Blog 1

This picture was taken on March 20, 2019 in Kraków Poland at 4:53pm. I chose this picture because I liked how the community got together and decided they needed a way to show their respect for the people who suffered in the Holocaust and remembered those who lost their lives and suffered. In this picture it shows a memorial for holocaust victims. This picture symbolizes that we will never forget the events that happened during the Shoah and we use this as a reminder why we should never let this happen again. As we walked up to this memorial we had to pass through an old Jewish graveyard and the old places that used to be forced work places for people who were forced to live in the ghettos and work. The work that had to be done here was building housing and other work places. We placed rocks on the memorial to pay our respects. We learned from Stan who came to talk to our class that In the Jewish culture that places rocks at graves and memorials. The Jewish peoples do this because flowers have a short season in Jerusalem, and rocks are always around. Also, rocks are more permanent then flowers, since flowers will eventually die. As we were walking through this now national park many emotions passed through me. We walked through this park after looking around the old Krakow ghettos. I could imagine and picture these prisoners lives during World War 2. I could picture there long and painful walk every mooring across town around the train tracks to get to work. How they would have to work in any weather condition with limited clothing, no shoes, and barley anything to eat. Then those unfortunate people working from sunrise to sunset every day, just to walk the excruciating walk back to their ghetto. I must have been so horrible to work in these conditions under these circumstances, and I could imagine how it was made worse by the fact that they are working on a Jewish graveyard that was destroyed by the Germans to make this workplace. As our tour guide was taking us around the city of Krakow showing us the towns ghetto and these workplaces, she was telling us personal stories of the people really helped me and the rest on the class. Hearing the personal stories really helped me connect what I was seeing and helped me picture people having to live this way. I think this memorial that we visited is in a perfect spot. It is right were many events of World War 2 took place. This memorial was in three different languages. This allows many different people who speak different languages to be able to read the inscription. This monument is also done so greatly because even if you don’t speak or understand the languages on the monument people can still understand the importance of this and get the full message and effect that was indented from this monument. I am extremely grateful for this experience and for the fact that I got to show my respect for the victims of the Shoah.

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Birkenhough related to the last days

On the trip to Auschwitz Birkenau I was in awe about the size of the camp. Looking out onto the camp grounds all I could think of was imagining all of the people there. Thousands and Thousands of people lined up in the barracks. Looking at the train car and railroad tracks I just imagined the people getting pulled off and sorted for selection. Everything came into full circle, from learning about it to actually standing where this horrible murders happened. The whole time I was in Birkenau the only thing I could really focus on was imaging the people who were imprisoned there. I started to think about the Movie we watched in the “The Last days.” In this movie the story of five Hungarian Jews who survived Auschwitz are told. Alice Lok Cahana, told her story of survival and what she had to endure on her horrific stay in Auswitchz. While in the camp Alice was on my mind as I walked through the women’s camp and passed the crematorium all I thought about was how Alice and the rest of survivors from the last days were standing in the exact spot where I am standing, However, the only difference was that they were prisoners of the Germans and I was not.

View from the observation tower in Auswitchz Birkenau

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The Art

Flying home there was a consensus within the class, what do we say when people ask how our trip was? Did we have fun? This was not a trip in which you go home and say “I had fun” like our peers who went on other trips for their spring breaks. This was a learning experience that I think all of us still need to process.

On Wednesday of our trip we went to the exhibit for Mariana Kołodzieja, he was a Christian Pole who was in Auschwitz One. His experience at the camp was too difficult for him to speak about so he drew. He created these intense and extremely intricate pieces that depicted the prisoners, the SS guards, and demons. For the amount of work he created and how he himself had it displayed we needed more time than we had to really look at all the pieces and view his story. That night when I laid in bed, I closed my eyes and saw the desperate faces he drew. (Seen in the picture to the right)

David Olère, another artist we saw who shared their experience through painting. Olère was a sonderkomando, a prisoner who was forced to work in the crematorium, the one who took the bodies from the gas chamber to the fire. His work was dark and beautiful just as Kołodzieja’s work, although for me maybe a little less haunting. Olère’s work depicted the experiments done on women, the process the sonderkomandos put the corpses, and depictions of the cremation process. One of the painting that stuck out to me most was titled “Freedom begins at the top of a chimney.” The part of the painting I remember was in the chimney smoke of the crematorium there were ghosts or souls of the victims. I think it depicts how horrible the conditions were at the camps and how many would be murdered every day.

