Meaning in Mourning

Monument at Auschwitz II-Birkenau, placed between the ruins of two gas chambers.

Though our time in Auschwitz II-Birkenau was brief, it was impactful. Walking the grounds, it was hard to image the horror that happened there. Every place on the grounds could have been the place where a victim took their last breath. Every part of the grounds was holy. Every part was a place for a victim to be mourned. But, how could these victims be properly mourned? How can the world memorialize every victim of the Holocaust? As more and more survivors die off, so do the stories of these victims. The mind of a survivor might have held a victim’s last words, their favorite color, the names of their children, how they wished they could have spent their life. As memories fade, these victim’s stories disappear like a trail of smoke into the open sky. So what do we do? We get as many stories as we can printed into books and hung up in museums. We desperately try to grasp at the lives lost to try and to demonstrate that they will not be forgotten.

Picture of a rose placed on the train tracks in Auschwitz II-Birkenau

The camps remind the world of the lives lost. They are a symbol that says “please, do not let this happen again.” So the camps are open to the public. Schools send their students there. Parents plan trips to take their kids there. Churches send their congregations there. Synagogues send the Jewish youth there. People from all walks of life tour the grounds. Roses can be found all over Auschwitz II-Birkenau. Their beauty juxtaposes the bleakness of the camps. Roses were placed in the bunks, on the pond, on the train tracks, and on the ruins of the gas chambers. The roses are a little piece people leave behind to say that we will remember forever.

A rose placed on the ruins of a gas chamber

Rocks are part of a Jewish tradition. They are placed on the graves of family lost. In Auschwitz II-Birkenau, they were placed on the monument between two gas chambers, the ruins of the gas chambers, graves put up post-Holocaust, and even on the railroad cars where so many succumbed to exhaustion and starvation. The rocks are important because it means that people do not have to be rich enough to afford flowers to mourn their dead. Any person can take part in this tradition and, many times, our class felt the pull to partake and put rocks on these places of memorial to demonstrate that we, too, will remember.

Rocks placed on the headstones dedicated to the victims of the Shoah

But, even then, even after all the museums we went to, after going to the camps, after watching so many holocaust movies, after reading so many Holocaust books, I still find great difficulty in reconciling the fact that each victim was never properly mourned. I know, I will never find what I am looking for. The past cannot be changed. The stories of the Holocaust can never be full unearthed. I finally found solace in the following poem:

"Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die" (Frye).

The victims do not want to be mourned because they are a part of something different now. They are a part of the collective movement to rid the world of genocide and oppression. Each story can never be remembered, but each story is a part of the larger story. This is a story that demonstrates what happens when hate fuels action, a story that depicts the most nefarious acts humankind has committed, story that begs: never again.

A rose placed in a bunk at Auschwitz II-Birkenau

References:

1. Frye, Mary Elizabeth. "Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep." Family Friend Poems. Family Friend Poems, n.d. Web. 03 May 2017.

Pictures

1. Taken at Auschwitz II-Birkenau on March 14, 2017.

2. Taken at Auschwitz II-Birkenau on March 14, 2017.

3. Taken at Auschwitz II-Birkenau on March 14, 2017.

4. Taken at Auschwitz II-Birkenau on March 14, 2017.

5. Taken at Auschwitz II-Birkenau on March 14, 2017.