Holocaust Remembrance Day

Yesterday Israel mourned the loss of the millions of people who died in the Holocaust. This day is called Yom Hashoah. At 10 AM we went outside to watch the cars on Highway 1 stop when the siren went off. I found this truly beautiful and extremely moving. I definitely think the Holocaust is an event that needs recognition, but I also think in Israel the Holocaust is talked about so often that other places would benefit from a day like this even more. I know there is a Holocaust remembrance day in America, but at least where I live only Jewish people know when it is. I wish that there was a marked day that was official enough that our high schools would print them in the planners and it was announced on announcements. I think if every country had a day to remember this then the growing ignorance of this event would decrease.

Etgar Keret

Last week we were assigned to read one of Etgar Keret's short stories, to get more of a taste of Israeli culture and literature. I don't think anyone expected how strange the stories would be. They are all different tales that leave any reader puzzled and a little alarmed. For example, one entitled Uterus was about a woman's "beautiful" uterus being removed and placed in a museum. I'd never read anything by an Israeli author, and I can't say this particular book of stories has raised my impression. It seems like most things in Israeli culture are a little bit darker. I wonder if this is because Jews as a people have been through a significant amount, so people don't care as much if not everything is censored. I'm definitely curious to explore more parts of Israeli culture.

Passover

Last week I spent my first Passover in Israel. I usually go to my grandparents for a seder every year, but this year I went to their friend's home in Jerusalem. I expected a long, religious seder with nothing but Hebrew speakers. I was surprised that every guest spoke English, and the service was almost identical to the ones I have at home. At the end of the seder people said "See you next year in Jerusalem". This really made me realize that I was spending one of the most important Jewish holidays in one of the most significant Jewish cities. I also realized this was probably the only seder I would ever spend in Jerusalem, which saddened me but I also felt extremely lucky to have this experience. 

Jews in Germany

Today in class we discussed a large and growing Jewish population in Germany. There are over 40,000 Jews currently living in the capitol of Berlin. This growing population has caused much controversy with Jews all over the world. People don't like the idea of Jews living in the place that sealed the fate of six million of our people not long ago. Personally I believe Jews should move back to Germany, and any European place involved in World War 2. Considering how much we talk about the growing problem of Anti-Semitism in Europe, it seems crazy to dissuade people from returning to these places. I think if we want to get past these problems, we need to embrace them head on. If no Jews move back to places where there has been Anti- Semitism, there eventually won't be anywhere for us to go. If there are no Jews in places with a history of Anti-Semitism, how will the inhabitants there learn first hand that Jews aren't actually as bad as the older generations might tell them? I hope in the future years, we can learn to embrace the horrible things that have happened to us, in order to educate those who might want them to happen again. 

Poland #2

Traveling to Poland last week was a much different experience than I've ever had. I was mostly able to handle what I saw but there were a few things in particular that were especially hard to see.

The first thing that was especially hard were the shoes. I've seen shoes from camps in multiple different places like D.C. and Yad Vashem but going into the shoe room at Majdanek  was such a different experience. There was such a vast quantity it was almost impossible to fathom that each pair of shoes belonged to an individual person from that camp alone. I walked down each row of shoes trying to understand how those all once belonged to someone. The majority of the shoes were the same brownish color but a few pairs had kept their color over the years. This felt like how out of the millions of people captured and put into camps, only a few escaped.

Another thing that was particularly disturbing were the gas chambers. This was a place that had such an emphasis placed on it while studying the Holocaust. While walking inside it was so hard to realize that we were really in the place where so much death occurred. It wasn't the same as the surrounding camp because it was specific spot where so many of our people were killed. 

Another place that was hard to visit were the memorials of ashes. The one in Majdanek came as such a surprise, I really didn't expect that large memorial at the end to be so morbid. I couldn't believe that the huge pile in front of me were the remains of the hundreds of thousands of people killed at the site we had just toured. I also couldn't believe the ponds at Auchwitz 2 were filled with ashes. I found the pond near the back to be peaceful and beautiful, so it was almost impossible to fathom it was filled with remains the Nazis had dumped there. 

Overall the Poland trip was filled with a few particular events that were especially hard to handle. I think all though hard to see, every Jew should make the trip to Poland at some point in their lives. The Holocaust is such an important part of our history, every Jew should experience these sights first hand because it provides a little more insight into the horrors of World War 2 and the awful things so many of our people went through.