Prayer and Dialogue

This image perfectly captures the solemnity of the day that we spent at Auschwitz I. I could not help but be reminded of the words, “the presence of absence and the absence of presence”.

It has been almost two months since returning from Poland. Though we know the importance of keeping the memory of the Shoah alive, sometimes that becomes difficult. There are endless distractions as part of our day-to-day lives that easily allow us to forget about what we may have seen and heard at the concentration camps just a few short weeks ago. However, when given time to reflect on my experience once again, many questions race through my mind: “Have I done my part in advocating for human dignity? Can people tell what my experiences were like through my actions? Is the memory of the Shoah alive in my everyday life?”

During our last night in Poland, we had a group discussion about how we would take what we learned there and use it in our lives back in New York. We talked about spreading advocacy and love, ultimately as part of an effort to avoid any hatred and discrimination like what was evident in the Shoah. The Holocaust and Nazi Germany are not things that should be forgotten. Rather, they should be the lens through which we look at the future of our world. They should recognized, and in doing so, there will be more efforts made in preventing it from happening again. After all, “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” –George Santayana

While in Poland, we stayed at the Centre for Prayer and Dialogue—two important things when discussing the Holocaust. The Centre encourages visitors to simply talk about what happened just a block away during the Second World War, and does so in a peaceful, welcoming way. This dialogue focuses on four different “voices: the voice of the earth, the voice of your heart, the voice of the other, and the voice of God. Engaging in dialogue while listening to these four voices can lead to a world of understanding and of acceptance.

Father Manfred, in one of his lectures, reminded us that dialogue is necessary so that all people can live together and form trust with open encounters. He also said, in another lecture, that it is better to look into somebody’s eyes, rather than at them while engaging in this dialogue. By doing this, we are observing something that lies behind the eyes and therefore developing a deeper relationship with the person. Our relationships, according to Father Manfred, and the responsibility we have in them is what helps us make sense of our lives.

These wise words from Father Manfred go hand-in-hand with the Teaching of Respect. Documents that were discussed in class like Nostra Aetate, We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah, Dabru Emet, and many more are all a part of the Teaching of Respect, which is in direct response to the Teaching of Contempt. I have faith that the world is progressively reaching a point of acceptance, love, and respect for all humans. It is no secret that it best reached through prayer and dialogue, as we got to experience first-hand during our unforgettable time spent in Poland.

An image of stones at the entrance of Auschwitz-Birkenau. In the Jewish faith, stones are used instead of flowers for remembrance, as they are permanent.

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Memory And Education: We Must Never Forget

It has now been over two months since we returned from Poland but it seems like only yesterday we were walking through the gates of Auschwitz I. Describing my experience at the death camps has not been easy but I have done my best to put it into words because it is essential, now more than ever, to educate others on the matter. A recent survey, as reported by The New York Times, found there are critical gaps both in awareness of basic facts as well as thorough knowledge of the Holocaust among a majority of Americans. This lack of knowledge is more pronounced among millennials, whom the survey defined as people ages 18 to 34, the future of this country. As reported by The Times: “Thirty-one percent of Americans, and 41 percent of millennials, believe that two million or fewer Jews were killed in the Holocaust; the actual number is around six million. Forty-one percent of Americans, and 66 percent of millennials, cannot say what Auschwitz was. And 52 percent of Americans wrongly think Hitler came to power through force.” This is unacceptable in one of the most educated nations in the world but not necessarily surprising. With each passing decade, events such as the Holocaust can be forgotten and dismissed as mistakes of the past. The only mistake to be made, however, is the mistake of allowing people to forget one of the darkest times in human history.

Keeping the memory of the Shoah alive is vital to our future, for "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Hearing the testimonies of those who survived the Shoah is one way to keep the memory alive, although this is becoming a difficult task as time goes by and survivors eventually pass away. That is why it is important as an educator to pass this information along to the next generation of scholars. I am grateful that I had the opportunity to hear the stories of several survivors of the Holocaust since January, including the survivor we met with at the JCC in Kraków. I was able to record most of these testimonies and plan on one day transcribing these memories so that they can be both heard and read. These firsthand accounts give you a small glimpse into a bloody period in history where men, women, and children were slaughtered by the millions.

Education about the Holocaust is also of the utmost importance, especially considering the results of the survey reported by The New York Times. While in Poland we attended two classes at Auschwitz I, as well as lectures at the Centre for Dialogue and Prayer in Oświęcim (where we stayed during our trip). One lecture we attended at Auschwitz that I found very interesting was taught by Teresa Wontor-Cichy and titled “Christian Clergy and Religious Life at Auschwitz”. Many do not realize that while the majority of people killed during the Holocaust were Jewish, Christians died as well. Such is the case with Saint Maximilian Kolbe, who offered to die in place of a stranger when that person was selected for death. After the lecture, Professor Wontor-Cichy showed us the area where Maximilian Kolbe volunteered to die, making me wonder if I could have done what he did had I been in his shoes. Effective Holocaust education is a topic that will need to be addressed sooner than later and hopefully more people become aware of the facts. As a History major, I had decided to focus on U.S. history as my specialty but after visiting Poland and seeing those death camps, I have decided to focus on Holocaust history. My classmates and I were given an opportunity to experience something that not many people will have the chance to experience. It is our obligation to help keep the memory of the Shoah alive and educate those who are unaware of what occurred during the Holocaust so that it may never happen again. Remember: we must never forget.

Belongings plundered from the victims of Auschwitz by the SS, found after the liberation of the camp.

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Hero

Above is a picture of where Father Maximilian Kolbe's humble act took place.

This picture was taken in Auschwitz I right where Father Maximilian Kolbe’s humble act took place. Prior to attending this trip I did not know who he was, but after hearing his story I was very moved. In the lecture by Father Manfield, we learned that when one prisoner escaped 10 prisoners were punished and killed. When one of the prisoners escaped, a man was selected to be executed. This man begged to not be killed and said, “I have a wife and child!” Father Maximilian Kolbe stepped forward and claimed his place. The Nazis were surprised to see anyone stand up for someone and talk to them the way the Father Maximilian Kolbe did. One of the Nazi even told him to step back in line, but he insisted to take this strangers place and said, “I have no children or family. Let me take his place.” I was very moved when I heard this story, and when I saw the location where this happened.

This picture is the room in which Father Maximilian Kolbe and the other 9 prisoners were placed to die.

Father Manfield mention to us that after 2 weeks of not having any food or water, and being locked in such a small room, the father as well as 2 other man survived. The rest who were locked in this cell had died. Those who shockingly survived the harsh conditions in this cell, then were killed. The fact that the father Maximilian Kolbe lasted for so long in such conditions, meant a lot to me. It showed me how far his faith and good deals brought him. Looking at how small the cell was reminded me of Stan Ronell story. He too was locked in a very tight close space. However, unlike Father Maximilian Kolbe, he was in a closet in a house hiding with his mother. Both Stan Ronell and Father Maximilian Kolbe saw not light for days.

