Reflections

(andy's first post)

“Are there still Jews alive today, mummy?”
“Why yes, dear, there are.”
“But where do they live?”
“Oh, all over, there are even some here today.”

This was a snipit of conversation I overheard at the impressive new Jewish museum in Berlin between a British girl and her mummy. I felt like saying, “Look, over here- a real live Jew is standing right next to you, alive and kicking!” And, when I think about it, it is amazing that any of us are still alive- and not just alive but thriving and successful and powerful.


(Holocaust memorial in Berlin)

Coming “home” to my ancestors’ countries of Germany and Poland has been very memorable. I have run through the gammet of emotions, it is hard to make sense of them all. Germany was the hardest for me- a place where Hitler and all of his followers agreed that exterminating Jews was a necessary step en route to world domination. I wanted to look into the eyes of the elderly Germans and say, “How could you have let the Shoa (Holocaust) happen? Why didn’t you stand up and do something?”

I felt somewhat entitled- I’m not going to pay for the subway because, not only does nobody check for tickets, but a free subway ride is the least that Germany can offer me after what they did to my people.

In Prague, I felt proud of the beautiful synogogues that were still standing and held their own against the cathedral at the castle. The Spanish synogoue in particular, with its Moorish designes, stained glass windows and gold plating was regal. We laughed at the irony of the “Jewish Quarters” in Prague and Krakow, which are now big tourist attractions and thriving neighborhoods.

In Amsterdam, I felt despair, after seeing the words “F—k Israel” grafitied on a small holocoast memorial. After what the Jews have been through, how dare people deface their memory and criticize our homeland.

I have felt anger, and have started to undertand how Jews have been blamed for thousands of years throughout history for everything! From the death of Christ to the Black Plague in medieval Europe (Christians said Jews had poisoned the wells) Jews have been blamed, and exterminated or chased away from their homes, in an ongoing diaspora. After WWII we finally were given Israel, a tiny piece of land for all Jews to call home and a safe haven if (and when) we are hunted again. In Prague I saw pictures drawn by children from the Terezin concentration camp displaying images of hope with families marching to freedom in Palestine. Even Anne Frank writes of the hope of Palestine in her diary (which Eric and I just re-read). I started to deeply undertand why Israel is unrelenting in their fight against all who attack them. We are not going to take it anymore. We have the capability to fight back, finally, and now we are not going to sit back and let others boss us around- never again!


(eric with umbrella walking under the gate leading to Aushwitz.
The words mean Work will set you free. The jewish workers who
erected the gate put the B upside down as a silent protest)

This week, on a stormy day, we visited the Aushwitz & Birkenau concentration camps, where about 1.5 million of the 6 million Jews were killed during the Holocaust. I do not have words to express my feelings right now. I will saw that I have never felt so in awe of a place. These death factories spread out over miles! It is not even fair to say that the Nazis treated the Jews like animals, for animals are treated far better. The camps consisted of rows and rows of “human stables”, where people slept four or five to a level on straw beds if they were lucky and usually starved or froze to death. The exhibits took you through “disinfecting showers” where the “lucky” prisoners who were selected to live (mostly strong young men) were sprayed down and deloused with chemicals, or had experimantal medical procedures done to them. We saw “Block 11” the death block where prisoners were taken for punishment or shot to death on the wall outside. The jail in the basement of Block 11 had ridiculous torture cells such as the cell with a one inch square window where prisoners usually suffocated to death or the “standing cell” where four men in a four foot square cell would have to stand for four or more days, often dying of exhaustion or hunger.


(Barbed wire at Aushwitz)

We gasped at piles of preserved “evidence of genocide” that the Nazis forgot to burn or didn’t have time to discard before the camp was liberated in January 1945. Whole buildings filled with shoes, eyeglasses, crutches, even beautiful tallit (prayer shalls) took our breath away. The most memorable for me was the room full of hair, which was removed from the dead bodies, packaged in large bags and sold to textile companies to make cloth. Although all of the displays were behind glass windows, the stench of the hair permeated through the cracks in the display case and engulfed the room with the scent of death and decay. The nauseating stench of the hair caught me off guard. Suddenly, everything became real. The decaying hair was not just an inanimate display of mismatched shoes or broken eyeglasses, but had been killed by the Nazis as well.
Worst of all were the gas chambers, most of which had been dismantled and blasted with dynamite right before the camp was liberated by the Russians to destroy the evidence. (In fact, most of the prisoners, except for those who could not walk were taken to central Germany before the camp liberation so they wouldn’t discover the size of the camp. Only about 7,000 prisoners were left at Aushwitz/Birkenau mostly women, children and the weak.) The trains pulled into the camp, past the main gate to the dividing platform where families were forever separated. A few men and women who were fit to work were quickly examined and pointed to the right; everyone else marched forward towards their death. They did not want a panic, so everyone was instructed to disrobe for a shower. Then, people were herded into the “showers”, 2,200 at a time, where they stood under imitation showerheads waiting to be cleasned. Zycolne B gas was suddenly dispersed through the vents and within 20 minutes all the screaming had quieted and the job was done. Bodies were sent on elevators up to the crematoriums. How efficient!


(Gate at Birkinau as seen from the dividing platform)

On the bus home from Aushwitz we met a young German man who was very friendly and talkative. He explained to us that in Germany people still feel very ashamed and now “they will do anything for peace.” He explained that he has visited four concentration camps and in the German curriculum WWII and Jewish culture and history are intertwined in every subject- even music where they learn Klezmer music. He shared that he doesn’t feel any personal guilt, but that he found out recently that his grandfathers, both of who were in the “less violent” section of the SS army, participated more than he used to think in the atrocities. He explained that Germany still feels little national pride, and that you rarely see German flags hanging from windows. The World Cup soccer games this summer was the first time he could remember seeing German flags being waved with pride in his hometown of Dusseldorf.

He explained that Germany feels a responsibility to educate the world on the Holocaust and to ensure that it never happens again. I know that I will never forget.

When we got home from the long, wet day at Aushwitz we put on some dry clothes and went out to eat and reflect on the day. In honor of our fallen ancestors, and to spite our eternal oppressors, we decided to splurge at a chic Italian restaurant, ate until we were bursting at the seams and toasted our Jewish ancestors with some smooth cabernet. Lechyium!