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.

Germany to Poland

Hallo und guten Abend alle miteinander,

Yesterday I took a short trip to another fairy tale town. I went to Bad Wildungen to see the place that inspired the story of Snow White. It was Monday so museums were closed, but we went anyway and saw the Snow White house and the mining museum. We also stopped and saw a series of statues for the story. Then we stopped into one small shop that was open with rocks of different types from different mines, some from the mine started by the woman who founded the mine and was later poisoned, thus forming the tale of Snow White. They had lots of cool stones and I of course couldn't resist buying some. After that I went back to my friend's house in Schwalmstadt to relax, do laundry, and pack before I left.

This morning I hit the road and drove all the way to Oświęcim. In the morning I'll take a day long tour of both of the Auschwitz camps. It is a little surreal to stay at not only the same hotel from 4 years ago when I was here, but to stay in a hotel directly across the street from Auschwitz I. 

A German Whirlwind

Hello to everyone from Germany! I have been very busy and my first few days had very bad wifi connection, so I couldn't post pictures or blog. I was also incredibly tired.

My first day was very busy, the flights were delayed and they switched my flight, however, my luggage did not change with me, so I June 1st, arrived June 2nd, and my luggage was apparently left in Newark, NJ. The wonderful Christiane came and picked me up from the airport very early in the morning and we took the train to Giessen. The hotel room was not ready so early in the morning so we went out and had some breakfast and caught up as it has been 4 years since we last saw each other. By the time we were done the stores had opened and we went to find me clothes to wear for my lecture that was later in the afternoon. I found a dress shirt that fit, though the salesman was convinced that I should wear a tighter shirt as this is common in Germany. I wore jeans and a dress shirt, and felt very German ;-) Following some more shopping in Giessen we went back to the hotel and checked in. I took a two hour nap, my first two hours of sleep out of what would be a 36+ hour period of being awake. I then went to the university and gave my lecture. I think it was well attended and I feel that it went very well. I spent the first hour explaining how the Rwandan Genocide happened, the history before, during, and immediately after. Then I discussed my time in Rwanda last year within the context of how the genocide is memorialized in Rwanda. The group seemed to appreciate the lecture and they had many questions afterward. Following the lecture a group of students and faculty went out to a bar to have dinner and drinks to celebrate the victory. It was nice getting to interact with the students and faculty of Giessen.

The following day Christiane took me to see some of Giessen, which was very nice. Following a nice walk and a tour we went back to the university and ate lunch with the students, which was great. I enjoyed seeing more of their campus and what it is like for German college students. The students and staff were having a meeting so I took the bus back to the hotel to rest and pray my luggage arrives so I can feel clean again. My luggage was delivered finally at about 4:30pm. I immediately took a shower and changed into all clean clothes and felt more human immediately. In the evening Christiane picked me up at the hotel and I got to meet her boyfriend. We went to a traditional German restaurant and had one of my favorite meals, schnitzel! If you have not had it you really should, it is a divine experience.  Following dinner I sadly had to say goodbye to Christiane as she was leaving the next morning for Belgium for a much needed vacation. I then successfully went into the supermarket and bought some snacks, etc. as well as (in basic German) asked for still water. I was very proud of myself for doing this basic task completely alone. (It really is the little things!)

In the morning on the 4th, it was a holiday so restaurants were open, but stores were closed and I was all on my own! I met the main professor for the program of the university for coffee and we had a nice talk about the university and my plans for the future. He then had to go to an event so I began exploring. My previous trips have been with groups so it was a unique experience to figure out my own way around and I liked it quite a bit. I went for a 3 hour walk around Giessen just watching the people and seeing the city. I took many pictures of the city. I then had a snack of some delicious cake. I then decided to go to Frankfurt to see what there was to see. I got to see quite a bit including a church I was last at in 1995, pictured below, that has undergone some renovations since I last saw it. I also saw a camp near the airport that little was known about for years, but a memorial is now there and they have excavated one of the buildings. It primarily housed Hungarian women who were forced to build the first paved runway in Germany. After seeing the sites I returned to Frankfurt for dinner where I of course had more schnitzel, and may soon need to enter rehab to break my addiction.

On the 5th I got up early and packed, it was time to leave! I checked out of the hotel and successfully navigated my way to the train station, and then to buy a ticket to Schwalmstadt to see my friend and former host student Lisy where she now lives with her husband and baby. It was very nice to see her, the last time I saw her was 4 years ago. We have known each other from 2001 when my family hosted her and the following year when she hosted me. She picked me up at the train station and we went to the POW camp Stalag IX A Ziegenhain nearby. This camp is best known for one of its prisoners, Francois Mitterrand, who would later become the President of France. The museum was small, but well put together. We then travelled down the road to the site of the memorial for the Russian victims of the camp who were placed in mass graves, and only recently have their names been discovered and plaques to remember them have been placed. After going home for a rest we then went to the museum of the area that gave a wide variety of history from the local area and its customs. It was very interesting. I may have been here in high school, but it was good to return because I didn't remember it.

Yesterday we had a very special day. We went first to my friend's parents house and had lunch with them. My host mother made so much food! I had so much good German food I couldn't eat another bite... but then there was more, and more, and dessert. Once we had eaten we all went to Lisy's sister's house to see her as well as her newborn baby that was only 10 days old. It was nice to see her as well as her tiny little girl. It seems like yesterday we were all in high school!

Today was a travel day. Lisy and I went to Erfurt, about 2 hours by car, to see the sites. The first place we went was to the Topf & Sonne museum which opened a few years ago. This was the company that made the crematoria ovens and certain parts of the gas chambers used in the Nazi camp system. The museum sits inside of the original administration building and is very unique because it still has some original features, including pencil writing on one of the walls from one of the chief  engineers who was very passionate about improving the ovens used in the camps. I expected the museum to be very small, but it was pretty good sized and had a ton of information, much of which I had never heard. They had many documents that were taken from archives of the company that helped piece together the history. I think one of the most chilling pieces was that out of the window on the top floor where the main exhibition is you are directed to look out a window and in the distance (About 12 miles away) you can see Buchenwald concentration camp. So the engineers that designed the ovens for the camps could see one of the first camps they placed crematoria ovens in. It is also important to note that the company was not required to do this work, nor did it comprise the bulk of their revenue. It only made up about 2% of their revenue, and they could have stopped working for the SS at any time. However they continued their work, sometimes visiting camps to witness the killing and cremation in order to better understand what was needed of future models of ovens. This is very chilling because they did their work primarily because they wanted to show they could do it, and advance their work, not because of money or being required to do so.

Following the museum we had lunch, a delicious bratwurst, and then went and walked around the historic city. It was very pretty. We finished by seeing the Erfurt Cathedral which is massive and hard to put into words in terms of size. We had some coffee while sitting on the steps to the cathedral. Then back to Schwalmstadt for dinner and to relax.

My hope is to have good signal once I am in Poland so I can post about the camps I will be visiting during my travels. Tomorrow I will go see the village that the story of Snow White comes from.

P.S. Schwalmstadt is where Little Red Riding Hood comes from!

Until next time... Tschüss!