A Bittersweet Ending- Final Thoughts

Today I was e-mailed an article about a group of Muslims that visited Auschwitz to "prove they are not Anti-Semitic". One of them, an American professor in Connecticut, said he had once been a Holocaust denier, but was no longer. While I agree, no one could possibly deny the chilling feeling that "being there" brings on- how could you possibly deny such an event? How could anyone create something so horrible? We can see pictures, we can see numbers tattooed on survivors' arms, we can hear testimony- or silence from those who cannot be heard. What an arrogance to believe that our race is incapable of such actions. It is with those types of people we could expect to see history repeat itself.

One of the places we visited was Majdanek, a concentration camp near Lublin, Poland (this may have been the one featured in the movie "The Devil's Arithmetic"- if you've never seen it, rent it- it's not terribly graphic, but a really good portrait of a teenager's perspective). For whatever reason, that camp was sent most of the victims' shoes and clothing to be sorted by prisoners. Today, the camp's barracks are each and exhibit of a museum. The barrack housing the shoes- (pictured above) over ten thousand of them- burned down Tuesday. Last I read, they weren't sure if any of them were left, but what a tragedy. If you've been to the USHMM, you saw the shoes. Those shoes were from Majdanek. My heart breaks a little for the shoes, even though no one needs them now.

I am incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in this program. It is such an honor to carry the legacy of Vladka Meed, other survivors, and even the memory of those lost.

And yes, being there was a tremendous experience. I'm not sure you will ever find anywhere so eerily quiet- it's almost as if the sadness- or horror- lingers, long after the last victim was gone. They may be gone, but we must- we will never forget.

Learning to understand that sometimes, you just can't understand..

It is our last session. One of the topics of discussion was morality and making sense of the events that happened.

The truth is, the events of the Holocaust cannot be rationalized because they were not rational decisions made by rational people.

One of the most common questions asked about the Holocaust is, "how could God let this happen?" I guess that really is the best answer- we just can't try to understand. It's really just not possible. We can know the facts, but the more you study, the more questions arise.

I hope this makes as much sense as it can in such a complex situation.

I will still blog at least once more as a conclusion and overview.


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Bystanders

I think I will probably post again, but I just had a couple of things to write about today.

We made it back to the states yesterday- thank goodness! It was a long flight, but good company helped.

Today, we heard Holocaust survivor Henry Greenbaum speak to us about his experiences. He was in the ghetto for a few years, then Auschwitz for 3 months. He was then moved to Buna, a labor camp with slightly better conditions. He was transported in the death march until liberation, and then moved to the US. Most of his family was killed, including 5 of his 8 siblings.

We also got another self-tour of the museum. I've been through the museum several times and I've seen everything already, but today was a completely different experience. I really connected with many of the places- I had been there and recognized those places! I also felt much more of a personal connection to the faces in the pictures- like I had shared something with them!

One thing that stood out was a display labeled "bystanders". It pointed out that most people that lived there were neither Jews nor Germans- they were bystanders. The Germans COUNTED on the fact that few, if any, non-Jews would resist. The question of why didn't more people do anything is common- but the Germans used that to their advantage.

So, a challenge: will persecutors count on you to be a bystander? Will you do the right thing or just go with the flow?


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Location:9th St SW,Washington,United States

The Last Day in Poland

Well, here we are, the last day in Europe and in Poland.

I remember when I was first seleted for the trip it seemed like years away, and now, it is almost behind me. On the other hand, it feels like we've been gone for years.

The last few days have been mostly traveling and making our way back to Warsaw for our flight home. We were in Lodz (pronounced "Woodge", interestingly enough), which is sort of comparable to Detroit- very factory-oriented. They did have quite a large mall I very much enjoyed, and it just happened to be directly behind our hotel. Convenient, eh?

It is striking how few Jews are left in Poland. Of course, we've all read about how the Jewish population in Poland dwindled after the war, but truly, there are just a handful of them in these cities. The population is barely enough to sustain an active synagogue.

We also stopped in a smaller town, the location of the first Jewish ghetto, and the location of a horrible porgram. If you are unfamiliar with the term, it is a mass act of violence on a group of people. Thus, Jews lucky enough to survive the Holocaust came back to their towns, and then many of those were beaten to death. The Poles or new residents felt threatened these Jews might "want their stuff back" (which the new residents had stolen)- their houses, their belongings, their land, etc. How horrible to have survived such a terrible situation and then be put into another one at home!

Today, we visited Treblinka. Before much studying on the Holocaust, I assumed concentration camps were pretty much all the same. However, some of them were, in fact, "death camps" or "extermination camps". As I described in a previous post, victims did not live in these camps- they were sent there to be killed. A handful of Jews were kept only to deal with all the bodies. Again, when the Nazis knew they were in trouble, they hastened to clean up their tracks. They demolished the death camp, and then had it plowed, to make it look like a farm!

Tomorrow, we will have the pleasure of sitting on another plane (please let our luggage get there WITH us..) for 10 hours or so, and then arrive in Washington, D.C. We will have more meetings Sunday and Monday, and I'll be headed home Monday. I'm sure I will blog once or twice more, if nothing else, as a follow-up.

Thanks for reading, all.

Auschwitz-Birkenau

7-19-10

It's cool outside, and the sky is overcast. It's drizzling. A perfect day to visit the place where 1.1 million people were murdered.

Honestly, I'm not sure what I can say to do Auschwitz justice- the horror. You can almost feel the terror lingering in the air.

As far as the appearance of the camp, Auschwitz and Birkenau are very different. B is a good bit bigger, and was much more of an "extermination camp" than Auschwitz. The "Arbeit Macht Frei" sign (work will set you free)is at the main Auschwitz I area. It is dreary, and it's not just the weather that makes it so.