In my psychology classes I learned that humans not only need the sunlight, so they can make large amounts of vitamins D, but also for their mental health as well. When humans are exposed to sunlight, the brain releases serotonin. This is related to helping someone feel calm, and focused. There have also been other studies that states that serotonin helps someone feel happy. Those who do not have enough exposure, may be more prone to depression symptoms. These results have been tested in the north part of Alaska where half the year it is just sunny, and the other half is pure darkness. In addition to all the other factors that many individuals who were victims of the SHOAH faced, it can be said this additional factor only made it worst for them. Not only where the Nazis hurting them physically, but also mentally. This historic trauma may still be seen in those who were affect because of the SHOAH.

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Never Again

It has been slightly over a month since we arrived back home from Poland. Since I’ve been back I have had many people contact me saying what a wonder experience it must have been. It was definitely an experience, but perhaps, wonderful is not the right word. We learned so much about how important words are and what they really mean; how a word or a phrase could change history. The phrase I would use is a once in a life time experience, or many a life changing experiences. Since I have been home I feel as though I think about the trip at least once a day and it is not only in relation to antisemitism or Jews, but I use it as a way to think about other daily activities. As our guest speaker Dr. Annamaria Orla-Bukowska said, you can use the Shoah as a lens to look at the rest of the world regardless of the topic. I cannot say how meaningful this trip was. I believe everyone should learn about the Holocaust in a similar way to how we did with great depth. While going through 13 years of school before college, it was barley taught in high school: it was treated as a very brief history lesson which is wrong. The teaching of the Shoah is an ongoing lesson, a lesson many individuals still need to learn.

It is said that the reason we learn about topics like this is so that they never happen again. Yet we also learned there have been 7 genocides since the Holocaust, none with nearly as many victims which is why it is not widely covered. We also learned that since the Holocaust, the United Nations decided that if we label something a genocide that means we must act without question. This shows that not only do the people not learn, but neither do the nations. A common phrase you hear after the Holocaust is “Never Again,” but we as students of Jewish Christian Relations and the Holocaust have to ensure “Never Again.” It is our duty after taking in all the facts and after a full semester concentrating deeply into the matter that we be activists. It does not take much; it can begin as just confronting people who spew hate. In order to move forward we need to help all move forward. There are some people in this world who are just hateful, and regardless of any facts you give or any time you tell them not to say something, they will just say it more but it is important to try. We now know what one man’s hate can cause. The flag of the prisoners of Auschwitz still flies every day. While 10 million died, Hitler still lost. If people learn the holocaust perhaps the next hatful person will lose without ever taking a life. It is ignorant to believe we can stop all hate, but it is not unrealistic to believe we can stop another atrocity. Everyone must act when in the face of hate.

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A Duty to Remember and Never Forget

“I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” –Elie Wiesel

It has been almost 2 months since I have left New York to indulge myself in the Polish culture and increase my knowledge in Jewish-Christian relations. Thinking back to the flight from Amsterdam to Krakow, I remember feeling incredible nervous: what will this trip bring me? As we landed, I felt ready, ready to embark on the journey many people do not get the opportunity to. And for that, I felt lucky. We drove in separate buses to the Center and I had no idea what the week would bring. Fast forward 7 days later, being in those same buses, but with a completely different outlook on life. My thoughts on this bus ride and the flights following reflected on the innocent lives of 6 million people. 6 million. How could this happen? Who could do this? As Dr. Annamarie Orla-Bukowska mentioned, studying the Shoah only left me with more questions than answers.

As I saw my friends and family the weeks following our trip to Poland, I received the same questions, “How was Poland?” An answer to this question seemed almost impossible. I had two options: say it was good and move on, or educate others on the living memorial of the Shoah. I explained to many of them the tragedies I saw, the wonderful people I had met, and the effect the trip had on my own life. I could no longer be a bystander to the ignorant and hateful views of people around me. I could no longer sit quietly when I heard someone being mistreated. I have a voice that must be heard. The Shoah was real, it affected real people, and caused real pain and suffering on innocent lives. This is not something we shall forget, but something we shall remember indefinitely.

Dr. Annamaria Orla-Bukowska, a professor from the Institute of Sociology at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland, spoke at Iona College on April 16th for the “William H. Donat Shoah Commemoration Teaching the Holocaust Where It Happened” event. Although we had already traveled to Poland, this presentation taught me even more about my experience and studies in Jewish-Christian Relations. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Dr. Annamaria Orla-Bukowska traveled to Poland to learn more about her Polish heritage and the tragedies that occurred under the Nazi Regime. As she became integrated in the Polish culture, she found herself with more questions than answers in her field of study. Eventually, she moved to Poland fulltime to fulfill her passion for the Holocaust and it’s living memorial. Dr. Annamarie Orla-Bukowska’s dedication to the memory of the Shoah is something we should all look up to as students in Jewish-Christian relations. Like she said during her speech, we must use the Holocaust as a lens to other issues that can occur in the world.

Memorial site at the Plaszow labor camp in Krakow, Poland.

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Finding The Good, Amidst The Awful

Upon returning from Poland, many people have asked me questions about my experience and what I took away from the class and the trip. Some questions that always seems to pop up from time to time are questions about if the trip was sad or if it was depressing to see Auschwitz. At first it was difficult to answer these questions, not because I did not know what to say, but because of the shear amount of information and history that is behind each word, picture, and thought about the Holocaust. Although our time spent in Poland was physically and emotionally draining at points, I left our experience with a new outlook and understanding on the Shoah and the importance of seeing the hope that could be found amidst the tragedy.

A statue of Saint Pope John Paul II, located between his childhood home and the church he was baptized in.

During our time abroad we had opportunities to see the beautiful parts of Poland such as Wadowice. We visited Saint Pope John Paul II’s childhood home where I couldn’t help but be inspired by his life and his faith in God. As I reflect on the experiences now, after returning it is easy to overlook the inspiration that has come from Saint Pope John Paul II.

“I plead with you--never, ever give up on hope, never doubt, never tire, and never become discouraged. Be not afraid.” These words spoken by Saint Pope John Paul II hold incredible truth to his advocacy towards those who were murdered just miles away from his childhood home at Auschwitz. As part of his attempt to commemorate and remember the deaths of those who were murdered in the Shoah, he gave a speech at Yad Vashem, the official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, located in Jerusalem. His speech mirrored the points made in the Nostra Aetate about promoting unity and honoring the memory of the Shoah. The theme of remembrance is found throughout both writings as well as the explanation of Jewish- Christian relations post World War II. Saint Pope John Paul II, used his platform to effectively advocate and be aware of the destruction that occurred in his home land. He is someone who brought goodness to the most awful of situations.

Our time in Poland consisted of 2 days walking the ground of Auschwitz I. I must admit the first day was very overwhelming, it didn’t feel real to walk on ground where millions were tortured and killed mainly due to what they believed. Religion has always been a large part of my life, which is why I was interested in the story of Maksymilian Kolbe, a Polish, Franciscan priest who fell victim to the Holocaust and was killed at Auschwitz. Kolbe was a Catholic friar who made the conscious choice to remain in the monastery after the war started. At the monastery, which was used as a make-shift hospital he continued to publish religious works for citizens during the war until he was arrested in 1941. During his time spent at Auschwitz (as prisoner number 16670) he was tortured and beaten for staying true to his faith.

