New Home

I have created a new website to house my blog and other items related to the March of Remembrance and hope.


You can find it all here: Remembrance & Hope 2011


It is likely though that I will be linking you all back to this blog here to follow my journey while I am away, do to the lack of support for my new site on the device I will be taking with me.


Thank you for all your time and support!


a.

New Webpage.

To anyone who follows my blog here I have started a website for my travels to include not only my blog but also pictures information on MRH, and other links.


Remembrance & Hope 2011


While I am away however I will be linking back to my blog here as I am unable to access my Weebly account due to the lack of flash ability on the device I will be using.


Thank you again for taking the time to hear my story and follow my journey.


a.

Updates.

I have been busy writing my exams at university this past two weeks, and as of right now am sitting the library preparing myself to study for my last one which is this evening.  Once exams are done I will dive into a whirlwind of activities to get ready for my trip which is in just over three weeks!  In the mean time I wanted to leave a quick update on a few items you can expect to hear from me on in the coming days.


1) Tomorrow morning I will be going to Toronto to meet with Hedy Bohm, the local survivor I will be representing.


2) I have a stack of books at home which are going to recieve some much needed attention once my exams are done this evening.  It's my hope that I can get through most of them before I leave and possibly take one or two with me as ebooks to read along the way.  Listed below are the books on my reading list:
- Holocaust A History (Deborah Dwork & Robert Jan van Pelt)
- A History of the Holocaust (Yehuda Bauer Nili Keren)
- The Boy in The Stripped Pajamas (John Boyne)
- The Unworthy Life (James M. Glass)
- Hitler's willing Executioners (Daniel Jonah Goldhagen)
- Forgotten Crimes: The Holocaust & People With Disabilities (Suzanne E. Evans)


If any of you are aware of a good book that discusses the issues pertaining to the homosexual population during the Holocaust I'd very much appreciate the name of the book as I have yet to find an suitable text to cover this topic.


In addition I will be finishing up reading the book we are asked to read by MRH: War & Genocide: A Concise History of the Holocaust (Doris L. Bergen).  This book has been very through thus far and I find it very helpful to make the connections between the different events that occurred throughout history to lead to Hitler's campaign to 'cleanse' the German population.  To see the full list of books/movies that I have already read over the years on the history/issues of the Holocaust please refer to my blog, "Stories Retold".


3) Last but not least, I will hopefully be transitioning away from this interface for my blog over the weekend to a website based interface to include my blog, pictures, and videos when I am away overseas in order to keep everyone up-to-date on all of our journeys.

The Many Roles of the Holocaust

Webinar #3 took Wednesday April 13th in the middle of the exam frenzy us university students call the last few weeks of the term, we all found time to come together for an hour and half to regroup and have a wonderful presentation by Carson Phillips who is a candidate for his PhD at York University in Toronto.  Prior to the Webinar we were asked to read two articles from Prism Magazine which can be found online.  One article discussed the Evian Conference and the other discussed the role of archival documents and memoirs to aid in teaching the history of Holocaust to students today.


A little bit of background on Mr. Phillips, in 2005 he graduated from York U with his M.A. in Humanities, and he also has a graduate diploma in Holocaust &  Genocide Education from the University of Toronto.  Mr. Phillips has interned at the Auschwitz Jewish Centre in Oswiecim, Poland, studied at the International School for Holocaust Studies in Jerusalem, Israel, and at the Holocaust Education Foundation Institute of Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. (York U Website)


The lecture Mr. Phillips presented last night was formed around, "Paradigm of the Perpetrator, Bystander, Victim, & Helper."  For those of you who are unsure of what a paradigm is described as 1) a typical example or pattern of something; a mode and 2) a worldview underlying the theories and methodology of a particular scientific subject.


Raul Hilberg
We begin by discussing Mr. Raul Hilberg who opened up the field for Holocaust studies in publishing his definitive scholarly text, "The Destruction of the European Jews" in 1961.  In this text he identified three components to the paradigm, Perpetrator, Bystander, and Victim.  The other addition of components such as helper and rescuer were added to the paradigm at later dates by other scholars.  Most recently scholars have made additions to the model in terms of gender and sexuality studies.