The sign for David Olere’s exhibit at Auschwitz 1    

In class our professor quoted Michael Berenbaum when he referred to reflecting on the holocaust is to think of the absence of presence and the presence of absence. This quote relates to the work of Mariana Kołodzieja and David Olère because the presence of their work is a presence of absence, highlighting the 6million souls lost in the camps. I personally felt the absence of presence walking through Birkenau. Walking through the children’s barracks, block 16, there was a mural when you first walk through the door. The Museum doesn’t know who exactly created these but know it was most likely another prisoner who wanted to give the children a more permanent gift.

Before this trip I knew I would learn about suffering and the effects of hate. I did not expect to see amazing works of art that fought against the hate. I still do not know what I will tell family and friends when they ask if I had fun but I know I can say I learned more dimensions than I thought I would and overall had a great trip through Poland.

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Conclusion

As we headed back to the United States on our final day I can reminisce on what I have seen and experienced on the trip to Poland. On our final day at Poland we explored more of the city of Krakow and saw many beautiful sites. The group that I was with was able to see the lake where the Soviets crossed during the winter to liberate the city. The churches were massive. In one of them we saw a drop of blood of pope John Paul 2. The city was packed and filled with so much of Poland’s history.

What still gets to me is the hatred of the Jews. On the whole trip in general I still cannot get over the fact that their was so much hatred towards Jews. What got to me was looking at the history when I learned in class about some of the famous people who had big hatred towards the people and its religion. What I realized is that Hitler had similar views about the Jews as Martin Luther did. While on the trip it was easy to tell how hatred and history can repeat themselves especially in today's society.

Hundreds of years ago Martin Luther stated that the Jews were nothing but liars. He even wrote about in a book even said quote the the Jews are “Spawns of Satan.” As time progressed to the 1930s we can see how Hitler uses his quotes in order to persuade others by saying “The Jews are nothing but thieves and are evil.” We often learned about Anti Semitism and its routes especially when it comes to Martin Luther. It can show people can be motivated by the past and reenact history to the best to its ability. When we look at today with Anti Semitism we can learn how it’s still alive and that past can be recreated.

With shootings and vandalism in the U.S. against Jews it can show how some like to reenact or be motivated by others actions. But some believe that people will target a whole group of other people especially in the present day. 911 brought a big number of racism towards Muslims and in a article a while ago it said that China began to separate and even deport Chinese Muslims. This is a giant red flag and warning how history is repeating itself but with a different religion and group of people. Hitler blamed the Jews for Germany's problems and now with Islamic terrorism people are blaming the Muslim religion. My greatest fear after going to the concentration camp is that one day someone will have that much hatred towards Muslims that god forbid will begin deportations and will ultimately repeat the worst time in human history. So what we need to do is always be tolerant but mainly if something bad happens and someone or some group takes credit for it. We must not always blame the whole race or group. Because one doesn't speak for all.

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Reflecting back on Poland

It has been a week since returning from Poland and I have had a lot of time to reflect and think about my experience and all of the knowledge that I acquired since being there. Since being home, many people have asked me how the experience was, whether it was enjoyable or not, or whether or not I had fun. Fun? Fun is not the right word to use when describing the experience. It has taken me time to process everything and be able to put into words how this experience was, and I can truly say it was an eye-opening experience that allowed me to expand my knowledge of the holocaust.

Throughout my time in Poland, there were some difficult days and days that were harder than others, especially the days where we walked through the camps and heard the stories of the prisoners. With each story I heard I tried to imagine myself as a prisoner and what it would be like in the camps and I could not process it. I do not think that I would have lasted longer than a week! Returning from the camps on those difficult days, I would head straight to my room and sit in bed thinking about everything I just learned about and what I saw. A lot of days were emotional. Meeting past students who had gone on the trip, and hearing their stories of the emotions you would feel, made it easier to get through those days. Hearing them tell us it would be okay to cry or not cry helped tremendously. I also felt that the reflections really put into perspective what I saw that day or what I was feeling.

Throughout my time in Poland, I realized that some of what I have learned about the Holocaust, especially in school, has been false or not entirely true. This made me realize that my goal after returning from the trip is to educate others on the events that took place during the Holocaust. How the events took place; why they took place; who tried to help. The education system/curriculum needs to revise what they teach in schools about what took place during the Holocaust. It is important to educate students properly and truthfully so that we can learn from history and hopefully be able to prevent another heinous crime such as this, from happening again.

Many of these prisoners were extremely brave and showed tremendous courage. One prisoner who showed courage and was brave and that stood out to me, was Maximillian Kolbe. He volunteered to take the place of a prisoner who was going to be sent to death after calling out for both his wife and children. Maximillian was sent to a starvation room where he died. This story has stuck with me the most because I thought about what I would do in his position, would I had volunteered to take a prisoner’s place? I honestly do not know if I would be as brave and courageous as he was. I would hope that the strength and resilience, the faith and courage that the prisoners showed during this horrible time will continue to be documented, so that schools will continue to educate students on the events that occurred during the Holocaust, so that it is never forgotten, that the people will always be remembered, and that something like that will never happen again.

