Day 10: Auschwitz - Birkenau - Krakow

Yesterday in Trsice, we visited the memorial in the forest where the Otto Wolf family hid for three long years with the help of Christian villagers.  The memorial was dedicated in 2012 and bears the names of three schools in the United States that worked to build this memorial.  One of the schools is St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Overland Park, Kansas, where Lisa Bauman teaches Holocaust Literature. 

This morning, we were awakened by the news of the tragic shooting at the Jewish Community Center and the Village Shalom in Overland Park, Kansas.  A known Ku Klux Klan leader, the alleged shooter reportedly yelled “Heil Hitler” from the backseat of the police car as he was arrested.  Many students from Overland Park, Kansas have participated in the Holocaust Study Tour over the years, and one of them even worked as a lifeguard at the Jewish Community Center. 

We have spent the day at Auschwitz and Birkenau, two of the most tragic sites in the world, where men and women made choices to act and not to act in the face of hatred.  Our students walked quietly and thoughtfully through the haunting exhibits of items taken from Jewish victims upon arrival: eye glasses, toothbrushes, hairbrushes, articles of baby clothing and children’s shoes.  

They stood aghast in front of the unfathomable piles of human hair and shoes, while holding on to each other for support.  However, the moment of most impact came in a section of a new exhibit in Block 27 curated, designed and built  by Yad Vashem. In a separate room is an enormous book as big as the room, the Book of Names,  filling two sides of many, many pages listing the names of more than four million documented Jewish victims of the Holocaust.  

Beside the names are the dates of birth and the place of death. We slowly realized that our students were searching through the lists for their last names and names of their family members murdered during the Holocaust.  Many broke down in tears, realizing that if they were born in a different place and time, they, too, could have been listed in this book. Across from the Book of Names are photo frames with changing color photos of Holocaust survivors and their families, to celebrate the continuation of Jewish life.

On this day at Auschwitz, we realize once again the importance of our work.  The memorial in Trsice connects Overland Park, Kansas physically to this place through an engraving on a marble memorial.  However, all of the students who have been on the Holocaust Study Tour throughout the years also connect to Overland Park, Kansas, because they see the importance of studying this history.  They see what can happen when a person limited to a viewpoint of hatred and prejudice acts in violence, shooting innocent victims.  Our students are forever changed because of spending this Passover in Auschwitz and Birkenau, and will forever share the lessons learned here on this 14^th day of April in 2014.

We ended our day walking to Cherubino restaurant off Market Square in Krakow where we celebrated the first night of Passover with an explanation of the Seder meal in both Judaism and Christianity and a joyful celebration of Nick's 18th birthday.

 

Student Photography Reflections

Dana's photo:

A picture that a child drew while in Auschwitz of what she/he saw. This is really important to me because it shows their innocence was taken before they got the chance to live. 

Kyle's photo:

The beginning of the end.  You go into the sauna, a human with an identity,  a name, and a personality.  You come out a number that has no name and no personality.

Tara's photo:

Two worlds, above and below,

The past and the present take flight to show.

We must keep moving forward and remember the past.

We cannot take it back, but we can make sure its history will last.

Gayle 's Photo: 

The gates state that "work will set you free" which instead of making them feel free, the prisoners were trapped and sent to their own death, a few being my relatives. 

Greg's Photo:  

The book of names where I found my relatives: names such as Kleinman, Moross, Bregman, Sidor, and Merer

Jane's Photo:

Hell is a place on earth.

Kiefer's Photo:

A rose can interpret life, death, and loss; in this case it can represent all three .

McKenzie's Photo:
"You are in control of your dreams. You are also imprisoned by them."-Mr. Barmore Walking through Birkenau makes you feel trapped just as the prisoners felt when they were kept there. 

Nick 's Photo: 

Photograph of a man named Wolf Flasker with obvious signs of abuse; I can only speculate that he, unlike many, in some way, tried to resist.

Nicole's Photo:

Flowers in the gas chamber-represents all the lives that have been taken and how we have to learn from it. 

Raquel's Photo:

" Walking in someone's else's shoes"
- the children who were gassed were forced to remove their shoes. 

 Sarah's Photo: 
We are able to return home, an impossibility for the more than a million individuals who traveled these tracks. 

Shane's Photo: 

Terezin: The interpretations of a child.

Trevor's Photo: 

"More than just the end of a railroad line - this spot marked the end of the lives of millions of innocent people."

Matt's Photo:  
My relatives lost in the Holocaust at Auschwitz