After being up for 48 hours
straight, a 9 hour plane trip and bus ride later, we finally arrived in Poland.
Going into this trip I was not sure what to expect, I got an idea after
speaking to fellow students and hearing lectures from out Professor. But I feel
that in a way this trip is going to affect everyone in a unique way. We will
feel the emotion, we will learn, and we will grow as one. On an individual
level, we are all hear for different reasons, even if we do not realize it yet.
For me this course and this trip was a way to learn more, to expand my
knowledge of a tragedy in the timeline of humanity. Now that I am here, I
realize that what I experience and what I am learning means so much more than I
originally thought, and I have come to realize that am going to grow and learn
more than I ever could have imagined.
Our journey began the day that
we stepped off the plane, after dropping off our belongings at the center, we
set off on a tour of the town. Perhaps the most poignant part of this day was
the Jewish cemetery, the last standing Jewish cemetery in the town of Oswiecim.
This resting place was destroyed during the German occupation, and today it has
been reconstructed and maintained by a group of volunteers. It is unlikely that
any of the stones are in the correct place, and several are cracked, faded, or
worse. As we walk through the cemetery, I am feeling at peace, there is a sense
of sorrow, but also I am content that after such a hard history, these people
may finally be at peace. Small rocks and pebbles are piled on some of the
headstones, a Jewish tradition to mark a visitor to a particular grave. After this we viewed the parish cemetery a few
block away, and the difference was instantly striking. Here the headstones are
polished and well maintained, prayer candles and flowers mark nearly every
grave. There is even a dumpster outside of the cemetery, littered with old and
dying flowers, as new tributes are placed on the respective headstones. Why are
these two final resting places so different? Because unlike the Jewish cemetery,
the parish one does not operate on volunteers. The family of the deceased come
on a regular basis to care for the graves, for the Jewish cemetery this does
not happen, because the remnants of surviving relatives is a rare occurrence.
It's like a different world
here. The war ended decades ago, and yet it is as if it were a recent occurrence.
As I look across the street from the center, Auschwitz is looking back at me,
the dark shadow of a terrible past rising up across the Polish landscape. It is
almost painful to look. Each passing glance is a reminder of the horrors that
occurred. But I must force myself to glance, to look, to observe. For not many
have the chance to see what I am seeing. And even if it is painful and the
thought of what happened here brings a lump to my throat rendering me
speechless, I must look at this place. Walk through it. Allow myself to learn
as much as possible, because by taking this journey. I have become a witness; I
have become a voice. A voice that will have the chance to speak, to tell my
story in a way that those whose innocent lives were stolen never got the chance
to. This is perhaps one of the most important moments in my life, and while my
heart grows heavy with the more I learn about this tragic event. God has placed
me here for a reason. To be a witness. And while I feel that I could never do
justice to those millions who were lost. He has put me here, and I will do my
best. I will be counting the steps that I take as this trip progresses. There
is no doubt that At the end of each day we will be exhausted, both physically
and emotionally. But that is what makes these steps so important. Because every
move matters, each step brings us closer to becoming a witness, and to being
able to explain what this means to others. And at the end of all this, isn't
that what matters?
Day 1 Step Count: 7,289
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| Monument (top) and headstones (bottom) in Jewish Cemetery, Oswiecim, Poland |
By Anastasia Giannakakos
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