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

Read More

Witnessing Auschwitz

The day trip to Wadowice, which was the birth place Pope John Paul the 2^nd showed the good aspects that Poland has to offer before transitioning to two concentration camps. When in Wadowice I experienced Palm Sunday mass. I noticed right away that life in Poland was filled with joy. The church is located in the city square. Within the square were local shops and education facilities which Pope John Paul attended. The interesting part of this trip was the high security prison in the center of the town. Other noticeable building was remnants of a synagogue transformed into an active preschool. This preschool is a symbol of new life replacing all the destruction the synagogue endored during the war.

When arriving to both camps, the surrounding structures and land were populated with developing villages. I don’t know how one could come back knowing the cruel behavior that toke place on their land. This just shows that all residence of Poland had to ignore and move on, which says a lot. Before I made the trip to Poland I read a ton of articles describing the culture before, during and after the war. Being able to stand on the ground where the Shoah occurred I couldn’t but now could imagine the amount of pain people were felling as I walked though the camps.

The first camp visited was Auschwitz I, comparing to Birkenau, Auschwitz I has 28 barracks versus over 300 barracks. However, that didn’t mean Auschwitz I wasn’t deadly. This camp involved deaths and destruction of Polish prisoners and later the Jewish population after 1942. Walking though the gates, knowing the original gates where stolen by someone that didn’t respect the events occurred are questioning how the world was affected by the Shoah. There were rules in place, for every prisoner who escaped, ten prisoners would be executed. To account for every prisoner each person was “tagged” and a roll call was conducted twice a day. The prisoners would stand in lines until everyone were fully accounted for. The longest roll call was 19 hours, imagine standing at attention for long periods of time and not knowing if you will be alive end of the roll call. All prisoners worked 12 hours shifts for six days out of the week, when not working they were sleeping however, the sleeping barracks held 1800 and the sleeping areas were constructed from wood. Some prisoners died from the sleeping environment others became ill.

Auschwitz II also known as Birkenau showed the reality of the conditions of every poisoner. Hearing that 50-60 thousand people lived in this camp was not comprehensible by the living quarters seen. Walking from barrack to barrack I couldn’t imagine the prisoners walking with non-existent shoes and cloths day after day. My group and I went to the camp on a gloomy day. The gloom put a day into context for a murky day. Having two coats, pants and water-resistant shoes was a luxury compared to all the prisoners. When it started sleeting on the way to the registration building until know I could feel how they felt, step after step.

Spending time at both concentration camps, I was amazed by the distinction of the barracks and how neatly they were constructed. When I heard the prisoners build all barracks were insane. Both the barracks and camps needed time to plan and heavy machinery to construct in a timely fashion. Its stunning that one could think of constructing these camps with precision. When the prisoners arrived all belongings were sent to a barrack “Canada”, the Nazi’s got this name because of the meaning of richness. When being transported the prisoners were told to bring what you could hold. When they arrived everyone were to get out of the trains, who were alive and form a line. On the way to decision of path they were instructed to drop everything. Lastly, learning the fact that Hitler never once visited any of the ordered camps raised a question: Could the camps been stopped with appropriate backing?

-Elijah Ziobron

Read More

How to Witness the Shoah

Stepping out of the plane was a relive of plane encapsulation for a twelve-hour period however, knowing the week we have in store balances into a long and intense experience that I for one haven’t encountered (until know) and will never forget. The past eight weeks have felt enough information to making it though the week fell. The Holocaust Museum, two films, and an account from a survivor (one survivor talk in store this week) have taught me how to be a witness well not becoming a bystander and I will be share to come back to becoming a witness.

The first witness to my learning of the Shoah was arriving to the Pray and Dialog center and meeting sister Mary. The center is similar to a peaceful resort even though the center is placed across the street from Auschwitz I. Sister Mary is someone that confirms and helps organizes our schedule for the week, she also helps if I have any questions on any experience I have throughout the week. She reminded me of both my great-grandmother and grandmother not only because they are not Polish but they have the voice of a soft-spoken was one one of the first interactions had in Poland culture. Before the first night ended she described four main points to take into account while studying (observing) the Shoah and traveling to Poland (Auschwitz/ Oswiecim):

·      Listening to the voice of the earth… 

            The earth is the atmosphere that we live. Similar to everything on earth, we have to have knowledge of the object we have to get a sense of its capacity, living. A survivors testifying to the 225 thousand people that lost their lives of Poland.

·      Listen to your heart…

               Looking at the World status today and trying to view the value and hope that still exist today. There are the good people but the good is canceled when there is terror in the world, the value and hope will then get reevaluated until the good is restored.

·      Listen to others…  

            “Touching a worn will hurt but around the worn will make it feel better,” survivor’s testimonies of the Shoah will hurt when discussing the cruel events that occurred to them and for some will be relived that each account is shared.

·      To listen to the voice of god…

            “Why am I here, respect what can’t be said.”

These main points are in relation to Nostra Aetate by being able to discuss religion with anyone without consequences and discussing what makes a religion and how everyone translates all meaning a specific religion.

Taking the four points in mind I toured two cemeteries of Oswiecim. One that was destroyed because of anti-Semitism but then later preserved for a memorial. The destroyed cemetery during the war was preserved to a meaning of reflecting on the six million people who both are survivors and who lost their lives. Each individual grave stones were scattered in an order fashion with some stones having a digit on the back side of the grave because some stones where not readable by the destruction of the grave yard. The numbering on the back reminds me of not the name of the person but the number that was giving during imprisonment by the Nazis. A couple of kilometers further was a living cemetery. Like any modern cemetery, the second one was organized and present with people of all identities roaming the ground to remember their loved ones that have past. When walking though the both cemeteries I noticed the layout and mood if the cemeteries and both brings peace to the living and the died.

Destroyed Cemetery 

-Elijah Ziobron

Read More