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.