One of the main exhibits is the belongings of the people. They were given the illusion they'd be able to keep them. In fact, they were lied to until their deaths. Before going into the showers (gas chambers), they hung their clothes on hooks and were told to remember the hook number so they could easily locate their positions after the "showers". There were even shower heads in the gas chambers so as not to cause a panic.

The belongings warrant the questions: "what were they planning?" "What would they have doing with their lives?" They had put their names on their suitcases, which are now forever in a display case in the museum. What were these people's hopes and dreams. Most of them were never to be realized. There were also many children's clothes and shoes. The Nazis were against Jews as a race, and didn't care about age.

The killing was systematic and calculating. There were no accidents and few spontaneous events. Prisoners were tattooed with a number, which became their identity instead of a name, and their bodies were identified by the numbers.

If this happened 65 years ago, it could happen again. We are all still humans, and there are good and bad among us.

One sidenote I'm adding after the visit:
Our tour guide, Agnes, was fabulous. She was very knowledgeable and spoke English well.
Our founder, Vladka Meed (I mentioned her earlier in the blog- Holocaust survivor, participant in the Warsaw ghetto uprising and saved many children and adults), was actually featured in the Auschwitz Museum. When we told Agnes our program's history and Vladka's story, she said, "Ah- you are her children!"
What a wonderful thought, and what an honor to be here to carry on her legacy.

Malka and Loss

July 18, 2010

(Side note- I actually wrote this on the date above- Sunday. I handwrote it at the locations you'll read about, and I am just getting around to typing it out for you.)

Malka and Loss

I can't imagine what it's like to not have known my grandparents. While I wish I could've had more time with the four of them, I was blessed with the memories I do have.

It's easy to detach yourself from making a connection to the Jewis in the Holocaust. Most of us aren't Jews, and probably know few to no Jewish people. But that's the key word isn't it: people. The Jews were people. While I have different beliefs about religion, they come from the same 2 people in Eden as I did. I've certainly fgound in my short 26 years that we all have differences and will always have something to disagree about- but doesn't diversity make like more interesting?

There are many misconceptions about WWII and its reasons for starting. Most wars are begin for power, greed, etc. WWII was begun solely for "racial cleansing" and all of Hitler's fighting was done to protect his endeavours. When the Third Reich began to realize they were losing the war, they hastened to murder as many Jews as possible before it was too late. The fact they then sough to destory evidence demonstrates, at least to me, that they must've known what they'd done was wrong. I wonder if they ever looked back and asked, "what have I done?"

Malka was the grandmother one of our directors, Elaine, never knew. She was murdered minutes after giving birth to a baby girl, later named Sarah, who was likely also murdered right after her birth. Elaine's aunts and uncle were also murdered in Belzec. She now carries a legacy, and in doing this program, hopes the 6 million will never be forgotten.

(As I was writing this, I was at Belzec in a "reflection room" of sorts. It was a large concrete room, with only a small memorial, the rest empty, dark space. It was cool, dark, and haunting. There was also a strong echo- maybe that the stories of these people would echo through us?)

The camp Belzec (pronounced "Bell-jets") was not created to harbor Jews or have them perform labor. There was no selection. Put simply, it was the last stop. Victims went straight from the train to the gas chamber. Only a very few were allowed to hold off the gas chamber- the ones who dumped the remains from the crematorium. Some of the executions were carried out by attaching a hose to a truck's exhaust pipe, leading the carbon monoxide into the chamber and killing those inside. There were only 2 survivors at Belzec.

There really is such a picture of loss in these places. The Jewish cemetery in Warsaw is full of graves, but very few survivors to mourn or care for them. People don't have their grandparents, siblings, even children. One survivor commented after child was ripped from her that "she'd never be mommy again".

Even though you are not with me, I hope you have felt some of the emotions our group has felt today. We are solemn, we are reflective, we are hopeful for "never again". Please never forget that 6 million people with 6 million faces were murdered. They were not just a number.

Tomorrow is Auschwitz.

Tell my story

Hello again,
The last few days have been quite the whirlwind. I was sad to leave Warsaw on Friday- it was so beautiful!
Yesterday, we drove to Lublin, Poland, which was home to a Jewish quarter. Lublin is a smaller, more quaint town than Warsaw, and not nearly as many people who speak english. Also, the concentration camp Majdanek is only 10 minutes from Lublin.

I've learned quite a lot about the reality of concentration camps thus far (and we still have several to go). One thing I always thought was morbidly interesting was the medical experimentation at the camps, but those really weren't widespread at all. The gas chambers were also only at a few camps as well.

The camp was pretty close to what you'd imagine. We have been plagued with a heat wave- in the 90s every day- I can't imagine bring enslaved there, without food to speak of and being so dehumanized. What a will to live these people must have had!

This camp is only about 10 minutes from a large city. It had several large crematoria, and when the wind blew, ashes from the crematoria chimneys could be blow into the town and the homes.
Interestingly, I've noticed that you never hear Jews complaining now about life then. All they wanted was freedom from slavery and persecution, and have since displayed resilience and faith. I think we can learn a lot from from their strength.

Today's title is a really poignant story. While in Warsaw, we visited the only synagogue to survive the war. While there, an elderly lady and daughter walked up and began speaking to our tour guide, who is Polish. It turned out, she was Polish and this had been where she'd attended synagogue. One of our members spoke with her and asked to take her picture, and a picture of her numbers tattooed on her arm. Although she didn't speak much english, she did manage to communicate to him that with the picture, she hoped we would tell their stories..



-damaged buildings in Lublin

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Location:Rynek Wielki,Zamosc,Poland