During role call one morning the SS officers realized that a prisoner was missing. Due to the prisoner’s collective responsibility, they were punished and ten innocent people were sentenced to death by starvation. One of the people was a man named Franciszek Gajowniczek, who upon being called out began to cry out to his family. Immediately Kolbe, approached the SS officers and asked to take the man’s place. Kolbe was sentenced to death in place of the man, who ended up surviving Auschwitz and the Holocaust.

A plaque located on Block 14, the location where Maksymilian Kolbe stood up to the Nazi’s to take the place of a prisoner who was sentenced to death.

Kolbe demonstrated incredible faith and goodness up until his death in July 1941. We had the opportunity to visit the cell that Maximilian Kolbe was prisoner in for the 2 weeks with no food. Still during the most difficult points of his life, he managed to comfort fellow prisoners and hold mass and pray the rosary with others. Even at the moment of his death he exhibited grace and compassion, which is why Pope John Paul II canonized him as a saint. In the words of Father Manfred, “The Nazis may have killed him, but they could not kill his love.” He is someone who has allowed me to see the goodness of people throughout the worst of what humanity can bring.

This cell is where Maksymilian Kolbe spent 2 weeks suffering from dehydration and starvation until he was eventually killed by lethal injection.

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Presence of Absence and the Absence of Presence

The concept of the presence of absence and the absence of presence has been touched upon numerous times throughout the course Memory and Reconciliation: The Churches and the Holocaust. When pertaining to the Shoah, often people are aware that this devastation of a community occurred, but the discussion on how to move forward is lacking.

Ghetto Heroes Square in Krakow

The above photo was taken in Ghetto Heroes Square in Krakow. The Square contains an installation of thirty-three cast iron and bronze chairs. This memorial was resurrected in memory of the Polish Jews of Krakow that were imprisoned and murdered in the Krakow ghetto and German death camps during World War II. The chairs signify both the presence and absence of life. A standard, household object, typically filled with a living being stands empty for the rest of time. The Shoah took the lives of so many, leaving an emptiness in their place.

I found this memorial especially moving due to its location. The chairs were scattered out in the center of a busy market square. It has been over seventy years since the end of World War II, yet hundreds of people will pass this memorial every day and think for even just a moment about the weight of the lives lost. I believe this acknowledgement is an important factor in the recognition and prevention of such a tragedy never happening again.

Imagery seen such as Ghetto Heroes Square opens up an opportunity for dialogue on the topic. In a world where many may believe that since the Shoah ended, the time for discussion is over, memorials such as these go against this notion. To feel the presence of the absence of a community means that there are still emotions to be felt and words to be said on the subject. So, the absence of the presence of conversation is detrimental to the healing process.

In Poland, I had the privilege of meeting Fr. Manfred and listening to him lecture on different aspects of the Shoah. At the start of one of his lectures, he said “you cannot sit here and say you are for peace and do nothing” (Fr. Manfred, Center for Dialogue and Prayer). I believe this message should be shared in any situation where there are injustices occurring. It is so important to not become the bystander. Part of not being the bystander includes continuing the stream of dialogue. In order to end the absence of conversation, it is our responsibility to advocate for those who cannot advocate for themselves or join them in solidarity.

Fr. Manfred also taught us that “we need to trust one another, which is difficult when history proves otherwise. It can only happen through conversation” (Fr. Manfred, Center for Dialogue and Prayer). This statement reiterates the significance of the introduction and continuation of communication. History has revealed that silence only strengthens adversities, so only through trust, acknowledgement, and reflection can reconciliation begin.

The presence of absence and absence of presence indicates a broken cycle in society. The memorial of chairs in Ghetto Heroes Square is a step to heal that brokenness through acknowledgement of the lives lost in the Shoah. The installation and Fr. Manfred’s words taught me the importance of having a voice, and using its power to advocate.

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Deception

This picture shows the inside of one of the many Gas Chambers that were used during the Shoah.

This picture was taken in Auschwitz I. The moment I walked into this room I felt very cold and got a distinctive smell. This smell and taste of the Gas Chamber followed me all day for the next three days of this trip. I felt nauseous as I continued to “taste” this smell. As I walked in this room, all I could think was of those who marched into this room without knowing it was their last day. Many of them did not know what this room really was. They thought it was to take a “shower”. There was so much deception used into tricking them to walk without a fight into their death.

After going to Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II, Birkenau, we had a lecture with Father Manfield. He mentioned how the first victims of the Gas Chambers were not the Jews, but Germans who had a mental illness or a physical disability. Prior to hearing this, I thought that the Nazi would only hurt everyone who was not a German. I was very shocked to hear that they hurt even those who were from their same country. I thought they would glorify every German. This just made me angrier than I already was. How could anyone do this? My major is Psychology, and I hope to help those who have mental and physical disabilities. After seeing the gas chambers, and then hearing about this made me very scared of the control and influence one person can have on others.

In addition, I also learned how the Red Cross was used as a deception symbol. There was a building in Auschwitz II, Birkenau called “Red Cross.” Many of the victims who were weak and sick were tricked into thinking that they would be taken to the hospital to feel better. There would be a Red Cross symbol on the cart they were going to make them feel at ease that they were going to the hospital, but that was all a deception. The Red Cross was used to make the victims feel calm, and actually, believe they were going to get help. In this building, about 800 people would be brought in at a time.

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Dehumanization

A picture of how the bunkers looked in the wooden barracks.

This week has been a very emotional week for me as well as everyone in my team. We read several different texts to learn more about the Shoah, but there is so much that the readings could not cover. The picture above is a picture of one of the barracks that is located in Auschwitz II, Birkenau. When I first saw this barrack, my first thought was how similar it looks to a horse stable. The tour guide later mentioned that this, in fact, was a horse stable that was meant for 50 horses. However, the Nazi had about 400 to 500 men in just this barrack. I could not even begin to imagine how so many individuals would fit in such a small barrack.

In this picture, you can see that the “beds” they slept in were bunks of three. The stronger and healthier prisoners climb to the top bunk. Those who were weaker slept on the lower bunks. Being in the lower bunk made the weaker get even weaker. If anyone above them leaked any unwanted liquid (such as urine, throw up and so on), this would fall onto the person below them. In addition, you can see that there was no floor built. What you see is the ground level. When it rained or snow, the floor will be cover with water since there was no foundation. This only made the conditions in which they lived in, even worse. During the winter it was very cold, and during the summer it was too hot. Due to these conditions they lived in, diseases spread quickly. Moreover, there were 10 prisoners per bed. That means that each bunk of three had a total of 30 individuals.

In class and during our guided tours, we discussed how much weight the victims of the Shoah had lost due to lack of nutrient. Due to the drastic weight loss, the Nazis were able to fit so many victims into one bed. In the novel called The Holocaust Kingdom, Donat mentioned how low the calorie intake was. “Germans in Warsaw allotted 2,500 calories a day…The Jews ratio came to less than 200 calories a day” (Page 7). Only letting them eat such a low number of calories is inhuman. A healthy person should consume at least 2,500 calories which was what they let the Germans consume. Since they saw the Jews as animals, they made sure they barely ate anything.

This picture shows where you would tie the horse in this barrack.

The Nazi saw the Jews and all of their prisoners as animals. The picture above shows how this barrack was supposed to be used for horses. It has the ring where you would tie your horse to. Moreover, the Nazi only allowed them to shower once a month and go to the bathroom twice a day. By doing this, it continued to take away the prisoners' humanity, treating them like animals. For Nazi, it was as if they were taking their “pet” to the bathroom. They did everything they could do to dehumanize them. This is just one of the many examples of how they dehumanize their victims.

