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| Grave Markers at Jewish Cemetery Photo by Kristie Botti |
During our first few hours in Poland, we had the opportunity
to visit the Jewish Cemetery in Oświęcim. After receiving a tour with the most
intelligent Sister Mary of the Center for Prayer and Dialogue, our group
discovered that many Jewish landmarks of Oświęcim were destroyed during the
Nazi reign. One of these landmarks was the Jewish Cemetery in the center of the
town. Sister Mary unlocked the gate for our group and we hesitantly wandered
inside the gates. This was one of the first major landmarks in Poland that we
visited, and anti-Semitism was immediately visible in the dilapidated cemetery.
We were informed that after the war, this cemetery was destroyed, and the grave
markers were thrown about the plots of land, cracking in the process. As I
walked into this cemetery on the first day, I internalized all of the eeriness
of nature that was before me. Sister Mary informed us that this cemetery has
many unidentified graves, and because of the Holocaust, there is no one alive
to take care of them. Only volunteers have been dedicating their time to help
beautify the cemetery after a big movement for repair was initialized.
The results of the repaired
cemetery are profound. Grave markers are aligned in an orderly fashion within
the fenced area. They stand erect as a symbol of strength. It is a fitting
symbol in the environment that we have experienced at Auschwitz, giving me the
first sense of the strength of the Jewish people here in Poland. It represents
the courage and strength that the Jewish population had during this time period
in battling adversity and overcoming hardships through restoration.
It seemed symbolic that each
erected tombstone was marked with a painted number, like the tattoo numbers on
the skin of Jewish prisoners inside concentrations camps. Even in death, each
of these people was just a number. Still, these nameless graves were honored
with the Jewish custom of placing stones at the site of death, honoring those
who lost their lives during the Nazi reign. These were present in various areas
in the cemetery that we observed.
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| Mass Grave Memorial Site at Auschwitz-Birkenau Photo by Marina Falisi |
After visiting the cemetery, I had
a similar experience when we took part in a memorial service in Auschwitz-Birkenau
at the site of a field that serves as a mass grave. It was here that we were
able to honor the lives of those whose bodies and ashes lie beneath the surface
of the field. There are no grave markers and no numbers, only a memorial that
reads, in several different languages, “To the men, women, and children who
fell victim to the Nazi genocide. Here lie their ashes. May their souls rest in peace.”
It was here that we were able to recite the El Malei Rahamim. Together we prayed, “Exalted
compassionate God, grant perfect peace in Your sheltering Presence, among the
holy and pure, to the souls of all our brethren, me, women, and children of the
House of Israel who were slaughtered and suffocated and burnt to ashes. May
their memory endure, inspiring truth and loyalty in our lives. May their souls
thus be bound up in the bond of life. May they rest in peace. And let us say:
Amen.” Upon the finishing of our prayer service, each Iona student placed a
rock on the surface of the memorial markers that are positioned before the mass
grave. This was a powerful image displaying the change of attitude towards
Jewish resting places.
The graves in both the Jewish cemetery and at Birkenau were
unmarked and the result of cruel Nazi rulers. However, even with all the
destruction in Birkenau, after all this time, the Jewish people that are buried
in the field are resting without a number, with the respect and compassion
shown by the visitors of the site.
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