I'm back home now and I'd like to redirect you to my website that I can now update now since I am no longer using my iPad. Thank you again for the support!
a.
Remembrance & Hope 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Sunday, May 22, 2011
This is Not Goodbye...
This is Not Goodbye...
Today has come and gone, this journey however is not over, it has just begun.
After the events of today a 'farewell' dinner was held where we could all come together and celebrate the strides that we have made thus far. Food was ate, speeches were given, many songs were sang, pictures were taken, and many happy tears were said. A bitter sweet rain fell as we exited towards the buses to return back to the hotel for our las CLG meeting. The room was silent as we walked in all knowing that this was the beginning to the end of this once in a life time, indescribable opportunity that few will have.
I could ramble on for pages about the people, places, stories, and lessons. Some of these you have already heard, some are yet to come. I would just like to take this time now to note a few thoughts as I begin to 'pack' my bag:
- the power of story is strong
- love is the most powerful tool that we have
- we shall overcome
- the torch is being past and we need to maintain/share aspects of these stories with every who asks and everyone we meet
- those who go through some of life's darkest times can overcome the obstacles in their way and be resilient
- it is our responsibility as humans to standup and take action against intolerance, antisemitism, racism, etc.
Please stay tuned as in the coming weeks all of the notes and pictures will come to be, I will provide more detail and insight into each individual place. Again, thank you for all of your love and support.
"Head up, heart higher." - Devin Heroux
Today has come and gone, this journey however is not over, it has just begun.
After the events of today a 'farewell' dinner was held where we could all come together and celebrate the strides that we have made thus far. Food was ate, speeches were given, many songs were sang, pictures were taken, and many happy tears were said. A bitter sweet rain fell as we exited towards the buses to return back to the hotel for our las CLG meeting. The room was silent as we walked in all knowing that this was the beginning to the end of this once in a life time, indescribable opportunity that few will have.
I could ramble on for pages about the people, places, stories, and lessons. Some of these you have already heard, some are yet to come. I would just like to take this time now to note a few thoughts as I begin to 'pack' my bag:
- the power of story is strong
- love is the most powerful tool that we have
- we shall overcome
- the torch is being past and we need to maintain/share aspects of these stories with every who asks and everyone we meet
- those who go through some of life's darkest times can overcome the obstacles in their way and be resilient
- it is our responsibility as humans to standup and take action against intolerance, antisemitism, racism, etc.
Please stay tuned as in the coming weeks all of the notes and pictures will come to be, I will provide more detail and insight into each individual place. Again, thank you for all of your love and support.
"Head up, heart higher." - Devin Heroux
Warsaw Day #2 (Tykocin & Treblinka)
Warsaw Day #2 (Tykocin & Treblinka)
Another somber day began as we arrived at the Jewish cemetery which was built within the ghetto during the Holocaust, for those with loved ones lost. The cemetery is the largest in Europe and once you enter you cannot see the ends of it on any of perimeter. Over 200,000 people are buried here, including a few from prior to the war, but many are those who perished in the Warsaw ghetto. Some of those who were apart of the Jewish uprising are laid to rest here.
Many graves are marked with traditional Jewish stones, inscribed with messages in either Hebrew or Yiddish, some stones are large while others are small. In the middle of the cemetery is the location of two mass graves, erected for those who did not have a place and for the to time during the war when so many were dying that there was a constant line of family members with their dead waiting for a place to lay them to rest
Tykocin was approx. two hours outside of the city and is a small hamlet. Before the war the Jewish population of around 1500 flourished here with a large synagogue and spent their lives living simply. When the Nazis arrived they rounded up the Jews in the town square on August 24th.
As we drove out of the small place which today does not have many habitants and few Jewish people. The synagogue which was once the centre of the village and life is now a museum where it highlights the people who's lives were lost. The synagogue was beautiful and inclusive, as all of the prayers of the Torah are painted by hand on the wall. Pinchas performed a prayer and others around began to gather. This prayer was followed by some songs and reflection before leaving.
With the theme from Schindler's list playing in the background we were asked to board the buses in silence and remain that way. We drove past the square where the innocent people of this place were taken. Driving down the roads with the flat farm land on either side of us it was made clear that if you tried to escape you had no where to run.
Upon return to a dense forest we silently exited the bus and walked down a path. Once in the forest it felt as there was no escape. We walled for a number of minutes before coming to an opening where on either side of us was a fenced in area to the right/left/front. These were the pits that were dug for the people Tykocin where they would fall to their death. Stripped of their clothes in a final attempt to dehumanize these people on their final minutes, all 1500 inhabitants were murder at gun point between August 24/25. There is one survivor, a small boy who was seven at the time. During the summoning of the Jews to the square, the boy's father asked him to return home to get something, when he saw what was coming he hid.