In one of the lectures that we had with Father Manfred and Stan Ronell, we learned that those who were taken were not seen as humans. They were seen less than human. They were given numbers rather than names. Their heads were shaved. The goal of the Nazi was to dehumanize and strip them of their identity in every possible way. Their reasoning for this was that they wanted to blame someone for their failure, and who else to blame but the group who does not have a home of their own, the Jews. Their ideology for doing this was to “Make Germany, Great Again.” They “knew it was hard, but it has to be done.” If someone questioned doing such acts for women and children, they were told that if they did not do it, it would be their own family who would suffer.” That this was done to save their own family and Germany.”

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From Judaism To Catholicism And Back Again

Friday morning, March 16, we traveled to Kraków to visit the Jewish Community Centre (JCC) of Kraków. It was there that we met Olga, who told us a little about herself and her Jewish ancestry. She also gave us information about the JCC itself, which is a Jewish cultural and educational centre that opened in 2008 as the result of an initiative by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. The JCC is the de facto Jewish visitors center for Kraków, Poland and provides social, educational, and community oriented services to the Jewish community of Kraków. After hearing from Olga, we got a chance to meet with a Jewish woman who survived World War II and she was kind enough to share her story with us. Although she herself had not been confined to a concentration camp, her father did perish at Auschwitz. She and her mother were forced to move to a new town after being blackmailed twice and it was there that she was baptized as a Catholic to hide her Jewish roots. After the war ended she eventually converted back to Judaism and went on to further her education, studying law and becoming a professor. Today she is an active member of the JCC in Kraków and was present for Shabbat dinner Friday evening at the JCC, a dinner in which we were also in attendance for.

Throughout this semester I have heard the personal stories of a few survivors of the Shoah but this story was the first in which the survivor converted to Catholicism in order to survive. Prior to meeting the survivor at the JCC, I had only encountered such a situation in Alexander Donat’s The Holocaust Kingdom: the author and his wife had decided to smuggle their son Wlodek out of the ghetto and sent him to the home of Stefan and Maria Magenheim, friends of the family. Before doing so, however, Wlodek’s parents had to prepare him for life on the Aryan side where he could no longer be Jewish: “Lena had, in the interim, been teaching Wlodek the Catholic prayers. ‘Now remember’, she told him, ‘you have never lived in the Ghetto and you must never use the word Ghetto. You’re not a Jew. You’re a Polish Catholic...We were bitterly aware of the tragic spectacle of a mother teaching her only child to disavow his parents, his people, his former life…” (Donat, 114-115).

A few weeks after Wlodek’s arrival at the Magenheim home, they were betrayed by one of their neighbors. With the help of Magdalena Rusinek, a seventeen-year-old member of the Polish Underground who collected, cared for and escorted Jewish children to their places of refuge with Polish families or in convents, Wlodek was brought to an orphanage near Otwock, Poland, where he remained for two years. During that period, Maria would come to the orphanage whenever she could, bringing Wlodek cakes and other delicacies. Although Wlodek was safe by being away from his parents and denouncing his Jewish heritage, during his time away he was brainwashed by the nuns at the orphanage. In his own words, Wlodek explains in The Holocaust Kingdom that “Miss Krysia told me that Jews were very bad. They drank the blood of Catholics on their holidays. They kill a young boy or girl, suck out their blood and put it in jars…she said if Auntie Maria tried to take me back to my Mommy, I should run away to the woods. I prayed that my parents would not come back for me. I believed in Jesus very much.” (Donat, 302). To think that a nun would say these things to a child is unimaginable but it occurred and wasn’t uncommon.

Wlodek 's parents both survived the Shoah and were reunited with their son and although the reunion was rocky at first, with Wlodek’s mind full of anti-Semitic thoughts, he eventually returned to the religion of his family. Although Wlodek and the survivor we heard speak at the JCC had different stories, both accounts had one thing in common, which is the title of this blog: from Judaism to Catholicism and back again. This is what it took to survive the horrors of the Shoah but this approach did not always work. Luckily for Wlodek and the JCC survivor, however, it did and we were lucky enough to hear their stories.

Pictured here is the JCC survivor (green sweater) sitting next to Olga.

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Sticks and Stones May Break my Bones, But Words…

Advertisement of “Der Ewige Jude” (The Eternal Jew), a 1940 antisemitic German Nazi propaganda film. This film was disguised as a documentary.

It has been one week since I last stepped on the grounds of Auschwitz I. Since my return from Poland, I have found myself especially sensitive to the use of words and phrases in everyday conversation, political discussion, and broadcast outlets. This stems from my shock at the absolute power of words- in forming an ideology, swaying a culture, and facilitating the genocide of millions of people.

In writing this, an old saying comes to mind: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me!” I can recall hearing this phrase throughout my childhood. Though it may have proved true in playground interactions, this phrase could not be further from the truth when one considers the impact of words, especially propaganda-fueled, in furthering the harm of the Jews and other groups.

In considering the power of words, one should start with the impetus of the Third Reich and Nazi Party- Adolf Hitler. Hitler was unabashed in his hatred for the Jewish people; in his first written comment on the “Jewish Question,” he asserts that the presence of Jews in any community was a “race-tuberculosis of the peoples.” (Source: US Holocaust Museum) His initial comments, released in 1919, are emulated in his further written and oral statements. In 1933, Hitler produced his first speech broadcasted live on all German radio stations. In this broadcast, he proposes a resolution to the “Jewish problem”- total annihilation of all European Jews, through a world war. (Source: BBC)

Propaganda poster labeling the Jew as “a people of contagion!” This poster mirrors the content of Hitler’s 1919 written comments.

Throughout our visits to Auschwitz I and Auschwitz-Birkenau, our tour guide Lidia further stressed the impact of words on disseminating Nazi ideology. She brought to our attention the establishment of Hitler Youth in indoctrinating German children, the use of propaganda by Joseph Goebbels and other prominent figures within the Third Reich.

Before we embarked on our journey to Poland, our group visited the United States Holocaust Museum in Manhattan, New York City. Here, we encountered a variety of propaganda pieces used to spread anti-Semitism and anti-Jewish sentiment. Most notable were a row of posters depicting the Jewish people as disgusting, leering, and money-hungry monsters. These images cemented in the minds of German society the notion that Jews were nothing more than parasites and a stain on the face of Aryan purity.

Antisemitic propaganda released in Poland in 1941. This poster depicts the Jew as a parasite, likened to that of typhus.

The influence of propaganda, and words as a whole, was made evident in the words and behavior of Nazi officers and even German civilians. Alexander Donat’s memoir The Holocaust Kingdom makes tangible the power of words, as he recounts the usage and power of words in promoting hatred and harm.

In the initial liquidations of the Warsaw ghetto, Donat recalls the phrasing that Ukranian guards and German troops used to force people from their apartments: “Alles runter!” – In English, “Everything downstairs!” Donat notes that “the tone was bad enough, but the humiliating impersonality of that ‘everything’ where normal speech called for ‘everyone’ was even more shocking.” (The Holocaust Kingdom 56) This shift in language illustrates the shift in thought of Germans and Ukranians towards their fellow humans, and the dehumanization of Jews.