Holocaust Reverberations
The past will never rest when it comes to the Holocaust and Mr. Phillips indicated to us that the reverberation of the Holocaust is particularly strong in Germany and Austria as the newer generations in these countries attempt to "come to terms" with the past.  During this new generation of youth the category of the perpetrator becomes more complex as stories and knowledge begin to come to light as those individuals attempt to discover who there family members were.  There have been many books published by relatives of those involved in the war, but few have been translated to English and Mr. Philips highlighted three books and one documentary that he finds particularly interesting and important in learning about reverberations and the perpetrator.
Books: The Himmler Brothers, The Man in the Pulpit, and Tracks of My Father


In all of these publications the authors discovered, throughout their research on their family members who they really were.  In most causes family members overshadowed the real actions and roles their family members had in the Holocaust and it not until these later dates where those from the new generations discover the real truth.


Opening Up the Paradigm
Mr. Phillips discussed the difference between the Mitlaufer (someone who runs with the crowd) and a Semi-active participant.  Even if someone during the war was just designing decrees for the Nazis to pose they still have a negative impact on someone's quality of life and thus would be considered  a perpetrator.


Brief History of the Perpetrators
After the war in the 1950s were perpetrators were since as "devils/monsters in human form" and through the years have gone through transitions to "banality of bureaucrat/evil" into the 1960s, during the 1990s there was a shift as people begin to see how "ordinary" men and women became perpetrators and this made it much more difficult to understand.  An example of this "ordinary" perpetrator was seen when Mr. Christopher Browning went to trial for his war crimes.


Using the Lens of Gender for Perpetrators
Next Mr. Phillips discussed the role of women in the role of perpetrators.  Throughout war times women created a buffer from their husband's jobs.  They provided their husbands with a safe home and the ability to come home and be fathers after a long day (of killing).  Many scholars after the war identified women as victims in totality due to the male dominance and interracial policies that existed at the time.  Mr. Phillips also used the example of Hitler's secretary and her role in the war as the tasks she were to complete were what were required of her in order to fill the demands of her job.


Victims
When Mr. Phillips spoke about the victims of the Holocaust, primarily the Jews, he made it clear that each Jew responded to the events unfolding around them in a different way, whether that be through the concept of agency, spiritual resistance, or choiceless choices.  


The example provided for the concept of agency looked at a young girl who lost her whole family early on during the war and decided that it was only appropriate that she hide the fact that she was Jewish and join the Partisans.  She made this conscious decision because she felt that she had nothing left to live for.


The concept of spirituality was a struggle for Jewsih people as many of them tried to keep their beliefs as a part of their life.  Choiceless Choices is something that may be more difficult for some people to grasp as it is the lesser of two evils.  Mr. Phillips use the example of Adam Cenokvo (Ghetto Leader) to show how when faced with the unthinkable of being asked to make a selection of which Jewish people to put on the deportation list.  When faced with this task that other leaders found easy to complete Mr. Cenokvo simply could not allow himself to chose these individuals fate and instead took his life.


Rescuers
There is no "prototype" of a rescuer as they transcend education, socioeconomic backgrounds, religion, etc.  This is also the area where fluidity and overlap of the categories takes place.


Contemporary Issues
Lastly, Mr. Phillips highlighted some key issues surrounding the Holocaust that are occurring today, one of which being the National Fund of the Republic of Austria.  Austria's process of dealing with their part in the Holocaust occurred very late and didn't begin until the 1990s.  The lady who was hired to head the National Fund is Jewish and her father is a survivor, therefore, she has some ability to understand Austria complex history in relation to the Holocaust.  The Fund was created in hopes to support and educate individuals on the Holocaust.


"Over a half-century has passed since the hell of the Holocaust, but its spectre still hangs over the world and doesn’t allow us to forget." - Irena Sendler (Polish victim who rescued children)

Strangest of Places.

Growing up it became habit of mine to always watch the news in the morning before I got ready for my day.  Now as a third year business student that habit has become more important as those in the business world need to have a strong understanding of what is going presently in order to apply this knowledge to business decisions.

