Year 2, Setting New Goals

A lot has been going on at JFS as I continue to work to improve and expand the services JFS provides to the Survivor Community. I am happy to report that in the just over a year I have been working at JFS that we are helping an additional 207 Survivors. That is a huge increase in the amount of people we are helping in just a year!

A couple of weeks ago I sent out the 2nd ever JFS Holocaust Survivor Newsletter which allows us to keep Survivors in the community up to date on what services we are providing, especially new programs, and it keeps them informed on any changes to restitution funds that have occurred.

Another project I have been working on is assisting with the completion of Polish Pension applications for Survivors. So far we have filled out, and mailed over 70 applications with a few more on the way. This has been an immense undertaking that would not have been possible without the tireless work by several people in the office.

I have also continued my work with the Alpha Omega program. To date we have served/ are serving 20 clients who have either completed, or are nearing completion, free dental work to restore function and eliminated pain. This program has acted as a lifeline for the Survivor community and has allowed them to received free dental care for a wide variety of problems which impact their daily lives.

Additionally, I have been working on developing new programs to provide hearing aid and vision assistance to Survivors. These are two areas that are in need of programming to assist low income Survivors, and I am excited to be in on the ground floor of these programs. 

Finally, I have been working on developing a new training that will educate the care giver agencies we work with on the needs of the Survivor community they serve, as well as the needs of the broader Jewish community they serve. Additionally, I am working on converting my training series from my first year as  VISTA into an online training each new hire can take in order to educate them on the experiences of the Survivor community.

Until next time!

Coming Full Circle

It’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to hop on here and update everyone about what I’ve been up to. I have a lot to go over, but I’ll try to be brief! Following my return from Germany I hit the ground running to get everything caught up at work. I have continued my work with the Alpha Omega dental program and we have helped a total of 19 low-income Holocaust Survivors access free dental services. Some survivors haven’t been to a dentist in decades, and others simply can’t afford to pay for the expensive crowns, dentures, and bridgework that is required when you reach a certain age. Overall this program has been successful in helping these Survivors gain access to dental services, and regain function and eliminate their pain.

Following my trip and lecture in Germany I was invited to work on a PhD at the University of Giessen! I can work on the bulk of the dissertation here in the U.S. while I’m working at JFS. I am very excited to start this next phase of my life. I am currently working on narrowing down my topic, but I do know it will be based in some way on Metro-Detroit Survivor testimony and remembrance. Along with this I have one more big announcement. I have agreed to stay on at JFS for a second year as the AmeriCorps VISTA Volunteer for Holocaust Survivor Services. I officially started my 2^nd term of service at the beginning of September and I am already working on new projects.

Following my return from Germany I presented a lecture on the Nazi Death Camps, which I had just visited and was able to include information I learned while visiting these sites. I also held a training on the fate of the Hungarian Jews, and next week I will hold the final booster, which will focus on the hidden children and rescuers during the Holocaust.    

In the next year I am working on several exciting projects. In addition to continuing the dental program I am working on creating programs modeled off of the dental program that will provide glasses and hearing aids for low-income Survivors. These are the next two most expensive items for low-income Survivors and they are very expensive for JFS to cover with emergency financial assistance. In addition to this I am also working on a 6 hour training on genocide that I have been asked to present for social workers, home care givers, etc. in the community. Finally, within the next week I am hoping to mail out the second ever Holocaust Survivor Newsletter. As soon as some final tweaks are made it will be on its way to almost 600 people, making it our largest newsletter distribution/ outreach effort to date.

At the end of my first year as VISTA I was fortunate enough to be able to travel to Philadelphia to meet with staff from AJFCA, and JFCS Philly. We had a great meeting that allowed us to talk about challenges we face at our organizations, innovative ways each organization has found to reach out to the community, and we were able to have a chance to realize that some problems are universal and we may be able to work together to find a comprehensive solution. Following this meeting I had a chance to meet with some of the new VISTAs serving this specific project around the U.S. It was great to see a new batch of VISTAs ready to get to work to help some of the most vulnerable in our country. I look forward to collaborating with them on future projects, and seeing what unique perspectives they bring to the table.

I will try to be better about posting more regularly now that I’m not trying to play catch up every couple of weeks! Until next time…

Year 2 VISTAs with AJFCA staff

The End of the Road: Finding Chełmno

On the 14^th I made my final stop on my journey. After a short drive from Warsaw, I arrived in a sleepy Polish town, Chełmno. I decided to first go to the forest where there are many memorials to those murdered here. The forest was used as the site of mass graves. When victims were loaded into vans with rerouted exhaust, they were driven a few kilometers into the woods. By the time the van stopped everyone inside had asphyxiated and they were dumped into mass graves. Over the years there has been an ever increasing amount of memorialization at this site as well as a great deal of archeological surveys to discover the exact location of the graves, and previous buildings. When I pulled up I could see the massive memorial and some smaller memorials close to the road. One memorial was for the murdered Poles of the area and another much larger one for all of the victims. The memorial, like at the other camps, is massive. As I took pictures of it I realized what was happening in the carvings on the memorial. It was (in my opinion) depicting people going to their deaths, suffering, and was filled with sorrow. What has struck me the most is that each death camp has a completely unique style, aesthetic, or whatever you’d like to call it. Each seems fitting based on what happened here. See these memorials here:

After looking at these memorials I followed the trail down and found more memorials as well as signs showing what buildings used to be located in the forest. At one point along the concrete path there was a small wooden bridge going over part of the concrete path. After some examination I found the sign that explains that where the yellow lines are painted (which is the area the bridge goes over) is the site of  a mass grave 60 meters or so long. After following the trail a little farther I came around a corner to see a huge area cut out of the trees. This area has stone markers to show you where mass graves are located, though a sign says that further research has indicated that the graves are even larger than what is marked. It is mind boggling to come face to face with this place where so many were buried after being murdered. It was just one mass grave after another with small memorials and monuments and paths that you can walk down to see the whole area. There is also a kind of memorial wall which gives the name of the camp and the dates and then visiting groups have attached plaques to the wall to memorialize villages that were lost to Chełmno, and sometimes individuals. Here are some pictures:

After visiting the site of the mass graves I went back to the town to find the museum there. Sitting next to a large white church is a small marker that denotes this as the location of Chełmno Extermination Camp. The church is where Jews were kept overnight when they arrived in the town, and then they were walked over to the palace next door, brought trough the basement, and made their way up ramps into the back of the gas vans. The Nazis have long since destroyed the palace in an attempt to hide the truth of their actions, but archeologists have unearthed the foundation of the building and have found pieces left behind that prove what happened here. I met an amazing woman at the museum who showed me around and gave me additional background information. She was also able to talk to me about the formation of the museum, the challenges they face in preserving the site, how they managed to find all of the materials they did for their small exhibit. It was great getting to hear all of the inside information. She took me to what used to be a grainary where they kept Jews to make shoes, repair items, etc. and they have turned this building into a small museum with a very big collection of items they have found in several garbage piles the archeologists located. The sheer volume is staggering. Here are some pictures from inside the museum exhibition:

Following the museum I spoke with the employee some more and she showed me their library collection they have been working on and pointed out a couple of books that they feel are the best on the camp. I always love a good book recommendation, but to get one from the woman who actually manages the entire memorial and museum was awesome. I know what books I’ll be buying ASAP! 

Following the camp I drove on to Berlin for the night. In the morning up to see more of the city and a little shopping. Then on the road to Frankfurt where I’ve been for about 2 days. Today I catch the long flight home and will sit in Newark waiting for my connecting flight, missing Germany, and Poland, the wonderful people, the moving history, and the power it has to rejuvenate me in my work.

Following the Tracks: 4 Camps in 2 Days

I’ll apologize in advance for the length. I’ve seen a lot and haven’t had the time or internet to post until now, so it is a longer post than I’d normally publish.

It has been one long and empty Polish road after another as I went from city to city, and off into the middle of nowhere to see additional camps in Poland. There are six death camps in Poland and in order to see them all I had to travel for hours by car, view the site, and then leave to make it to the next site. I think I was able to plan it out enough in advance that for the most part I haven’t been rushed at any of the sites. Fortunately, since I knew where I was going I did a lot of research and reading about each of the sites in advance so I would know what I was seeing, the history of the camp, and how they all fit into the vast web of mass murder.

After leaving Oświęcim I headed to Krakow, which I had the luck to have visited last time I was in Poland with Eastern Michigan University. I had some lunch in the old city square, overlooking a festival and horse drawn carriage rides. Following lunch, I did some shopping at the amazing market in the center of the square. On my previous visit I didn’t have extra money to buy much of anything, and this time I saved up for months so I could buy a couple of special presents for a few family members. Krakow is known for its amber jewelry, and it is indescribably beautiful.

Following lunch, it was back on the road so that I could make the next stop. Lunch took 10x longer than I planned so I attempted to head right to Belzec, but it became clear that I needed to just head to my hotel in Lublin. The hotel was amazing! It sat right at the base of a castle and was feet from the old town square. I had an amazing dinner looking over the beautiful city all lit up as darkness fell. I can easily understand how it is that this city is talked about as one of the most beautiful places to visit. It is already on my list to come back and stay for a week, truly beautiful.

The next morning I was determined to get back on schedule, which meant countless miles and a very long day. I got up early and headed out on the road. The first stop was Majdanek, which is notorious because as the first camp to be liberated, it was liberated so fast that the guards only had time to flee and couldn’t hide what they had done. So the liberators found bodies, crematoria, and more importantly, fully functional gas chambers. It is here that you can step into a camp that could begin operations today. It is beyond my ability to describe the feeling of standing in a gas chamber with walls discolored by the use of Zyklon B. At Majdanek many different methods for killing were used. The guards used firing squads, carbon monoxide, and Zyklon B as the camp, and its killing capacity evolved over time.