Other insults hurled at Jews included: “Schweinehund [pig dog],” “Dreckjude [shitty Jew],” “whore,” and “Judenschmarotzer [Jew parasite].” Donat emphasized that “obscenities were used so abundantly at Majdanek that often you did not hear a decent word for hours on end.” (173)
And what resulted from these words? In my eyes, these words ushered in a disregard for human life that did not fit the “Aryan mold." German officers treated Jewish prisoners like their insults, and in reducing them to “parasites,” viewed their lives “as essentially worthless; in fact, contemptible.” (Donat 176) The SS soldiers delighted in ousting these “subhuman” Jews, inventing new methods of torture and indulging in the “fear and the death agonies of the victims.” (Donat 173) Beyond the torture and death of millions of Jews, the words of the Third Reich held the German people in an “iron grip; they followed orders and kept their mouths shut, they submitted…” (Donat 233) With overwhelming control and sadism, the Nazis destroyed the lives of many, even as the Third Reich began to collapse. How devastating words were, in facilitating the breaking of spirits and bones of so many innocent lives.

Just yesterday, it was announced that a Holocaust denier will be the GOP’s nominee in a Chicago congressional district after running in a primary election. Candidate Arthur Jones is an outspoken Holocaust denier; his candidacy website contains pages of documentation “disproving” the Holocaust and dismissing the death of millions of Jews. Phrases from his website are eerily similar to the aforementioned propaganda of the Third Reich:

"The ‘Holocaust’ is quite a racket. Millions of dollars are made each year by the Jews telling this tall tale…
Elie Wiesel [Holocaust survivor] is simply a skillful liar…
[Survivor accounts of the Holocaust are] propaganda, whose purpose is designed to bleed, blackmail, extort and terrorize, the enemies of organized world Jewry…
Their ‘Holocaust’ [is] just an extortion racket. "
I have been made furious to learn of this news and to read these documents, and have thought- What can I do now, with what I know? How can I, and others like me, best combat this utterly false information?

As mentioned previously, words can be used to generate destructive power. I recognize that my words need to be used to generate informative, educational, and defense of those who have suffered. This is certainly, in many ways, a power worth reckoning.

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Hope

A rose left on the bunk of a wooden barrack at Auschwitz Birkenau.

A calligraphy/hand-lettered piece on Hope.

“Despite everything, I still believe people are good at heart.” - Anne Frank

Similar to my last blog post, I begin with an Anne Frank quote. In contrast, this post is about hope, as opposed to hopelessness. To me, this quote displays hope in humanity, regardless of how horrifically Frank’s family and other Jewish families were treated throughout the Shoah.

This week has taught me so much about history. On top of that, it has taught me a lot about myself, especially the way I process things. Whether positive or negative, exciting or boring, I like to reflect on life experiences through calligraphy and hand-lettering. Calligraphy, which has been around for thousands of years, has evolved on social media to “hand-lettering” by millennials. Hand-lettering is a way of creating various fonts, alongside calligraphy to express words. Over the last decade, I have found myself taking profound concepts and minimizing them to handwritten fonts to express myself. It is therapeutic for me and can make for great gifts and cards!

I decided to center the entire piece around hope. Before creating it, I read through “Celebrating and Deepening the New Christian-Jewish Relationship”. The natural optimist in me loved this, as hope is a common theme throughout it all. This statement was sent out for the Golden Jubilee of the Second Vatican Council Declaration, Noestra Aetate. Within the introduction, there is a positive undertone that guided my thought process. “Like people dreaming of what were once unimaginable possibilities (Psalm 126:1) we look forward to a future full of hope” (pp. 44). Written by the ICCJ for a conference in Rome in 2015, this statement reviews the new, positive dialogue between Christians and Jews since the Shoah. It begins with the distance made from the awful starting point that allowed millions of Jewish people to be persecuted and killed. Christianity played a role in allowing this to happen, through the Teaching of Contempt. Jewish people were made out to be “Christ-killers” by many Christians in the early 1900s and this negative connotation brought about indifference, which led to the genocide. The council states that today “we have been learning to speak to each one another as friends and companions…for the first time in history Jews and Christians can work and study together in a sustained way, thereby enriching each other’s covenantal lives” (pp. 45). I was able to see this first hand multiple times, and I am thankful I was able to express this in hand lettering.

First, (the top left corner reads) “Saint Maximillian Kolbe, pray for us”. I added this when I saw it left in the room he was kept in during his starvation period. He was an example of hope for me this week because he gave of his life for another, which is the greatest form of love. Amongst hate, I was reminded that people are also good.

Second, (the top right quote) says, “life makes sense as long as you save people”. This quote, by Oscar Schindler was painted on the wall of Schindler’s Factory, which we visited in Krakow on Wednesday. Schindler saved over 2,000 Jewish people by hiring them in his factory so they would not be sent away to ghettos and concentration camps. He was courageous, and the face of hope in a very tense time.

Third, (the words directly below) that read “Shabbat Shalom”, and were said during the Shabbat dinner we ate on Friday night with the Jewish community in Krakow. The entire community brought me so much hope for peace in the world today, because they invited people of all ages, backgrounds, and religions into their center to enjoy a meal with them. Their hospitality, despite barely knowing us, brought me encouragement and taught me the significance of recognizing dignity in all people.

Fourth, (to the left of the prior quote) is from Simon Peereboom. “We still believed it would all be alright”. This quote was on the wall in one of the blocks at Auschwitz I. It stood out to me when we returned Thursday, because Peereboom displayed so much hope in his future, regardless of how anxious the present seemed.

Fifth, (to the left of Peereboom’s) is a John Lennon quote from his song “Imagine”. Written on a stone outside Auschwitz Birkenau, it says, “imagine all the people, living in peace”. Although I had known this song before coming to Poland, it struck a chord with me before entering the “Gate of Death” because it was a display of hope for a more peaceful future in the world, but left by an anonymous stranger. It left me with the comforting thought that our group was not alone in being advocates of peace, that there are many others out there, too.

Sixth, (above Lennon’s quote) is a verse. “And in your book they all will be written” (Psalm 139:16). This was written in front of the Book of Names at Auschwitz I, which documented the names of the victims of the Shoah. As I walked around the largest book I’d ever seen in my life, I felt hopeless. But, when I saw this verse I felt comfort and hope that this memorial was summarized with a verse that reflected back on a Creator, one who is loving and keeps the names of His people, even if humans replace those names with numbers.

Finally, I end with the quote that started this blog. “Despite everything, I still believe people are good at heart” (Anne Frank). After hearing this quote, I eagerly picked up her book in one of the bookstores and I began it. Although I am only 40 pages in so far, I can see how she displayed humor and an uplifting outlook, even though her world was rapidly declining.

This theme of hope will stick with me forever when I recount this trip to others. I am confident that I will be able to reference all of these quotes, as well my Catholic faith through documents like Nostra Aetate and the more recent ones to remain hopeful in humanity and be a voice for the voiceless.

