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

Totally in love with Warsaw!

Warsaw is BEAUTIFUL! We were on the road about 10 hours today and saw some very interesting places: quaint little villages, cities, countryside, and towns that never recovered from World War II. I try to imagine what Poland must have been like during those 12 years of Nazi rule. There is definitely a presence of that history here. In Germany, which I'll get to next, life has greatly moved on; yet, they take responsibility for their actions 60 years ago and raise their children to prevent any such repeat.

Poland has a really unique old-world charm. In the old city, cars can't drive into the square, making it feel really open. Our hotel is absolutely beautiful and is next door to the president's palace (ie, White House). The evening air is cool and people are outside eating everywhere. I love it!

Berlin was also nice. It has a much more modern feel, but was still a good "walking city" with lots to do, and of course, plenty of history. Yesterday, we visited Bergen-Belsen, the concentration camp Anne Frank lost her life in. She doesn't have a grave of her own- only a memorial- as the victims of this camp are buried in mass graves with thousands of others.

I am excited about being in Poland. This is the last leg of our trip (albeit the longest)- i can't believe it's going so quickly.

Tomorrow, we tour Warsaw, including a Jewish cemetery, the Warsaw ghetto (and the location of the uprising), and others.

The pictures you see are from my very nice evening walk: first, the president's home, still with flowers after his death. then, old town Warsaw, lit up. The third picture is our hotel.





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Location:Krakowskie Przedmieście,Warsaw,Poland

Schlump-flavored ice cream!

Hello again, on Monday. It is almost 10 here, getting close to 3 pm where most of you are (if anyone is actually reading this, that is).

We got to Berlin yesterday. Most of us didn't even sleep before the trip since we had to be ready to leave at 1 AM. We were all a little zombie-like by the time we boarded at 5. We did make it to Berlin, and so did all of our luggage. One of our girls found that her bag was totally destroyed though, and the airline had to replace it.

Berlin is so beautiful! It's a really interesting contrast between modern, 70s, and then 18th and 19th century architecture. There is so much history! The people here are very liberal though. We struck out to find lunch yesterday, and ended up in a cute little cafe' that didn't look too expensive. When our server arrived, she/he was.. well, just that. She was a great server, and was kind enough to translate the German menu for us.

For supper, we went into old Berlin, close to one of the watch towers for the Berlin Wall and across from Humboldt University. We ate outside and there was a nice breeze. The food here has been pretty good, heavy, but they haven't tried to feed me any sauerkraut, thankfully. After dinner, we walked around the corner to the place where the students burned the books. A very poignant monument stands there- an underground memorial with a window looking down into rows and rows of empty shelves.
A short walk later, we arrived at a church where a priest had stood in front of the building, trying to spread the message that what the Nazis were doing was wrong. They beat him and threatened his life to not do it again, but he did- and was sent to Dachau and was murdered. I think that says a lot for the notion that NO one was doing anything, and all Germans were Nazis.

Today, we got up early and drove outside of town a bit. Our first stop was the Grunewald Train Station, platform 17, where German Jews were deported to the camps. The memorial commemorates this by listing the numbers that were deported, along with the date, around the now-retired tracks. We then headed to the Wannsee Villa, where the "final solution" was decided upon. There is, in general, a lot of gray area about the Nazi's plan to murder every Jew. While it may not have been the original plan (although it was probably Hitler's plan all along), it was definitively decided at Wannsee. After the villa, we went to the Topography of Terror, which holds two exhibits on the Nazis and the horror they inflicted. Interestingly, the museum is on the location of the SS headquarters (which had been underground). Finally, we drove to the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe. There were some teenage kids jumping on and off the memorial (a big area full of wide columns). Being the teacher I am, I of course had to get off the bus to go tell them this was a place of remembrance for the 6 million Jews who died. They laughed, but stopped. I even got a round of applause when I got back on the bus! :) Ironically, the memorial is around the corner from the place where Hitler's bunker had been, which is now purposefully pretty obscure and only a relatively small sign is there. We were told they put grass there in hopes that dogs would do their business on it..?

Anyway, we are off to our first camp tomorrow, Bergen- Belsen, where Anne Frank was murdered.

