Poland is a vast Jewish graveyard and nothing more. That image is sometimes reinforced by occasional encounters with anti-Jewish graffiti and other evidence of Polish antipathy toward Jews. In any case, for many educators, Poland serves as little more than a tool to evoke certain patriotic sentiments in Israeli youth. There is little thought of how this will effect the lasting perception of Poland and its people, and even the history of Jews in that country. Critics of the program also charge that many of the Israeli youngsters have insufficient preparation to fully understand what they see and that over emphasis is placed on the destruction of European Jewry and not on its pre-war vitality.
Jewish history is taught within a vacuum, they claim.
If the Education Ministry is afraid that our youth might be deprived of 'values' if they are not sent to Poland as 'delegates', maybe the ministry's officials should start thinking about values such as social solidarity, knowledge of and respect for the law, and so forth Instead of teaching them about death, perhaps we should be teaching our teenagers how to live. Many parents complain about the elitist nature of the enterprise itself. Not all families can afford to cover the cost of the excursion, and in many instances, the children of those that cannot are forced to stay at home. While scholarships are available for needy students, middle-class parents complain that their children are ineligible for such aid and that they should not be expected to cover such costs. However, it is the often boisterous, raucous behavior of Israeli students and even teachers that has attracted more attention than the trips themselves, and raises questions far deeper than the wisdom of sending thousands of Israeli youth to Poland every year.