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16670

Religion in Auschwitz is a topic I never thought about before coming to Poland. I always figured the victims were always more concerned with getting from one day to the next rather than if they would be able to practice their religion. However, its important to be able to practice because any detail you can do to maybe make the experience even a little less painful is very important, and practicing religion could be one of those things. The main victim was of course the Jews. 6 million is a number we should all be familiar with. However, what we don’t hear about often is the Christians that were also prisoners in the camp. One of the most famous is Maximilian Kolbe. He is a Polish Christian Monk who was imprisoned as Polish Intelligencia his Prisoner number was 16670. One day while he was in Auschwitz a prisoner escaped, when Prisoners escape there is collective responsibilities in the camp and 10 people are chosen to die at random for each escaped prisoner. When the ten people were chosen to die one man in the line up yelled out about his wife and child. this is when Maximillian Kolbe decided to step forward and offer his life for the man with the family. The Nazi guards accepted the exchange and chose Kolbe. The death would be by starvation in a starvation cell. The in mates would be placed in the cell for 2 weeks with no food or water. the other 9 men perished, Maximilian lived. When the Nazis entered and Kolbe was still alive they lethally injected him and he died immediately. He is remembered for his extraordinary acts that day and was Beatified on October 17th 1971 by Pope Paul VI. His nick name is the Saint of Auschwitz. This story was told in Auschwitz by our first guide but also in a special lecture that took place in a renovated Barrack in Auschwitz. The lecture was titles Clergy in Auschwitz and explained not only the incredible story of Maximilian Kolbe but also other information about the practice of religion in Auschwitz. It is said that only 6 mass services took place in 5 years at the camp because it was so dangerous if the prisoners were caught. There was also 464 Priests and 35 nuns 70% of which died. 3 Popes have visited Auschwitz since the museum has opened, the first was Pope John Paul II who had visited many times before as a bishop, the second is Pope benedict XVI, and the third is Pope Francis. Each of them left a memorial for inmate 16670 Saint Maximillian Kolbe in the cell in which he starved for two weeks. The lecture on Clergy in Auschwitz was very important because it was on a topic that is very important which I had never thought about previously. The ongoing participation of religion inside the walls of evil is an important lesson. It also was good to help realize that while of course the Jews suffered far grater losses there were also other victims within the walls of Auschwitz.

Picture description: a drawing done by Holocaust survivor Marian Kolodziej Inmate number 432. Who drew many pictures of Maximillian Kolbe. Kolodziej survived the entirety of the holocaust and has an art exhibition in the basement of a monastery in Harmeze.

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THE JUXTAPOSITION OF AUSCHWITZ

Before my trip to Poland, I had many preconceptions and ideas of what I thought I was going to see and what my experiences would consist of. Although I had seen pictures, learned about the history, and heard stories from various people, nothing could have prepared me for stepping foot onto one of the largest mass graveyards in history. The experiences I have had during my time in Poland have truly opened my eyes into the cruel torment of people and dehumanization that existed only seventy-five years ago.

A view from underneath the sign at the entrance of Auschwitz I. This sign was often one the first sights that prisoners and victims would see before entering the concentration camp.

As I walked out of the gate of Auschwitz I today for I can confidently say will most likely be the last time, I couldn’t help but take a moment and pray for those who never had the opportunity to. The juxtaposition of the sign at the gate still haunts me. The sign reads “Arbeit Macht Frei,” which is translated to “Work Will Set You Free.” Unfortunately, for those who were forced to walk under the sign, they would soon realize it was a lie.

I stood for what felt like hours staring at the atrocity of the history that lie directly beneath my feet. I couldn’t help but take notice of the vast number of people with melancholy expressions and the sound of shuffling feet, it was almost if I closed my eyes I could be a witness to the first inmates of Auschwitz I. This experience reminded me of Alexander Donat’s memoir, The Holocaust Kingdom where he recounts the sounds and sights of his deportation to one of the camps. “When I reached the corner of the building, I understood the terror I had seen in everyone’s eyes. On both sides of us stood SS guards with grenades in their belts and submachine guns at the ready, holding barking police dogs straining at the leach. Never had I seen a collection of such murderous, degenerate human faces.” (pp. 140)

Throughout my time in Poland, I am constantly reminded of the importance of relationships between people. I find it difficult some days, with our busy schedule and the time difference to find time to talk to my mom, dad and brother, which are the most important relationships in my life. During one of our lectures with Fr. Manfred, (a German, Catholic priest who has devoted his life to studying and teaching German-Polish Reconciliation and Christian-Jewish Dialogue) he talked about the importance of our responsibility in relationships. One quote he said that stood out to me was “Relationships died at Auschwitz.” The horrific torture of the people brought to the Auschwitz camps was not only cruel but dehumanizing.

After spending what could have been weeks in cramped cattle cars, the inmates of the camps were stripped of all their possessions and separated from their families. As if this wasn’t cruel enough, they were subjected to brutal shavings and inhumane conditions. “We were told to strip; male barbers shaved our heads and the rest of our bodies with clippers. A girl rubbed each of us under the arms and between the legs with a rag dipped in disinfectant....as new arrivals went up to them in turn, they made adroit pricks in the skin with a tattoo needle on the left forearm.” (pp. 260)

Suitcases belonging to those who were brought to Auschwitz. In order not to panic the masses of people, SS guards allowed people to pack items they thought they would need, only to have it be collected upon entrance to Auschwitz, yet another juxtaposition.

As I look back so far on my experiences in Poland, I cannot help but think about the future that lies ahead. I think about explaining each and every picture that was taken in detail in order to spread the knowledge of what I have learned and to be a voice for the 6 million people that are now voiceless due to the Shoah. In the Nostra Aetate, written in 1965, there are many questions that come forth regarding what we can do now that the Shoah has ended. “Whence do we come, and where are we going.” (pp. 4) Moving forward from our experiences in Poland, I hope that my knowledge and improved language allow me to advocate for those who suffered and were senselessly killed.

Some of the innocent victims who were stripped of their identity and forced to work in Auschwitz during the Shoah.

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Where Was God?

The “Wall of Death”, located at Block 11. This courtyard outside of Block 11 and the block itself were mainly used as direct killing sites.

Just the other day, I was walking through Auschwitz I… which is a sentence I never thought I would say. Doing so, millions of thoughts raced through my mind. As a devout Christian, I can’t help but think about why God would let such a cruel thing happen. If God is so loving and so forgiving, then where was He at a time like this? Especially coming across the Wall pictured above was one particular moment in which I really could not fathom how people did such a thing to other people. And if God works through us, why did his workings include mass murder?

Luckily, in his second lecture, Father Manfred addressed this topic directly. He made some very compelling points that have allowed me to be less confused with the question, “Where was God?” He began by talking about who God really is, in the perspective of the Jewish faith. He mentioned the importance of the covenant that is shared between God and his people like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and that this is the foundation of Jewish identity. The most admirable thing about the Jewish people was that they did not lose their faith no matter what was happening to them. In the words of Anne Frank, “Despite it all, I still believe that every human being is good at heart.” As the last line in her famous diary, this is a perfect representation of her unshakeable faith, and that of other Jewish people at the time.