There were no survivors of the Tykocin village after the Nazis were through with them, in a matter of 24 hours they had completely rid of the population. Michael had one of us read the story of one young women who survived a similar round up in another small city. She stood by naked as her mother, father, sisters/brothers, grandmother, and neighbors were shot. She was shot but not killed, she explains how she begged for her God to take her, what sin had she committed that was placing her here, alive. She spent three nights and three days laying in the grave, when she heard a baby cry. She believes that the small child she found is the reason that she is alive.
We all remained quiet as we took our time at the sites of the three mass graves, Faigie commenting at on point that we are her oice hen she is gone some day. Sitting on the bus now it is quiet, as many reflect as we make our way to the last stop of this journey while we are here, Treblinka. Although this maybe the last physical location we visit, this journey is only just beginning for all of us and what is to come from us we will soon find out.
Treblinka was our last and final site stop on this journey that seems like it was coming to an end too quickly. Treblinka was built for one purpose, death. Designed to send Jews from Warsaw and the surrounding area to, it was responsible for the death of more than 850,000 Jews even though it was one of the smaller camps that the Nazis built. The process was quick at the came and upon arrival to the platform Jews were stripped of their belongings, shower, shaved, and sent directly to the gas chambers.
Why strip them of their belongings and shave their hair if they are headed for immediate death? The Nazis needed the items for supplies in Berlin and the hair to make products such as mattress covers and mats. Sick. The whole process at Treblinka lasted only 30-40 minutes, and towards the end of the war the time was cut down to 20 minutes. Only adults and children were placed into the gas chamber at this site, those who could not walk (elderly and disabled), as well as, babies and infants were dealt with in another manor. The elderly and disabled were shot into a pit, while the Nazis played a disgusting game of blowing infants against the wall to their death. Those who could complete this task in one attempt were praised.
Through more of Michaels stories we were able to obtain a better understanding of what via those Jews chosen to be slaves here and also through the few who were able to survive the uprising at the camp. Those salves who were required to short goods and move bodies after they were gassed told stories of people being pushed into the gas chamber, their arms in the air to allow the creation of 7% more space. After it was packed to the brim with people the Nazis proceed to throw small children on top of everyone else to use every inch of space humanly possible. The salve recounts that the Nazi guards watched through a small window the victims being gassed and once the killing was complete they told them that they were 'asleep' and it was now time to burn the corpses.
During the duration of operation at Treblinka a uprising was devised as those working at the camp attempted to steal weapons from the guards and search clothing for money as they shorted belongings. On the night of the uprising one of the organizers was caught with money on them, he would not provide the guards with information. Instead of ditching their uprising attempts the prisoners decided to continue anyway, that night 600 prisoners attempted to escape the camp. In the end only 70 of them survived the uprising and thus, the death chambers of Treblinka.
After descriptions we came to the monument where the gas chamber used to be located and rocks we spent some time reflecting and Pinchas performed a song which came to him in a dream during 1992. The song was written in remembrance of his twin sister, mother, and father who he lost during the Holocaust.
Ordinary Men is a book that looks at some of the men who participated in the German group who were responsible for these mass killings.
"Your walls are killing me as this heart is beating endlessly...just keep yelling out until there is no more." - Lines from Airplanes
Another somber day began as we arrived at the Jewish cemetery which was built within the ghetto during the Holocaust, for those with loved ones lost. The cemetery is the largest in Europe and once you enter you cannot see the ends of it on any of perimeter. Over 200,000 people are buried here, including a few from prior to the war, but many are those who perished in the Warsaw ghetto. Some of those who were apart of the Jewish uprising are laid to rest here.
Many graves are marked with traditional Jewish stones, inscribed with messages in either Hebrew or Yiddish, some stones are large while others are small. In the middle of the cemetery is the location of two mass graves, erected for those who did not have a place and for the to time during the war when so many were dying that there was a constant line of family members with their dead waiting for a place to lay them to rest
Tykocin was approx. two hours outside of the city and is a small hamlet. Before the war the Jewish population of around 1500 flourished here with a large synagogue and spent their lives living simply. When the Nazis arrived they rounded up the Jews in the town square on August 24th.
As we drove out of the small place which today does not have many habitants and few Jewish people. The synagogue which was once the centre of the village and life is now a museum where it highlights the people who's lives were lost. The synagogue was beautiful and inclusive, as all of the prayers of the Torah are painted by hand on the wall. Pinchas performed a prayer and others around began to gather. This prayer was followed by some songs and reflection before leaving.
