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| By: Associated Press |
| Published: August 13, 2006 |
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Limor Benyakov rolled up her sleeves and got down to creating a bright yellow sun, enjoying the calm of a Polish art workshop and being far from rocket attacks on her Israeli hometown.
Limor and 14 other teenagers from Nahariya, near Israel's border with Lebanon, have found a respite in Poland from the war at home. Their 2½-week vacation was sponsored by authorities in Lodz, home to a flourishing Jewish community before World War II.
The children, ages 12 and 16, had spent much of their time cooped up in bunkers since fighting erupted between Hezbollah and Israel on July 12.
They say that even though they worry about loved ones, they are savoring the peace of horseback riding, kayaking, art classes and sightseeing in Poland.
"I feel safer because it's quiet here," said Limor, 15. "There are no rockets."
The idea came from Lodz Mayor Jerzy Kropniwnicki. He felt that, "even in some symbolic way," the city had to help children from Israel and Lebanon, said Jaroslaw Nowak, head of tourism for the city council and a chief organizer.
A group of Lebanese children also is expected in Poland in the coming days, he said.
"This initiative is above all a humanitarian one because you have to help those who are suffering the most -- in this case children," Nowak said. "It's terrible what they've had to experience."
While the kids get a break, thoughts of home are never far away. They scour Israeli Internet sites in the morning and evening for the latest news from home, and some keep in phone contact with their parents.
"I still worry about Israel," said Gil Asraf, a soft-spoken 14-year-old with an easy smile. "There could be another war, a bigger one, because who knows what Iran and Syria will do."
Though they get a break from the fighting, Poland provides reminders of past suffering. The country was once home to a Jewish population of about 3.5 million that was mostly annihilated in Nazi death camps.
As part of their tour of Lodz and other Polish cities, the children paid a visit Thursday to Lodz's Radegast depot, a train station where around 150,000 Jews began their final journey to the Chelmno and Auschwitz death camps.
Still, their concerns mostly seemed to be those of teenagers everywhere -- for instance, Maccabi Haifa's 2-1 loss to Liverpool in Champions League qualifying.
Asked what he thinks of Poland, Shlomi Swisa paused to think.
"It's very beautiful. I like the museums, the Lodz ghetto and the women," spikey-haired Shlomi, 16, said with a grin. "They are very beautiful."
After the local press ran stories on their visit last week, offers from Lodz restaurants, museums and entertainment centers came rolling in, but organizers had to turn many down because the children only eat kosher food, Nowak said.
The children's flights were sponsored by LOT Polish airlines and Polish President Lech Kaczynski, while the Jewish community in Lodz picked up the tab for lodging, Nowak said.
Back in the art room, the smiles on the children's faces testified to the trip's success.
For a time, at least, the rockets are far away. |
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