Remembering Poland

Selection ramp of Auschwitz I

Deciding on attending this trip, I knew the trip was going to be an insightful trip. The moments packing up for the States jogged my memory of all the monuments, plaque and expanding my aboard experience to two countries, both my colleagues and I concluded from our travels that we will never forget what you see, I am know seeking out current events closer in parallel to political and foreign issues today. Some events from the 1940’s could be compared to the presidential election, after spending time viewing the destruction and learning more about Hitler’s ideology could be compared to present candidates of the 2016 election. Poland as taught me, in a place of hatred their can be a revolution having the polish people unite and rebuild what was destroyed. Supporting the fact history can and always repeats itself. Father Manfred, who gave three lectures about his views on the idealism of Nazism, where is god in Auschwitz and different perspectives on the Auschwitz concerning Jews, the Polish and the Germans explained the religious perspective on remembering the Shoah.

Auschwitz I memorial

Father Manfred spoke on numerous questions of ethics, where god was and where the population can move from this ideology. Rudolf Huss was the backbone of Nazism. This was the case when in control of Auschwitz I. He had a family living on the camp in a separate building behind the gas chambers. Before arriving to Auschwitz he wanted to become a minister while his father thought he would be a priest, he was non of these religious leaders. In 1922 he became an anti-Christian from the raising power of Hitler. Huss was fascinated by the ideology of mass killing groups of people, losing the human respect toke action to control Auschwitz knowing Hitler wouldn’t visit any concentration camps.

            In relation to Father Manfred’s lectures we attended an interactive multi-learning experience that allowed us to listen in on different questions on the Holocaust and answers by scholars and religious personal. Three questions that I sought where ethics based questions aligning with lectures. Victim a bystander or perpetrator? I had multiple discussions in class and explanations from a survivor. Raul Hilberg mentions the fact to all personal who helps prisoners escape or hide, Oscar Schindler also become victims from the sacrifices of the war and pain from their actions. What could be done to prevent any more Genocides from Holocaust? In 1948 a treaty was passed by the United Nations supporting the need to end all genocides, this defined what is a genocide so there is a clear definition. According to this treaty, if a county has knowledge of a genocide occurring they most inform the public and send personal to decrease the problem. Lastly, why did Allies act of bombing Auschwitz? Yehuda Bauer replies that there was knowledge of a camp but the allies had no idea of the destruction of Auschwitz it was creating. In 1944 two prisoners escaped and reached the Slovakia border 14 days later, after a week based the witnesses signed a report of their accounts of Auschwitz. So until then any actions of bombing Auschwitz was not in their tactics of dismantling Nazism. From listening to multiple explanations I now have a question, what is ethics?

With the questions answered and relating this genocide to the present time Father Manfred concluded it best, “if you go back to delete the past, what says things will change unless something is done to change it” in parallel Jan Grabowski, a historian also believes we can’t learn from human nature; “If humanity has learned from their mistakes, the world today does not give a positive answer.”

Witnessing the good of Poland and the worse has taught me to adapt to surroundings and have different perspectives in mind, similar to a discussion of different perspectives everyone has because of their identity.

-Elijah Ziobron