Look Me In The Eyes

Millions of people with ordinary lives had everything taken from them under the rule of Nazi Germany—their families, their belongings, and ultimately their humanity. They were even given numbers as a replacement of their names. The Nazis purposely treated them as if they were animals, and stripped them of all rights they had as humans. The one right they were given, according to these Nazis, was the right to die.

Throughout this week in Poland, we as a group have seemed to create a unique emphasis on eyes. This was very apparent at first in pictures of the prisoners at each of the camps. Our tour guide, Lidia, would ask us, “What do you see in their eyes? Do you see fear? Or sadness?” at first, I thought “Yes, they were mostly likely about to be murdered, so of course they are afraid”. Lidia reminded us that the Jewish people were told they were moving to the East to start a new life, so they packed their clothes and belongings and imagined this new life that they were promised. Perhaps I had failed to truly look those photographed soon-to-be prisoners in the eyes, as I would have instead seen the utter confusion that they felt.

Pictured here are Jews walking to the gas chambers at Auschwitz-Birkenau. At this point, they were still ordinary people in ordinary clothes, with no idea where they were going. You can truly feel the emotion behind this image by looking into their eyes and seeing the ordinary confusion.

Another time that this concept of deep eye contact with another person came up was during the third of Father Manfred’s lectures, in which he talked about God’s presence, or lack of presence, at Auschwitz. He talked about the importance of relationships in our lives, and referred to those relationships as our responsibility. The best way, he said, to develop and to deepen relationships in our lives is to look into somebody’s eyes rather than at them. By doing that, he said we are looking at something behind the eyes and inevitably forming a deeper connection with that person.

Upon creating deep, meaningful relationships with people after looking through the windows to the soul, we instantly recognize their humanity. No matter their occupation, race, or religion, they are humans and we can connect with them even just on that level. Christians know that, according to the Bible, all humans are made in the image and likeness of God. This is emphasized in Nostra Aetate, which we reviewed in class. Nostra Aetate is the Second Vatican Council’s declaration on the relation of the Church to non-Christian religions. Here is the final paragraph from the document:

The Church reproves, as foreign to the mind of Christ, any discrimination against men or harassment of them because of their race, color, condition of life, or religion. On the contrary, following in the footsteps of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, this sacred synod ardently implores the Christian faithful to "maintain good fellowship among the nations" (1 Peter 2:12), and, if possible, to live for their part in peace with all men,(14) so that they may truly be sons of the Father who is in heaven.(15)

In conclusion, we can clearly see the lack of respect for the humanity of the Jewish people by the Nazis during the Shoah. With the fact that this could all happen again since it already happened once, it can be prevented by simply forming deep connections with others, who may happen to be different than us, and looking them into their eyes and thus into their soul. Hopefully this will allow better understanding between people and ultimately create peace.

Pictured here are the photographs of the prisoners at Auschwitz I. Seeing these, I remembered that there were real people behind the numbers, and there are real emotions and feelings behind those eyes.