Our Obligations as Witnesses

Walking along the fences that they walked along, feeling that similar feeling of being contained, nothing can compare to it. Visiting the grounds of Auschwitz was an experience that I will hold with me for as long as I live. Nothing can prepare you for how thick the air feels or how it feels almost wrong with each step you take.

            My decision to travel to Poland with this class was not a quick or easy one. I have Jewish heritage and know that none of my family members were enslaved at these camps. Still the thought of all the Jewish blood spilled and the fate my family members narrowly missed was jarring. I made the choice to join this excursion and face in person the atrocities that played out in Auschwitz.  

            Entering the grounds under the infamous gate was like entering into another world. Stepping through and feeling a rush of calm understanding rush over me. A respect demands to be felt when you walk the pathways. Recalling everything that we had learned in class and finally being in the place where it all transpired, a sort of spell falls over you. Everything you see, you see through different eyes. Every innocent looking structure was the home of murder, torture, and suffering. These people had gone through so much in this camp and now we walk the same dirt roads as they did, learning about what we are obligated to do as witnesses.

            Each building we were able to enter showed us yet another aspect of life in the camps that we could not hope to fully understand. We were shown building with beds lining the room where people were forced to sleep not knowing if they would survive the next day. Beds where siblings, parents, and children were separated and never knew if their family was alive or dead, no comfort came in the night in those rooms.

            Our job is to bear witness to what happened years ago to so many people from many different groups and never allow it to occur again. We, the groups who have gone on this adventure together, have become witnesses to the Shoah. We have heard and seen the direct effect as well as the ripple effect of what happened in those camps and across the world. We now hold in our minds and our hearts, something that needs to be protected. We must protect what we have learned and protect the honor of the victims we lost. 

By: Cassie Sampogna