click on the “Hotel” Tab below for directions on how to secure a reservation with our group discount.) The hotel cost for this night is not included in the Retreat Fee. You can see other lodging options by clicking on the “Hotel” Tab.
Provide a Scholarship for a Young Adult Participant of this Auschwitz Bearing Witness Retreat.
You can make a donation to send a Young Adult to the retreat. We will provide you with the name and bio of the Young Adult your gift has supported. Your gift of $750 will be matched by a $450 scholarship by the Zen Peacemakers.
If you wish to donate another amount please link here and specify on the donation page what your donation is for.
Refund Policy
If the workshop is canceled by the Zen Peacemakers, registrants will receive full refunds of the paid registration fees. No refunds can be made for lodging, airfare or any other expenses related to attending the workshop.
If a registration is canceled by the participant more than one month (31 days) prior to the retreat start date, all but $100 of the paid fees will be refunded.
If you cancel 15-30 days before the start date of the workshop, you will receive all but $300 of your retreat fee.
Fees are non refundable if a registration is cancelled by the participant within two weeks (14 days) of the start date of the retreat.
All refunds will be processed within 60 days of notification of cancellation.
For more information, please contact Ginni Stern: ginni@zenpeacemakers.com, or by phone: 802-734-6223.
Oskar Schindler Factory
We found it was too much to include a tour of Schindler’s Factory with this tour, so if you have an extra day, we encourage you to spend time there as well. Saturday, November 3, 2012 would be the perfect day for this tour.
If you arrive in Krakow on Friday, November 2, 2012, some of us will attend the Krakow Jewish Community Center for a reformed Shabbat Celebration with Rabbi Tanya Segal, the 1st woman rabbi in Poland http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2008-02-14-poland-female-rabbi_N.htm It is very interesting to witness and participate in this emerging Jewish Community in Krakow.
Many, many books have been published concerning the Holocaust. Those listed below are particularly recommended because they are very powerful personal accounts of bearing witness and/or raise complex moral and spiritual issues.
Suggested readings
For first time attendees to the Auschwitz Bearing Witness Retreat, we highly recommend that you read at least one of the following books before the retreat.
Ka-Tzetnik 135633. Shivitti: A Vision. Gateways/IDHHB (Canada: 1998). (A must read – Bernie Glassman)
Levi, Primo. Survival in Auschwitz. Simon & Schuster (New York: 1996).
Wiesel, Elie. Night. Bantam Books (New York: 1982).
Historical readings
Amery, Jean. At the Mind’s Limits: Contemplations by a Survivor on Auschwitz and its Realities. Schocken (New York: 1986).
Borowski, Tadeusz. This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen. Penguin Books (New York: 1976)
Delbo, Charlotte. Auschwitz and After (includes None of Us Will Return, Useless Knowledge, and The Measure of Our Days). Yale University Press (New Haven: 1995).
Eliach, Yaffa. Hassidic Tales of the Holocaust. Vintage Books (New York: 1988)
Epstein, Helen. Children of the Holocaust: Conversations with Sons and Daughters of Survivors. Penguin Books (New York: 1979).
Hillesum, Etty. An Interrupted Life: The Diaries of Etty Hillesum 1941- 1943. Washington Square Press (New York: 1983).
Hoess, Rudolf, Commandant of Auschwitz. Phoenix Press.
Ka-Tzetnik 135633. Shivitti: A Vision. Gateways/IDHHB (Canada: 1998). (A must read – Bernie Glassman)
Ka-Tzetnik 135633. Kaddish. Algemeiner Associates (New York: 1998)
Langer, Lawrence L. Admitting the Holocaust. Oxford Univ. Press (New York: 1995).
Langer, Lawrence L. Holocaust Testimonies: The Ruins of Memory. Yale Univ. Press (New Haven: 1991).
Lanzmann, Claude. Shoah: An Oral History of the Holocaust. Pantheon (New York: 1985).
Levi, Primo. The Drowned and the Saved. Vintage International (New York, 1989)
Levi, Primo. Survival in Auschwitz. Simon & Schuster (New York: 1996).
Steiner, Jean-Francois. Treblinka. The New American Library (New York 1967).
Szpilman, Wladyslaw, The Pianist: the extraordinary story of one man’s Survival in Warsaw 1939-1945, Victor Golancz (London, 1999)
Wiesel, Elie. Night. Bantam Books (New York: 1982).