Father Manfred assured us that though you may not understand why God let this happen, it does not mean He does not exist. We are not God, and we do not know more than He does; He is all-knowing and all-powerful. Answering this difficult question is not a matter of understanding God, but rather trusting Him. And in the same way that God was present in the suffering and death of Jesus, He was present during the Shoah. Though God is ever-present, what made the Shoah seem as if that is not true was simply Nazi anti-Semitism. This is explained further in “We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah”, which was written by the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews in 1998 and is a part of the teaching of respect:

“…At the level of theological reflection, we cannot ignore the fact that not a few in the Nazi party not only showed aversion to that idea of divine Providence at work in human affairs, but gave proof of a definite hatred directed at God himself. Logically, such an attitude also led to a rejection of Christianity, and a desire to see the Church destroyed or at least subjected to the interests of the Nazi state.” (We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah, pg. 9-10).

To conclude, I think it only makes sense to mention one person in particular who truly portrayed God’s presence at Auschwitz—Maximilian Kolbe. His noble act of taking the place of a prisoner sent to die is one of pure love. He loved until the very end of his life, and Father Manfred even said that they Nazis may have killed him, but they could not kill his love. I cannot help but be reminded of the verse from 1 John which reads, “Beloved, let’s love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves has been born of God, and knows God. He who doesn’t love doesn’t know God, for God is love.” Those last three words are definitely something to reflect on, especially when pondering the presence of God during the Shoah. If God did happen to be present at all at Auschwitz, which I believe He was, then it was most certainly evident through the selfless love of Kolbe and other martyrs of the Shoah.

The cell of Maximilian Kolbe, with candles in remembrance of him placed there by Saint Pope John Paul II. As the place where Kolbe was killed by lethal injection after living without food or water for two weeks (because of his faith in God) is truly a sacred place, especially for Christians.

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The Power of Kinship in the Camps

This blog post references The Holocaust Kingdom, a memoir written by Alexander Donat. This work was originally written in 1963; all quotes are from the 1999 edition.
"“Kinship is…being one with the other.” "– Fr. Gregory Boyle, Tattoo on the Heart

Holocaust survivors displaying their numbered tattoos as assigned at concentration camps.

During my time in Poland, I have gained a wealth of knowledge and insight with regards to the experience of prisoners within concentration camps, specifically Auschwitz I and Auschwitz-Birkenau. From my readings of survivor accounts and interaction with tour guides and information at the camps themselves, I have learned that imprisonment within these camps was the epitome of ostracization. Prisoners endured maltreatment, hatred, and were blatantly dehumanized by Nazi actions and speech. They were torn from their families, rendered identity-less, and endured abuse at every moment.

Death and defeat always loomed, and fellow prisoners died in great numbers; while visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau, our group was informed that as many as 6,000 Jews were gassed by the S.S. per day (Source: our wonderful tour guide, Lidia). S.S. soldiers and block leaders within the camps were quick to remind prisoners of the inevitability of death. In his memoir The Holocaust Kingdom, Alexander Donat notes the motto of a previous Barrack Elder during his time at Majdanek: “Don’t forget, you must die so that I may live” (161).

In considering this, I found myself asking the following question: How could prisoners survive in such a volatile, horrific environment?

Shortly after walking the grounds of Auschwitz I and Auschwitz-Birkenau, our group went to an art exhibition entitled “Photographic Plates of Memory. Labyrinths” by Marian Kolodziej, a former prisoner of Auschwitz. This exhibition, which is permanently installed in the lower level of Our Lady Immaculate Church in Harmęże, gave deeper insight into the ostracization and loneliness faced by prisoners. As our guide, Fr. Florio, led us through the exhibition, I felt deflated. Was there no way to navigate the hell of Auschwitz? Was there any hope to be found?

As Fr. Florio beckoned towards images of prisoners huddled together, he addressed their agonized unity in remarking, “kinship was crucial to surviving.” It was at this moment that I found a sense of resolve to my inner questions, and saw the truth in this statement illuminated. The concept of kinship as that which sustains another resonated with me; as a person of faith, I have found the idea of kinship echoed in various theological sources. Fr. Gregory Boyle, a Jesuit priest, alludes to the importance of kinship in his work Tattoos on the Heart. He notes that kinship brings us “closer to creating a community,” where we can “stand…with those whose dignity has been denied.” It is important to note that Boyle is speaking from his experience as a rehabilitator and advocate of gang members in Southern California. Despite this, his assertions hold validity in considering how kinship fueled prisoners in their plight to survive.

We see the power of kinship in Alexander Donat’s The Holocaust Kingdom. Kinship, in word and in deed, emerges as a conduit to survival throughout Donat’s oppression. Though there are examples of kinship between Donat and other individuals in the Warsaw Ghetto, for purposes of this post, I will refer to scenes of kinship in the camps.

Display mimicking the march of prisoners within the Polish block, at the Auschwitz I Memorial / Concentration Camp in Oświęcim.

One scene of kinship is captured in the interactions between Donat and Horowitz, a Czech Jew assigned as the Lagerschrieber of Field Three in Majdanek. Donat appeals to him, begging for help in survival: “I felt [as a journalist] I had a duty to survive tell the world about the murder of the Jewish people. I appealed to him to help me survive” (164). Moved by the similarity of their prior professions, Horowitz works to find Donat a lenient job, eventually securing him a well-fed job at the Fahrbereitschaft (the motor pool of Majdanek). Though Donat’s time at the motor pool is short-lived, Horowitz’s kinship sustains him and enabled him to gather “physical and moral strength” (Donat 172). Surely if Horowitz had not been aided, Donat could have faced a worse fate.

Donat’s interactions with the Jews after being transferred to the Radom labor camp further illustrate the power of kinship in the camps. Here, Donat and his peers received nourishment, medical attention, and compassion from the other inhabitants at Radom. He emphasizes that despite the food received from the Jews of Radom, “the cordiality shown us was even more precious than the food.” (187)

Other less-detailed but still relevant examples of kinship exist throughout the text; Donat mentions that upon fainting during a roll call, his neighbors came to his aid and propped him up. A particularly touching scene is when Szulc, a former restauranteur, would describe dishes he had prepared in his restaurant to induce a relieved appetite for surrounding prisoners. (Donat 168) How minute this seems, at first glance, yet how important these and other gestures were to Donat and his peers during his stay at Majdanek. Boyle emphasizes that “the self cannot survive without love.” In considering the kinship among Donat and other individuals in the Ghetto and camps, one sees the validity of this claim and the power that is inherent in kinship. The accounts of kinship between Alexander Donat and other prisoners moved me in a profound way, and caused me to think more deeply about the impact of human relationship in surviving one of the worst acts in human history.

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Imagine All the People

A rock that was on the ground near an original cattle car for Auschwitz that says, “Imagine all the people living a life of peace.”

When reflecting on my experiences in Auschwitz 1 and Auschwitz-Birkenau I can’t help but remember the people of all the lives lost during WWII. All of the people that the Nazis took to the concentration camps and killed who had been living normal lives. And in seconds their lives were turned upside down and taken from them for no reason other than the fact that they were Jewish. They were treated like animals, as if they weren’t even a human being at all by immediately being shoved into cattle cars by the hundreds and majority of the time being sent directly to the gas chambers and crematoria. Seeing how small these cattle cars actually were was really surprising to me even thought I had heard so much about what it was like to be in one of them with hundreds of people and no space to move or breathe.