Oh, and about the schlump.. we've eaten quite a lot of gelato on this trip, and went out for it tonight, again. When we got there, we saw a blue flavor called schlump..? We asked, and found out it was bubblegum flavor. Weird.

Anyway, have a good week, and check in soon. I'm sure tomorrow will be a very interesting experience.

I can see Jordan across the sea..

Last day in Israel- and we went out with a bang. We got up early and drove to Masada. I was very unfamiliar with what took place there, so in case you are, here's the story. 2000 years or so ago, King Herod decided he needed an additional palace (he already had 4), and wanted to build it somewhere isolated. So, he had someone build for him an ornate palace in the middle of the desert on a plateau. After he died, the palace was abandoned for 70 years until a group of Jewish settlers moved in, trying to escape Roman slavery.. This is the premise of the "Masada". While the people were living there, they were discovered by the Romans who then went to build a ramp up to the top. When the Jewish people saw was happening, they made a decision that they preferred to die than live as slaves. Thus, the men killed their entire families and themselves. When the Romans arrived, they were dead.
The ruins of the palace are really interesting. Herod had 2 palaces, in fact. He also had 2 bathhouses. They were well-decorated with frescos and mosaics. He also had a sauna, which i can't imagine, because it was Extremely hot.

We then went to the Dead Sea, where I learned for myself that you do, in fact, float without any effort. Actually, it's difficult NOT to float. Definitely a neat experience.

It's been a neat aspect of the trip experiencing some of the events and places significant in Jewish history as we work our way through the Holocaust. Tomorrow- leaving at 1 am actually- headed to Berlin!

That's not Kosher...

Today was day 3 in Israel. My last update was before anything happened in Israel, except for the missing baggage (which most of us have now received), so let me back up.

Thursday- all day at Yad Vashem. YV is more like a "campus" that a museum. There is a school, a research center, an art museum, and a history museum, among other things. It was quite an incredible experience. We heard 3 of the world's most prominent scholars on the Holocaust speak. One of the items of biggest emphasis in this program, and in current Holocaust pedagogical studies, is giving "faces" to the victims of the Holocaust- seeing them as individuals, and not just 6 million as a number.

One thing that was particulaly meaningful to me was the Children's Memorial at YV. It was a large stone building (all buildings in Jerusalem have to be made of Jerusalem stone, by law), and when you went in, the first thing you saw was a face etched into the stone. The face was the young son of the family that subsidized the memorial. Inside, the room is dark, and full of mirrors and prisms. The only light source was a single candle in the middle, but with all the reflections, it was made to look like hundreds of candles. They were also saying names of children who had died in the Holocaust, along with their homes and ages. It was quite haunting.

After returning to the hotel, we had an opportunity to discuss Holocaust education with Israeli teachers. They are required by law to teach so many hours of the subject every year. Because of the sensitive political/religious situation in Israel, the teaching of the Holocaust can be somewhat tedious as well. Then we went to a street famous for little shops and ate gelato.

On the lighter side, I've met some really interesting people on this trip. I've made some good friends, already, and we spend a lot of time together, laughing a lot (when appropriate of course). Yesterday, we ate in the YV cafeteria, which is divided into 2 very distinct sides. They have separate counters and lines- one for meat, and one for dairy. I actually didn't know this rule, but you couldn't even SIT with people eating meat if you were eating dairy. So.. THAT'S not kosher..

Today was a very long, but great day. We spent the morning back at YV and heard from the Director of the Righteous Among the Nations. If you are unfamiliar with the RatN, this is a tremendous honor for those who gave aid to Jews and others persecuted in the Holocaust. She shared some great information with us, also along the lines of giving identity to the victims. One thing we've been reminded of was how the Nazis didn't only want to kill Jews- they wanted to totally dehumanize them. Seeing pictures of them before the war- playing music, playing soccer, having family times- makes the situation so much more personal.

After lunch, we went to the Old City of Jerusalem. We stopped in the Church of All Nations, where the supposed rock that Jesus knelt on at the garden is held. We passed around the Garden of Gethsemane, but you can't go in. I had the amazing opportunity to pray around the gate of the garden and at the same rock where He knelt before being arrested. I am thankful, and kept asking myself- what if He hadn't?

We then went to David's tomb, which was closed because of the Sabbath closing in. We saw the room where the Last Supper was supposedly held, but a large room has been built there since, and didn't feel terribly accurate.