With the theme from Schindler's list playing in the background we were asked to board the buses in silence and remain that way. We drove past the square where the innocent people of this place were taken. Driving down the roads with the flat farm land on either side of us it was made clear that if you tried to escape you had no where to run.
Upon return to a dense forest we silently exited the bus and walked down a path. Once in the forest it felt as there was no escape. We walled for a number of minutes before coming to an opening where on either side of us was a fenced in area to the right/left/front. These were the pits that were dug for the people Tykocin where they would fall to their death. Stripped of their clothes in a final attempt to dehumanize these people on their final minutes, all 1500 inhabitants were murder at gun point between August 24/25. There is one survivor, a small boy who was seven at the time. During the summoning of the Jews to the square, the boy's father asked him to return home to get something, when he saw what was coming he hid.
There were no survivors of the Tykocin village after the Nazis were through with them, in a matter of 24 hours they had completely rid of the population. Michael had one of us read the story of one young women who survived a similar round up in another small city. She stood by naked as her mother, father, sisters/brothers, grandmother, and neighbors were shot. She was shot but not killed, she explains how she begged for her God to take her, what sin had she committed that was placing her here, alive. She spent three nights and three days laying in the grave, when she heard a baby cry. She believes that the small child she found is the reason that she is alive.
We all remained quiet as we took our time at the sites of the three mass graves, Faigie commenting at on point that we are her oice hen she is gone some day. Sitting on the bus now it is quiet, as many reflect as we make our way to the last stop of this journey while we are here, Treblinka. Although this maybe the last physical location we visit, this journey is only just beginning for all of us and what is to come from us we will soon find out.
Treblinka was our last and final site stop on this journey that seems like it was coming to an end too quickly. Treblinka was built for one purpose, death. Designed to send Jews from Warsaw and the surrounding area to, it was responsible for the death of more than 850,000 Jews even though it was one of the smaller camps that the Nazis built. The process was quick at the came and upon arrival to the platform Jews were stripped of their belongings, shower, shaved, and sent directly to the gas chambers.
Why strip them of their belongings and shave their hair if they are headed for immediate death? The Nazis needed the items for supplies in Berlin and the hair to make products such as mattress covers and mats. Sick. The whole process at Treblinka lasted only 30-40 minutes, and towards the end of the war the time was cut down to 20 minutes. Only adults and children were placed into the gas chamber at this site, those who could not walk (elderly and disabled), as well as, babies and infants were dealt with in another manor. The elderly and disabled were shot into a pit, while the Nazis played a disgusting game of blowing infants against the wall to their death. Those who could complete this task in one attempt were praised.
Through more of Michaels stories we were able to obtain a better understanding of what via those Jews chosen to be slaves here and also through the few who were able to survive the uprising at the camp. Those salves who were required to short goods and move bodies after they were gassed told stories of people being pushed into the gas chamber, their arms in the air to allow the creation of 7% more space. After it was packed to the brim with people the Nazis proceed to throw small children on top of everyone else to use every inch of space humanly possible. The salve recounts that the Nazi guards watched through a small window the victims being gassed and once the killing was complete they told them that they were 'asleep' and it was now time to burn the corpses.
During the duration of operation at Treblinka a uprising was devised as those working at the camp attempted to steal weapons from the guards and search clothing for money as they shorted belongings. On the night of the uprising one of the organizers was caught with money on them, he would not provide the guards with information. Instead of ditching their uprising attempts the prisoners decided to continue anyway, that night 600 prisoners attempted to escape the camp. In the end only 70 of them survived the uprising and thus, the death chambers of Treblinka.
After descriptions we came to the monument where the gas chamber used to be located and rocks we spent some time reflecting and Pinchas performed a song which came to him in a dream during 1992. The song was written in remembrance of his twin sister, mother, and father who he lost during the Holocaust.
Ordinary Men is a book that looks at some of the men who participated in the German group who were responsible for these mass killings.
"Your walls are killing me as this heart is beating endlessly...just keep yelling out until there is no more." - Lines from Airplanes
Warsaw Day #1
To come! Post was lost.
Warsaw Day #1 (to come!)
Umshlagplatz
-
Warsaw Ghetto
-
Korczak's Orphanage
-
Nozky Synagogue
-
Old Town
-
Mila 18
-
Warsaw Day #1 (to come!)
Umshlagplatz
-
Warsaw Ghetto
-
Korczak's Orphanage
-
Nozky Synagogue
-
Old Town
-
Mila 18
-
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