This morning once I arrived at the library to study for exams (having already watched the news and skimmed the paper over breakfast) I opened Yahoo.ca and there was a link in the top bar where they post the big/interesting stories.  There was one that caught my eye about a writer/professional organizer who lives in 90 square foot apartment.  I know what you're thinking if you're reading this, where is she going?  Well, as I watched the video that lady, by the name of Felice was taking about how she spends most of her time writing and that her next book, titled "What Papa Told Me," comes out next month.  She then proceeded to say that the book was about her grandfather, Murray Schwartzbaum who was from Poland and survived eight different camps during the war.

I proceeded to look up this book on amazon.com and the book is something that I hope to read before I leave on the trip in May (on top of the other four I already have on the go).  The book is about the stories her grandfather told her about is time during the war in the camps, as well as, his struggle to come to America afterwards and establish a life for him and his family.  The tragedy of the tail is the his wife, a survivor of the Holocaust ends up committing suicide.  The story is told in first person through the eyes of Murray.

I plan on ordering this book and once I read it I will post a summary/review on how it was and what insight I gained from his perspective on the Holocaust, and his adjustment to life after the fact.

"Everyday's a birthday when I get up in the morning." - Murray Schwartzbaum

Who I am Marching for...

I am very excited to write this blog.  I have just made connection with the survivor I will be representing during my time over seas on the March.


When we were presented with this tasks last Thursday after our Webinar I was a little panicked about being able to find someone I could make a connection with before I left.  It was really important to me that I would be able to do this because I want to be able to represent their story in every way that I can but at the same time gain some insight from them on their actual experience.  Then maybe when I am in these places I can close my eyes and try to imagine what it was like for them.  When I set out to find someone I left myself open and was just hoping that I would be able to find someone local from my immediate community.


With that being said I am truly grateful and honoured to say that I will be representing and marching with pride for Ms. Hedy Bohm.  During February Hedy spoke at Waterdown High School in Waterdown, Ontario to help students their prepare for their March break trip to Germany, Poland, and Russia.  I was lucky enough be provided connection to her through Nathan Tidridge (Waterdown High School) and Catherine Gitzel (a friends of Hedy's).


For almost 50 years Hedy kept silent to many about her experience during the Holocaust and carried the pain that came with those memories she had.  Hedy was born in Oradea, Romania and as an only child she was the daughter of father (a tradesman) and her mother.  Her family had the ability to send her to an all girls Jewish school, where Hedy hoped to one day become a gym or creative dance teacher.  During the early 1940s when the rules began to be implemented on the Jewish population, Hedy and her family were relocated to The Ghetto where they shared a room with three other families after they turned in all of their personal belonging to the Nazis.  The area Hedy was from had a population of 25,000 Jewish people, add to that 5,000 from surrounding areas, there were approximately 30,000 people living on only a few blocks of the city. (O'Hara, Spectator)


Hedy and her family saw groups of people daily escorted out of The Ghetto and to the train station.  It was never disclosed where they were heading exactly or what they were going to be doing once they arrive, however, rumours began to circulate as to what the Nazis were doing to the Jews.  No one wanted to believe them.  At the end of May 1944, Hedy's family was now one of those families loaded on to a wagon with no idea where they were going.  For three days they travelled in the dark wagon, provided with no food or water.  Upon arrival when the doors were opened and guards began to yell she was at Auschwitz. (O'Hara, Spectator)


I look forward to speaking with Hedy in the coming weeks and being able to provided you with more information on her story.  I am grateful that I have found someone who will provide me with the opportunity to represent them self and their story on my journey next month.


" That was my wish.  That it didn't happen." - Hedy Bohm

"The World Will Be In Auschwitz"

The quote that opens my post today is from that of Robert Han Van Pelt who is Professor at the University of Toronto and the lecturer for our second Webinar.  He sat down and spoke to us last night about his research on Auschwitz and what we can expect when we go to this place in May.  He travels to the site at least twice a year to study the architecture and conduct his research of the extermination facilities at the camp.  In 2000, he acknowledged as the leading world-expert on Auschwitz and has participated in a defence team for a civil suit against British Holocaust denier David Irving, as well as, publishing a book in 2002 entitled Holocaust: A History. (thecanadianencyclopedia.com)

During his lecture last night he discussed what we could expect to see when we visit Auschwitz, as well as, challenges he feels that we will face individually during our time at the camp.  The problem we will face before we leave is all of the narratives that we will come across in readings/videos about the camp and how many refer to it as names such as, “hell on Earth, ass hole of the Earth, a place to kill Jews, etc.”  The narratives about how to describe Auschwitz began development after the first forensic investigation of the place in 1945.

