History, Travel, Spielberg & Commemoration
Auschwitz 70: Past is Present, January 2015.
As I finished typing these words on the plane back to Australia, overwhelmed by the fact that I scored a business class upgrade just before boarding, I found myself becoming emotional reflecting back on my whirlwind trip to Europe. Feeling sorrow for the atrocities of the past, anger for the prejudice and discrimination still happening around the world today and sadness because I had to say goodbye to my new found family of teachers and friends.
But firstly, let’s start at the beginning. When I first applied for this worldwide teacher professional development program being offered by the University of California’s Shoah Foundation and Discovery Education, I never dreamed that I would be swapping my sunny, lounging by the pool days during my summer holiday break for -5 degrees and snow in Europe. The intense application process consisted of the creation of a 90 second video and 5 short essay questions, based on the concept of bringing the past to the present. All of which I completed and sent away in late September 2014. It was only another couple of weeks before I received an email saying I was in! Extremely excited that I was being given an all expenses paid, once in a life opportunity trip to Europe, I did what any history teacher would do. Tell her history students about it. However, in re-reading the fine print in the email it stated “PLEASE DON'T TELL ANYONE!” Whoops, but I knew my secret was safe. The program itself was to take place in Warsaw and Krakow in Poland from 23rd – 28th January. As you know, Europe is quite far from the sandy shores of Australia, so I decided to arrive a week early and spend some time in Berlin, Germany beforehand. As an avid history teacher and life long learner, there was much that I wanted to see and do. Highlights of Berlin were visiting the Reichstag building, Sachsenhausen concentration camp, the Berlin Wall memorial, the Jewish museum and looking out across the lit up city of Berlin at night from the TV tower. Germany is definitely a country that I will be returning to in the future. |
The Auschwitz 70: Past is Present program brought together 24 teachers from 10 different countries, a group of junior interns from schools across the USA and a whole team of professionals from USC’s Shoah Foundation and Discovery Education. And, as an added bonus, camera crews and microphones were to follow us everywhere we went. Seriously, EVERYWHERE!
The goal and purpose of the program was to bring educators from across the globe together to learn how to use people’s testimonies from the past (particularly Holocaust survivors) to use in the present, and to attend the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on the 27th January at Auschwitz Birkenau Memorial and State Museum. Delivered by a highly intelligent team of teachers and professionals there were workshops to attend, museums to visit and people to meet. |
The program began with an official opening at the Mercure Grand Hotel in the centre of Warsaw, Poland. This was the first opportunity to meet all who would be involved in the coming few days. Day two was quickly upon us and we were at The Museum of the History of Polish Jews in the center of Warsaw. As teachers, we spent the day learning the importance of remembering the past, how to use testimonies from the Shoah Foundation Iwitness website, trying out new technological tools to use in the classroom and finished with a tour of the museum. What a huge day! When the Director of Education at the Shoah Foundation says to you at dinner “I need to speak with you before you go to your room tonight” the adrenalin automatically kicks in. Thinking I have done something wrong that day, I sit down for the conversation. However, I quickly realise there are three other teachers sitting at the table also. The conversation goes something like this: “tomorrow there will be a panel of teachers speaking to a group of highly important and influential board members of the Shoah Foundation and Discovery Education. We would like you all to be those teachers, oh, and Mr Spielberg will be there and you will be having lunch with him.” So, that evening was spent trying to write something intelligent and constructive to say to Steven Spielberg. Telling him I loved the film Jaws or Jurassic Park just wasn’t going to cut it. |
Day three was upon us and I am starting to wear my tired eyes. We do a morning practice of our speeches and I think I am ready to sit on the stage and deliver my speech, which by this stage I had completely re-written from the night before. The speech is completed, tears are shed over words from survivor Paula Lebovicz and lunch happens with a meaningful conversation with Mr Spielberg about how important teachers are today and why testimonies are so important in preserving the legacy of the Holocaust survivors.
A handshake and nice to meet you to Mr Spielberg and we are off to Krakow. A short 3-4 hour bus trip from Warsaw to Krakow, turned into a long 7 hour bus trip with a stop for coffee at what someone called the “Wonderland Restaurant”. However, I survived the long haul with ease, thanks to my new story-telling bus buddy from Kentucky in the USA. And, just for your information, I never believed the story of you hunting polar bears! |
Day four starts with a very early start with about 5 hours sleep. We drive carefully on the slippery ice covered roads to Oswiecim, the town home to the former concentration camp Auschwitz, for a guided tour of the Auschwitz museum. Our knowledgeable guide leads us through the infamous gates with the words “ARBEIT MACHT FREI” (Work Makes You Free) and there is a sudden eerie feeling of sadness and emptiness. Walking through the buildings and seeing the mass amounts of shaved hair, suitcases and shoes, you ask yourself why? Why would one human being do this to another? How could you physically and mentally take away another person’s livelihood and even worse brutally murder an innocent human being? It is not possible to even try to comprehend a reasonable answer to these questions.
That evening we attend a reception with guests from all over the world. The Shoah Foundation had also accommodated the travel and stay of one hundred former Auschwitz survivors to come together for this commemorative time. This was an opportunity to listen to personal experiences and to discuss the importance of remembering and commemorating the Holocaust. Day four of the program ends with a refreshing (freezing) walk through snow-covered Krakow.
The next and final day of the program begins with the drive to Oswiecim where we visit the site of the last Jewish synagogue before its demolition during World War II. We tour a recently constructed synagogue and museum before enjoying a relaxed lunch in a warm café. From here we travel a short bus ride to Auschwitz Birkenau, to be in attendance for the 70th anniversary commemoration ceremony. Not knowing whether we are sitting, standing, inside or outside, I am wearing so many layers of clothing I can hardly move. As I walk along the fence of the former concentration camp wearing my layers of warm clothing, scarf, gloves, hat and foot warmers, I remember the photographs and film footage of prisoners standing behind these very same fences wearing nothing but a thin striped uniform, hat and not very often shoes. Once again, there is a feeling that comes over you of helplessness and the unanswerable questions fill your head of of how could? And, why would someone treat another adult or child this way?
In the powerful words of survivor Roman Kent, “Teach what happens when hate is allowed to flourish, we must teach tolerance and understanding, we must teach that hate is never right and love is never wrong.” From these words it is clear what my role and responsibility as a teacher is. I WILL teach my students about the atrocities of the past, I WILL teach my students about the impact of prejudice and discrimination and I WILL teach my students to be kind and to love one another. January 2015 is a time in my life I will never forget. |
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