Here are some pictures of the first part of the camp including the gas chambers:

After going through the gas chambers and the first barracks you, see an art installation that is meant to represent the unknown victims of the camp, of which there are many. While I am generally skeptical of art that attempts to capture the Holocaust, this was possibly one of the most moving exhibits I’ve ever seen. You walk into a mostly dark barracks with just dim lights and you can hear many people taking in different languages. Many lights are suspended from the ceiling and are wrapped in barbed wire. To stand here, feel, see, and smell all of the elements are an overwhelming experience. You feel both anxious, and sad, and completely uneasy, I have only had this feeling a few other times in my life and it is a unique piece of art that can evoke these feelings so immediately.

Here are some pictures of the art installation:

Finally, there are the memorials. The first is located just as you walk into the camp and is so incredibly massive that it defies logic. Which, if you really think about it, is fitting. The events that took place here often defy our logic of how the world works, what is logical, and the basic principles of human decency for our fellow man. A straight line back to the back of the camp is the second memorial. Located next to the crematoria used to burn those that had been murdered and hide the evidence was a mammoth domed monument. Once I made it to the far end of the camp I quickly realized that under this dome was a truly massive mount of human ashes. It is jaw dropping. Here are the cremated remains of countless innocent men, women, and children. Once I was able to wrap my mind around the monument as a whole I began to notice pieces that didn’t look like normal ash, this is when I noticed that there were actual pieces of bone in with the cremains. Beyond my experience with the display of bodies at sites of the Rwandan Genocide, this was one of the most graphic and grotesque sites I’ve seen. But this is a completely unique experience and memorial that I have to admit provides a completely different dimension of understanding of the scale of the atrocities committed here. How do you visualize thousands of people, much less hundreds of thousands or millions of people? Making people understand the scale is one of the major challenges and I think that this memorial effectively adds one more piece to the puzzle of my understanding.

Here are pictures of the two memorials:

Following the visit to Majdanek it was back in the car for a two hour drive to Bełżec. Once I got to the town I had to figure out exactly where the monument was. There are few signs that direct you immediately to the memorial. After a little trial and error, I pulled up to this massive memorial. The first thing you see is the wall for the compound and the memorial rising up behind it. As I walked up to the gate, I saw an inscription mounted to the wall. The metal that made the inscription had began to rust and was bleeding its color onto the wall, providing a possibly unintended, but completely bone chilling visual as I entered the camp. Here is a picture of the inscription:

When I walked into the memorial, I was immediately struck by the immense size of the memorial. It is unbelievably large and is unique to the camp. It honors the countless killed, while telling the story of the horrors that unfolded here. I will end the description here, because the pictures will do a much better job showing you what the memorial is like. Here are a few pictures:

Following Bełżec I had to jump back in the car for a 3 hour (give or take a few stops + several dozen tractors slowing me down) to get to Sobibór. I was so focused on what the GPS was telling me that I originally missed it and ended up going down a two track lane into the middle of the forest… which is a little unsettling in the middle of nowhere near the Ukrainian border! After a backtrack I realized where the camp was, only to find out it was technically closed. Luckily, the guard allowed me to go back when I explained I had come from America and that I studied this and worked with Holocaust survivors. He told me not to touch anything I shouldn’t and I could go back. After walking down a long trail, I came to the area that excavation work is currently underway. It is here that they have been excavating the site of the gas chambers. Most of it was covered, but you could crouch down and see what was under the propped up tarps. You could easily see the foundations of the gas chambers. I felt privileged to see this fragment of the history as well as to be allowed back where others were turned away. Walking around the roped off area I made it to the official memorial. Here the monument mimics that of the pile of ashes at Majdanek, though it was made of gravel instead. It was also massive, which is fitting because of the events that transpired here. Walking back a little ways towards the car I came across a path of remembrance that had rocks with plaques commemorating some who died here, with individual names. At the end of the trail was a small memorial. It was surreal to stand where thousands lost their lives, alone, and hear nothing but the breeze through the trees, and the subsequent creaking of the trees against the strain. I walked back to the car and spotted in the tall overgrown bushes and weeds the infamous metal train sign for Sobibor. After some perilous climbing around some tracks and bushes, I made it to the sign where I was able to get a few pictures. Here are pictures of Sobibór:

Following this visit, it was time to head about 3 hours to Warsaw to check into the hotel. I went to bed and in the morning was back up to go visit Treblinka, the 4^th camp in 2 days. It’s only about 1.5 hours from Warsaw and was a much easier drive than the previous monuments. I arrived and made my way in the oppressive heat and in a swarm of the largest flies I’ve ever seen in my life to the memorial for the death camp. Here the memorial is again larger than you can imagine. As I started walking near the center memorial, the largest object in the memorial I realized that the ground around it was sand that apparently was home to thousands of yellow jackets. There was a constant buzz of their wings and thousands patrolled the area. I carefully navigated my way through the infested zone without being stung and continued to view the memorial. Here are pictures of the memorial:

Following the memorial, I traveled farther down the road where I saw the labor camp and then the execution sites/ graveyard farther back. Pictures included above. 

Following the rest of the memorials and visiting the recently opened museum, it was back in the car to spend the afternoon in Warsaw. Tomorrow I head to Chełmno extermination camp and then on to Berlin.