Polanya

Poland was an experience like no other. I had always learned about the Holocaust like any other ordinary human in a classroom setting. When you learn about this genocide in a class it is pretty much just numbers. It is hard to see it as anything more than that. When you are staring at a textbook, you are being taught that this happened and is history, but it may just register as like a distant fairy tale type thing. It is not something I know how to describe easily... obviously. In my younger years at Sunday school we had a unit on the Holocaust and that was my first time learning about it with all Jewish people. That made it more meaningful but it was still just numbers. Throughout the years we have study the Holocaust a lot in school. When you are the only Jewish kid in class, people look at you really funny during this unit, or ask you questions about it that you don't know how to answer. In all it just isn't meaningful at all which turns it straight into facts. Straight into numbers.

Numbers of people before.

Numbers of people in each camp.

Numbers on arms.

Numbers of deaths.

Numbers of survivors.

As you can imagine an opportunity to learn about the Shoah first hand and see these places is a whole new experience. Everything you have learned in the past becomes a reality and when it kicks in it is both very devastating and special. It is devastating for all the lives lost, but special to see that some people made it through, and some people are still alive. That we are still a people and not just a people we are thriving. Going to Poland with other Jewish people made it so meaningful and living in Israel two months prior also definitely made this experience meaningful. To see all these Jewish people walking around with their Israeli flags is so empowering. It is standing there and saying that the Nazis did horrible but we are here to learn about it and pass it on so that our traditions stay alive.

When I get back home I hope to bring my experience with me to my friends, family and Jewish community. I also hope that this blog is getting some of my experience out there to people.

Education is very important when it comes to the Shoah. A very common phrase when talking about the Shoah is "Never Again". We can't have this phrase being thrown around without any action involved. If we want to prevent this sort of thing from happening again we have to educate. Spread awareness. Some genocides happen and people don't even know about them. Another phrase commonly thrown around is "Never Forget". Holocaust survivors aren't going to be around much longer. People need to keep passing down the stories and informing others or else nothing is going to happen, and people will forget.

When I get home I plan on going into my local Jewish community and running a program. I want to show my pictures and stories from my trip to Poland with both teens and adults. It is very important to me as well to not only inform the Jewish people of Albuquerque but also my secular community. I want my friends to know what I experienced. I want my parents friends to know what I saw and learned. I think that it is important for both older generations and new generations to talk about the Shoah and learn about it. 

After my trip to Poland I will not forget.