Wiesenthal, Simon. The Sunflower. Schocken Books (New York: 1997).
Fictional Novels
The Book Thief (2005) by Markus Zusak Knopf (A war story from a child’s perspective – her foster family hides a Jew in their basement)
Wilkomirski, Binjamin. Fragments. Schocken Books (New York: ’1997).
The History of Love (2005) by Nicole Krass Norton Publishers (story of a Polish Holocaust survivor living in NYC and his friendship with a 14 yo girl.)
Schlink, Bernhard. The Reader. Vintage Books (New York: 1998).
Stones From the River (1994) by Ursula Hegi Simon & Schuster (In a small German town a father and daughter hide Jews)
Hotel prices below are subject to change! Please, check before reserving.
SASKI
Most of us will stay at the Saski Hotel which is 1/2 block from Krakow’s wonderful Grand Square – Rynek Glowny. This is a bustling market square with lots of cafes, restaurants, museums, 14th Century Gothic churches, gift shops and fabulous people watching. All the other Krakow lodgings listed are within walking distance of the Saski.
We are reserving a block of rooms at a group discount rate for Sunday night at the Saski Hotel. We recommend that you get reservations at this hotel. The hotel cost for this night is not included in the Retreat Fee.
The only way to make a reservation at the Saski Hotel and receive the Peacemaker discount is to email Dorota Gieldon info@hotelsaski.com.pl Please give your name, the dates you will be at the Saski and say you are with the Peacemakers. You do not have to give your credit card info until you get there.
*** It is NOT possible to receive the Peacemaker Discount if you reserve your room through the Saski web site!
info@hotelsaski.com.pl www.hotelsaski.com.pl Double room with bathroom: 410 PLN/ 100 Euro, $130 at Nov 9, 2011 exchange rate incl. breakfast – group reduction will be 20 %
POLSKI (Similiar to SASKI, also a good choice.) hotel.polski@podorlem.com.pl www.podorlem.com.pl fax (48) 12 429 18 10 Single: 335 PLN Double: 475 PLN 3 person: 550 PLN incl. breakfast – group reduction: 15-30%
ASTORIA In Kazimierz, the old Jewish quarter. biuro@astoriahotel.pl www.astoriahotel.pl fax (12) 432 50 20 Single: 147 PLN Double room: 196 PLN breakfast: group reduction up to 10%
HOTEL KAZIMIERZ In Kazimierz Miodowa 16 (12) 421 66 29 (12) 421 02 30 phone/fax: +48 (012) 421-66-29, 422-28-84 hot.kazimierz@interia.pl hotel@hk.com.pl www.hk.com.pl
WAWEL-TOURIST hotel@wawel-tourist.com.pl www.wawel-tourist.com.pl fax (48) 12 42 41 333 Single w/bth 260 PLN Double w/bth 380 PLN breakfast, reduction 10%
ROYAL Sw. Gertrudy St. Tel. +48 012 618 40 00 hotel@royal.com.pl www.royal.com.pl Single: 210 PLN Double: 295 PLN included breakfast
GLOBTROTER HOTEL Librowszczyzna 1 31-030 Kraków, Krakow, globtroter@cracow-life.com www.hostelworld.com/availability.php/HostelNumber.1796?PHPSESSID=n1le7012qsp3o8k482um56s3qj3ff5qc We have:
Total sleeping places 30 to 40. We always give discounts for groups staying two or more nights. We also have a conference/meeting room for up to 30 people.
Best Regards Jack. To view the price list: www.cracow-life.com/globtroter.
DOM TURYSTY Ul. Krowoderska 5 31-141 Krakow, Krakow, Poland www.hostelworld.com/availability.php/HostelNumber.6444?PHPSESSID=n1le7012qsp3o8k482um56s3qj3ff5qc
U Zeweckiego www.zewecki.com
Inexpensive Lodgings:
Seminarium Duchowne Salezjanow (12) 267 67 66 (12) 266 36 11 12-18 zl for night
Klasztor Salwatorianow (12) 269-12-31 with breakfast 62 zl
Seminarium Zmartwychwstancow ul, ks. Pawlikowskiego 1 (12) 266 69 65
Trzy Kafki Al. Slowackiego 29 (12) 632 94 18 cell: 0 605 293 504 trzykafki@trzykafki.pl www.trzykafki.pl 1-2-3 person rooms