I’m not sure about this trip.
First of all, it may mean that my blog posts are going to appear at random times over the next few days. Because I will be traveling to places that may not have the best internet service (or, at all!)- and there is a significant time shift. But, that’s only part of the reasons why I’m not sure about this trip.
The other reason is where I’m going. I normally visit places where my clients’ reside or operate. And, a few times a year, I manage to travel places about which I wish to learn more. And, then, of course, there’s Israel (which includes all of the above). But, this trip I’m taking at the suggestion of my son. Who will also be my traveling companion.
.We are going to go to Auschwitz. Birkenau. Oswiecim. Those names bring dread to almost every Jewish person. Because it was among the most notorious of the death camps the Germans operated with Polish citizenry compliance. I’m sorry if you want me to be politically correct. When it comes to this issue, there is no blanking way I will mince words.
Sure, it was a Nazi policy. But, the German people (thankfully not 100% of them) were more than willing accomplices. Who did nothing as the Reich stripped Jews of their jobs, their homes, their money, and their dignity. And, most of them gleefully joined in the effort.
Let us not forget Josef Mengele, the Angel of Death or Dr. Carl Clauberg, who experimented (read tortured) upon live children. Or the company Bayer that bought prisoners (read: condemned for the crime of being Jewish) from Auschwitz upon whom they would test new drugs.
Or, the Poles, who always hated the Jews. (Perhaps the past tense may be a little too gentle. After all, when Lech Walesa [the darling of many a Westerner and American elite] lost his election, he blamed his loss on the Jews. Like the 1000 or so remaining Jewish residents of Poland could vote 300 X apiece to turn the election against him.)
Do you really believe that none of the Polish citizens living in the Auschwitz area knew that Jewish bodies were being burned? There’s no blanking way. The smell of burning corpses is blatantly obvious. OK, enough about the citizenry.
So, why visit Auschwitz at all? To learn firsthand (as an example, since not all of them were killed here) how 6 million Jews could be murdered. How the gold in their teeth would be removed for use by the Reich. Shoes collected. (For what purpose?)
My son and I want to discern how human beings can devise such terrible means to eradicate a civilization of those they don’t like. (This had been repeated on much smaller scales in the Former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Sudan. I fear certain people in America would love to have their own shot at such atrocities, too.)
We will walk along the ‘paths’ from the rail siding to the crematoria to the slave quarters. We will also honor the memory of at least two Holocaust survivors who have since died- Victor Frankl (a’h) and Eli Wiesel (a’h).
I never met Dr. Victor Frankl, a psychiatrist from Vienna, but I read many of his writings. This one sticks in my mind: Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.
Eli Wiesel, who stood for most of the past 70 years as a harbinger to our consciousness of the inhumanity we effect on one another, will be in my mind, as well.. Dr. Weisel also taught us that the opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference.
We will have already visited Krakow, before arriving in the town of Oswiecim (where Auschwitz resides). This was one of the first Nazi instituted ghettos in Europe (certainly the first of many in Poland). Prior to that, Krakow was one of the thriving populations of Judaism in Poland (since the 12th century), with Jews comprising some 30% of the city’s population- until the Nazis took over, which left barely 6000 Jews (about 1/10 the population from before the War). Where Rabbi Moshe Isserles (the ‘Rama’) provided counsel to Jews far and wide. (I was involved in the development of an internet site in the early 1990s to bring his old shul and his writing to life for our younger people.)
When we leave Auschwitz, my son and I will then travel to Prague. This city has many surviving Jewish sites (including the Spanish Synagogue and Old-New Synagogue, the Jewish Ceremonial Hall, and the Old Jewish Cemetery) in the section of the Old City called Josefov, which was settled by Jews somewhere in the 10th century (with a pogrom less than a century later).
I’m sure I will report more after the trip has been completed.
I had chills reading this as I have heard stories first hand of what people went through as I had a friend who was a little boy and him and his mom lived through it. Now he is in Heaven God rest his Soul. Have a Blessed day.
Glenda Cates recently posted..When you do something for 21 days you create a habit.
Yes, Glenda. The atrocities we inflict upon others- in the name of religion, country, or political beliefs- are truly terrifying.
I was about to say the same thing. There are those who’d like to deny that this happened or lessen the impact of deaths or torture. We, as a people, are capable of great degrees of compassion and (torture).
Sara Beth recently posted..Collecting Memories [FMF Linky]
Thanks, Sarah for your visit and your comment. Right now, it’s 2 AM in Krakow. We plan to be at Auschwitz at 9 AM. I’ll keep you posted
I look forward to your posts with great interest. I may not get to read them in the next week, but I will. This is a trip I may want to make one day, too, “because”.
Alana recently posted..Skywatch Friday – Post Storm Sunset
I can promise you they won’t appear next week, Alana. Because those posts have been in the queue for a while!
It will be an incredibly somber trip for sure. Though I genuinely believe in keeping these places of past atrocities preserved so that future generations can visit, and never repeat the same. I’m mind blown at not only the Nazi policy of the time, but how so MANY people, nations, political players, across the board stood by and let it happen. At some point you would hope that human decency trancends religion and belief, though I dare say if you proposed a similar scenario of concentration camps for certain religious groups in America right now, a lot of the population would jump for it. It saddens me to no end. I hope there is joy in your trip beyond the concentration camp visits – Prague is a beautiful city.
There is even a new book (finally!) that depicts the Red Cross’ complicity with the Nazi atrocities. (And, complicity is not even a strong enough verb!)
That’s why we are adding such places to our trip. To understand how some good can possible arise from such terribleness.
Thanks for the visit and the comment, Megan
Very interesting … we just got back from a trip to Frankfurt and Vienna. While in Vienna we visited the Matthausen concentration camp. It was difficult but very worthwhile. I knew I would be compelled to write about it but I wasn’t sure how. As it turns out, inspiration came in the form of a blog about civil disobedience which I will post on Sunday. What I find interesting is the common inspiration we have had over the past couple of blog posts. Safe travels.
Allison:
My first trip to Vienna stunned me. Because the Jewish quarter was under the protection of a few carrying automatic rifles, and one needed to explain why they were making the visit.
Powerful post. My mother was in occupied Belgium during the Nazi regime. She knew, all too well, the horrors of the Jews, and many non-Jews being carted off to the camps.
Her uncle was in the underground resistance and was literally beheaded when caught.
I know this will be a deeply emotional, soul opening experience and look forward to reading your posts.
Kathleen Gage recently posted..A crucial insight for authors to increase revenue opportunities
Thanks, Kathleen. I am pretty sure they will appear in August. Both to let my feelings coalesce..and because my queue is filed!
Such a horrific part of history. My husband worked with someone who lost both his parents in Auschwitz, somehow he managed to survive but his memories are heartbreaking.
Martha recently posted..HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZACHARY
I have several friends who are children of survivors, Martha.
There is a definite ‘syndrome’ that affects their lives.
I was on a choir tour of Poland and Germany back in 1989, just before Germany was reunited. We visited Auschwitz. It was a heartbreaking experience. The energy of the place was overwhelming. We all cried. For me, it was shocking to think of the things that human beings do to other human beings. Elie Wiesel was right. Indifference is far worse than hostility because indifferent people let bad things happen.
Alice:
Your comments are right on target. Thanks for the visit and the great comment.
I can only imagine how difficult of a trip this must be. Personally I feel like a visit myself would be overwhelming but a worthwhile challenge.
The first part was terrible, Alessa- thanks for your thoughts. But, Prague and Israel lifted our spirits dramatically