The first day in Auschwitz, our guide Lidia spoke about how Jews from Greece were taken to Auschwitz on cattle cars which was a two-week drive and when they arrived nobody got off because either they had died during the trip or they had no strength in them to even move. It sickens me to think that the Nazis would just shove all these people into the cattle cars leading them to their death and that they would just lie to them and say that they needed to leave their homes for safety reasons and that when they arrived they would get a shower, which we know was the gas chambers.

The state in which innocent people were kept in the concentration camps was inhumane and I wish something would have been done about this sooner in order to prevent either less or no people dying at all. Even prior to being sent to the camps towns were barricaded into small areas called ghettos and the life in the ghetto was not much better than in the camps. SS Officers would parade the streets and just beat people for any reason that they wanted to. They could just go into your home and force you to leave all the while destroying it and taking your valuables. We learned a lot about what it was like living in the ghettos in Alexander Donats book, The Holocaust Kingdom. This book was really powerful and gave a lot of great detail of the events and pain that took place while trying to survive in the ghetto walls.

Imagine all the people who would still be alive today if it were not for WWII. What would Poland be like? How would the entire world have been different if this atrocity did not happen? I always think about what could have been if the Nazis did not kill 6 million Jews during the war and how things would have been so different if this did not happen. Would we have found the cure to cancer or other horrible diseases? Would we have world peace, would we have even had a second world war to begin with? These are the questions that sit in the back of my mind when I think about all the people that were killed or had to give up everything they had just to escape to freedom.

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Childhood Innocence

Above portrays a drawing from a child and their interpretation of the Shoah. This drawing exemplifies how the Shoah stripped many children from their childhood innocence.

“I’ve found that there is always some beauty left—in nature, sunshine, freedom, in yourself; these can all help you.” - Anne Frank

As I walked through the bunkers at Auschwitz I, I felt chills as I looked at photos of small children and their families. As humans, we selfishly have the tendency to think of our own lives during tragedies. As I walked throughout Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II- Birkenau, I thought my little siblings: the people who mean the most to me. It is so difficult to imagine how the Nazis chose the evil side. How could these humans treat other humans in such a way? I asked myself this as I walked through the bunkers and could not wrap my head around these atrocities. As soon as the Jews were taken to Auschwitz II- Birkenau, they faced selection. Here, families were torn apart and lives were changed forever. Mothers had to make terrible decisions whether to go with their children to the gas chambers or to better their chances at selection by leaving their children.

As I approached the exhibit full of children’s shoes, my heart broke for the millions of children and families who had to experience the unimaginable. Next to this stood a glass exhibit box that contained clothes from some of the suitcases. Here lied a little girl’s sweater, a sneaker, some socks, and a boot. I could not help, but imagine the people who these precious items belonged to. A little girl, perhaps, who enjoyed playing with dolls or had dreams of being a teacher. These precious items symbolize how pure and innocent their lives were. I cannot fathom the cruel and inhumane conditions they experienced or how they felt when were separated from their mothers, siblings, grandparents, etc. As the days in Poland have passed rather quickly, I find myself thinking about these children more and more every day.

As these children experienced such cruel and inhumane punishment, I also think about the children who went into hiding. The children who were again separated from their parents and forced to conform to a completely different lifestyle. Stan Ronell, a survivor of the Shoah, who visited Iona College and told his story of how he went into hiding with his mother when the war began. They were hidden in many different houses throughout the war where he stayed in a small, dark closet with two books to read. Luckily for him, one of these books contained Christian prayers which allowed him to expand on his “act” and survive the war. Mr. Ronell’s story reminded me of Alexander Donat’s son, Wlodek, as his story was quite similar in the novel, The Holocaust Kingdom. Wlodek was a three-year-old boy who was brought in by a local Polish friend and cared for throughout the war in hiding. Wlodek learned Christian prayers, got rid of his Yiddish accent, and lived a “typical” Christian life to deceive those around him. This is what saved his life and allowed him to be reunited with his mother and father after the war. These stories exemplify what most survivors suggest that allowed them to survive the Shoah: youth, health, and luck.

I will never understand how these atrocities took place. However, I can remember those innocent children and adults were affected and keep their stories close in my heart. As I left Auschwitz I on Monday, I left the grounds many people prayed to run free from. And for them, I walk forward into my future with the knowledge to share some of their stories and prevent this kind of evil from ever existing again.

The above photo further represents the innocence that was stolen from many children throughout the Shoah. Families were ripped apart, and the drawing above exemplifies the absence that many children and parents faced.

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Traumatic Impact of the Holocaust on Adolescent Behavior

The following blog references Alexander Donat’s memoir, The Holocaust Kingdom, the 1999 edition, originally written in 1963.

Replication of a Child’s Drawing of KL Birkenau (Auschwitz II).

When visiting the Auschwitz I Museum, I took interest in a room filled with children’s drawings from the war years. The room was part of the Shoah exhibit in Block 27. The above drawing displays the railroad tracks leading into the entrance of Auschwitz II. The exhibit contained dozens of reproduced drawings found in concentration camps, orphanages, and hiding places. Although many sketches revealed the ordinary imaginations of youth such as family, animals, and flowers, a large portion revealed a child’s experience of life in Nazi-occupied Europe.

Children commonly reflect their surroundings and experiences of their world, yet looking back on this piece of history through the eyes of a child is particularly jarring. This insight into a child’s mind is also seen in The Holocaust Kingdom through Alexander Donat’s (Michael Berg) son William (Wlodek). Donat would come home from work in the ghetto to Wlodek playing make-believe games with another child. He recalls his “son was screaming, 'Juden raus! Allen Juden runter!' They were playing the resettlement game” (Donat 90). These harsh German words translating to ‘Jews out! All Jews down!’ were being shouted from the mouth of a four-and-a-half-year-old Jewish boy. Without a full comprehension of the world around him, the impressionable child was left with the dangerous combination of the toxicity in these words and the imagination his age brings.

Replication of a Child’s Drawing of a Threatening Soldier.

The drawing shows a woman. trapped by trees, vulnerable to the will of a soldier with a weapon. This portrayal was a common occurrence to war time activity, potentially witnessed by the drawing’s artist. The violence seen in this image was clearly felt by the child as they later drew it. Similar to Wlodek’s make-believe game, the drawing served as an outlet for what the child experienced. The violence seen by Wlodek caused him to have inclinations towards pretending to act out the anger, even just for a game. Donat was concerned, as many parents would be, by the rise in violent behavior he saw in his child.

The subjects of these drawings and games, though distressing to any individual, could be especially traumatic to the vulnerable mind of a child. Without the proper development to process the events happening before one’s eyes, the innocence of the child is broken. Beyond the shift in childhood drawings and games, the child’s psyche becomes darker, angrier. Their innocence is taken, forcing them to comprehend the real world far too early.

What moved me about this exhibit was its initial simplicity and brightness. I walked into a room of four white walls filled only with pencil sketches. It is immediately obvious that these pictures were made by children, creating an almost lighthearted sensation as I remember the countless scribbles that represented my own childhood experience. Only upon a closer look did I realize the material that tormented these bright walls. My emotions changed in conjunction to my realization of the innocence of these poor child victims. Age does not create security from the Holocaust’s damaging impact. This truth was instilled in me as I mourned for the loss of these young lives over their own form of testimonials to the horrors endured by so many.

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