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Survivors in 2019

For the past few years, I have commonly heard that we are losing the greatest generation. This phrase refers to those who were born in the time period of 1901 to 1927, and many of these people fought in WWII. This generation also includes the survivors of the Shoah. Unfortunately, those who were old enough to have memories of being in the Holocaust are getting older and older and passing away.

While we were at the JCC, or the Jewish Community Center in Krakow, we attended a Shabbat service and dinner. While we were waiting for the service to start, a husband and wife came in, and the wife started asking us about our trip. Her husband joined and we soon found out that he was a child survivor. He was born in Berlin, Germany, and was nine years old when restrictions started being placed on Jewish people. He told us how he remembered his mother giving him a sweater with a gold star on it, and how she told him he had to wear it at all times. This was the modern version of Canon 68, put out by the Fourth Lateran Council stipulating that Jews and Saracens had to be distinguishable through their dress. One day on his way to school he decided not to wear it. He was stopped by officers in brown uniforms who asked him where he was going. He pointed to his books and backpack and said he was going to school. They asked him if he was a Jew. He said he clearly remembered the anxiety he felt in that moment, not knowing the right answer to the question. Unfortunately, we did not get to hear the end of the story because we were interrupted.

He also told us how he remembered Kristallnacht. His father owned a few shops, and he remembered all the broken glass and the looting that happened to his father’s stores. After Kristallnacht, his family fled Germany and ended up in Panama. From there they were able to gain access to the US. He was able to live his life and get PhDs in economics. He built a successful career in areas of nuclear energy and artificial intelligence.

I thought it was really interesting and impactful to meet a child survivor, especially in the place of his worship. Six million Jewish people never got the opportunity to get PhDs or educations because they were targeted for their beliefs. His family was lucky. They were able to escape Germany before they were shipped to either a concentration camp, a forced labor camp, or even a death camp. He was very open about sharing his story, and we were really fortunate to be able to get to opportunity to meet him and hear his story. It makes me think about all the survivors who are going about their daily lives while still bearing the weight of their experiences in the Shoah.

A map of many of the place Jews were deported from.

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We remember: A Struggle Between Good and Evil

I am currently on the plane leaving Poland to head home. Being on this long flight has given me time to reflect. My experience this week has been nothing short of incredible. It is difficult to put into words the amount of knowledge and experience I have received. My knowledge of the Shoah and Jewish-Christian relations has increased further than I ever thought possible. I have noticed a reoccurring theme of good vs evil throughout this trip. The Shoah was an experience of absolute evil, but what I have learned is that the Shoah also contained some of the purest forms of good. It is vital for our future to learn from this evil and to try to develop a world of good.

The suffering of Jews preceded the Holocaust. This hate went as far back as the 1500’s when Martin Luther announced his dissertation demonetizing and denouncing the Jewish religion. Since then it has only gotten worse. The Shoah was a break in history, the worst case of inhumaneness the world had ever seen. A quote by Father Emil Shofani states:

“It is not about good vs evil, but where is the person, the respect for a person? Where is the human being? That is the question.”

The concept of good vs evil can be seen as a choice. The topic of whether it was a choice is controversial. I personally believe that it was both. I think it was a choice to join Hitler’s regime. I think it was a choice to pull the trigger on an innocent child. I think it was a choice to lead a family into the gas chambers. However there was fear. Fear led to peer pressure of doing what the other SS men had to do. Fear of not following orders and what those consequences may be for you and your family. Many believed they did not have a choice; therefore they were not good nor evil they were just human. Humans following orders and doing a job to survive.

The struggle between good and evil is an ongoing battle even today. Over this past week I have seen many memorials that commemorate the 6 million lives lost. Memorials to honor those who have suffered. When I was visiting the grounds of what was the Plaszow concentration camp, I came across this large monument. It depicted five people with sullen faces. There was a large crack across the five figures. To me this crack represents the break in history that is the Shoah. The monument is there to remind us to learn from the past. It reminds us to remember the evil and build a future of good. They are unfortunately far too many instances of evil surrounding the holocaust even today. There are still holocaust deniers that are attempting to educate the youth of false facts and hate speech. There are still anti-Semites who praise the work Hitler had done. In the words of Stanley Ronell we must “deny the deniers.” We can no longer be bystanders. We must act against the hate and continue the legacy of the 6 million people who were murdered. It is our job as witnesses to educate others about the tragic past of the holocaust. As the saying goes "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

This image depicts the monument on the ground of what was the Plaszow concentration camp. This monument was created to commemorate the Poles and Jews who lost their lives there.

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