Today is can be called a beautiful place, especially in the summer time as there is nature and forests surrounding the camp.  It is a little place surrounded by mountains and a densely populated area and will be very different from when we visit Treblinka later, which was known as, “the end of the road.”

He proceeded to explain to us what could be the best possible ways to reconnect to what happened during the war during the present time.  The best time he feels to visit is early in the morning when the fog lingers; you can obtain the image you probably have set up about this place in your mind.  We need to be prepared to be there with a large number of other tour groups, it will be busy, and he described that it will operate as ‘Auschwitz Land’ in a way.  Auschwitz itself is a group of camps (up to 40), but only two of them are open to the public.  Everything between Auschwitz and Bernkinau during the time of the war was camp.  Today the area is an agricultural semi-urbanized area.

The Auschwitz you will see today will be the Auschwitz the people after the war intended it to be.  When we enter through the front gate we may feel important, that we are experiencing what many of the Jews did arrive at this gate as they arrived outside of Bernkinau first (approximately 85%).  We will not experience what the Jews did because we will be experiencing a memorial site, which is much different.

We discussed the various types of ‘conflict’ that still surround the camp today including religious disagreements and the Holocaust deniers. 

Auschwitz is a major Polish historical site as many Polish people were murdered here and that is why is became a memorial.  However, after 1978 the Catholic Church felt it necessary to grant Saint status to two of those who were imprisoned in Auschwitz, Maxilian Kolbe (Saint of Auschwitz) and Edith Stein (Martyr of Auschwitz).  Kolbe was a Polish priest who died as prisoner number 16770 on August 14^th, 1941 when a prisoner escaped form the came and the Nazis selected 10 others to be killed by starvation in punishment for the escape.  When one of the individuals selected to die (Franciszek Gajowniczek) began to call out about his wife and children, Kolbe asked to die in his place and his request to the Nazis was granted. (www.auschwitz.dk) Edith Stein was born into a Jewish family and in 1922 converted to Christianity.  She moved from Germany to the Netherlands to avoid Nazi prosecution, however, in 1942 she was arrested and sent to Auschwitz where she died in the gas chambers.  The controversy surrounding the Saints of Auschwitz was that of tall the Christian objects and items that began to show up around the site as many Christians began to make pilgrimages to the area to be in this area where this Saints were once.  With all of the crosses and Christian items present many Jews found it inappropriate, as there was a place where over a million of their people had perished. (scrapbookpages.com)

Holocaust deniers are individuals who believe that the Holocaust did not occur and try to prove to others that it did not occur.  For example, Professor Han highlights that these individuals will have scientists come to the came to take samples from bricks in the gas chambers to test for a resin of the chemical used to kill the Jews.  When the tests come back no resin could be detected, and this therefore, gives these people ground to say that here were no gas chambers, thus there was no Auschwitz, and therefore, there was no Holocaust.  But we know that is not the case.

The key point he wanted us to take away from his lecture last night is that we need to focus on the detail.  Before arriving at the camp our sense of site will have potentially been exhausted due to all of the pictures/videos we have seen in preparation for the journey and in school over the years.  With that being said, many people who go just hoping to ‘see’ the camp will be disappointed and thus, we need to make use of our other sense such as touch, hear, and smell.  We should touch the objects there to feel the tangibility of the place, or smell the air, or close our eyes and listen to the birds in the forest.  Take someone’s hand and walk through the camp making the connection together.

He recommended that at some point during our visit we take some alone time to ourselves for 10 – 15 minutes to develop our own personal perspective of the place and what we are going to take away from this.  It is more important what happens when you return home from this journey and you start to think about your experience.  The story that we personally will make about this trip is ultimately what this experience is about.  Don’t panic if you don’t feel anything while you are there, it’s reality.

Links of Interest

  - Robert Han Van Pelt: http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0009821

  - Holocaust Deniers: http://www.ihr.org/leaflets/denial.shtml

  - War of the Crosses: http://www.scrapbookpages.com/poland/crosses/crosses.html

"The Nazis victimized some people for what they did, some for what they refused to do, some for what they were, and some for the fact that they were." - John Conway