We then made our way down to the inside walls of the Old City. A highlight there was the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. While the crucifixion site was being used for an Armenian ceremony, we still saw the stone where Jesus' body was laid, the inside of the tomb through glass, and the beautiful church itself. We also visited the Western (wailing) Wall. One interesting site was seeing all the Jewish people walking backwards away from the wall, because it is a holy site and they can't turn their backs on holy sites.

Tomorrow we are headed to Masada and the Dead Sea. I have a cut on my foot-- please pray it will be ok to go into the Dead Sea tomorrow as I have been so looking forward to that!

I am closing with a quote from the most lovely Shulamit Imber, the Pedagogical Director, and a fabulous Holocaust Historian. She shared this as a testimony from one of the survivors:
"I think it saves me.. being able to smile."

Happy weekend!

Marching to Zion.. Beautiful, beautiful Zion..

..But we will get back to that later.

Our first days were spent in DC. We toured the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM). We got a pretty neat "insider's view" into the museum, and got to speak with a curator, a few directors, and other staff members on how they pick what goes onto display, etc.
On Tuesday, we had morning discussion, then headed to Frankfurt at 5:45. We got there at about 7 local time.. Which was 1 our time. The service on Lufthansa was great.. But the seats were unimaginably small and impossible to sleep in. After arrival there, we boarded another flight to Tel Aviv. 10 minutes before arrival, we were informed that not a single piece of any passenger's luggage had made it on the plane. How does that happen?! Due to my travel-savvy upbringing thanks to my father, I had packed a change of clothes in my carry-on, but many had not- so our first stop in Israel in the mall. Ever been to a mall with security and metal detectors?? We also all got frisked before even being allowed to board the plane to Israel. Anyway, hopefully the bags will make it tomorrow.
We did make it to our hotel in Jerusalem, which is, in fact, on Mount Zion. It has a great view (photo attached). Jerusalem is a beautiful city, and I'm excited about spending a few days here.
Tomorrow, we head to the Israeli Holocaust museum, Yad Vashem, and speaking with their scholars.
Please continue to remember us in your prayers as we wait for bags and travel.
Until next time..


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Location:חטיבת ירושלים,Jerusalem,Israel

ETA: One week

This is blog #1 for what I expect to be an experience of a lifetime. I am one of 26 teachers in the U.S. chosen to participate in the Holocaust Teacher's program.

The trip will begin on July 4 in Washington, D.C. I'll have a cool opportunity to see the "Capitol Fourth" in DC, including an orchestral concert with special guests, and fireworks.

The program itself begins July 5. We will all then meet and have some orientation meetings. The next day, we board an Airbus for Jerusalem, via Frankfurt and Tel Aviv. I am SO excited about visiting the Holy Land. What an experience to walk in the footsteps of my Savior! We will also be meeting with world-renowned scholars (as throughout the trip) at Yad Vashem, Israel's memorial to the murdered Jews of the Holocaust. We will also see the grave of Oskar Schindler (from Schinder's List), who is the only member of the Nazi party to be recognized as Righteous by the Jews. Our last day in Israel, we will go to Masada, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, and take a dip in the Red Sea.

We then head to Germany, to visit, as Indiana Jones put it, the Lion's Den of WWII. We will visit the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin, as well as the Gestapo Headquarters.

Our third, and longest, destination is Poland. There we will visit several Concentration/Death camps, such as Treblinka, Dachau, and Auschwitz.

The program was begun by the amazing Vladka Meed, a survivor of the Holocaust. Mrs. Meed, a Jew, was imprisoned in the Warsaw Jewish Ghetto. She later escaped the ghetto and had some freedom outside of it, as she was Aryan in appearance. She then participated in smuggling weapons, food, and money to Jews, and helping them escape and survive. Her entire family was deported to Treblinka when she was a teenager. After three decades, Vladka returned to Poland- where she found only a few memorials to her people- as if they had been forgotten. She committed to never allow these horrors to be forgotten, and began the Teachers' program.

It is my plan to update you as I go through this experience. I hope you will join me in spirit as we remember those who lost their lives (Jews, blacks, homosexuals, Bohemians, disabled people, soldiers) and purpose to never let it happen it again.