The Charlotte Jewish News - May 2013 - Page 18
Bearing Witness to the Past: A Journey to Auschwitz
By Judy LaPietra
Thirty years ago, as I sat in a
classroom at the City University
of New York, I could have never
imagined the path that my life
would take. However it unfolded.
I made a promise to myself that I
would bear witness to a history
that confounds me to this day.
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The UNCC students at a train boxcar used to
transport Jews to death camps.
UNC students who chose to par
ticipate in a historical study
abroad program that would leave
a lasting impact on them. Spend
ing a week in Poland to study the
Holocaust would provide them an
experience that would exceed
their expectations, as well as those
of us who facilitated this trip.
Our journey began in Krakow,
Poland, an important starting
point for understanding prewar
Jewish culture. We toured the for
mer Jewish quarter of Kazimierz,
and followed the historic timeline
which would eventually lead us to
Auschwitz. We walked through
the former Jewish ghetto in
Krakow, and learned of the even
tual liquidation of approximately
20,000 people. We followed their
journey to the Plaszow concentra
tion camp (made famous by the
film Schindler’s List) which was
established in 1942 as a forced
labor camp for Jews, and where
thousands perished at the hands of
the Nazis. The empty fields of this
site today were sobering to behold
for my still jet-lagged students.
Leaving Krakow and traveling
through the Polish countryside we
arrived in the town of Oswiecim
(Auschwitz in German).
It was here in 1940 that
the Nazi regime estab
lished the largest con
centration camp system
of its kind, and where
over one million people
perished. We would
spend the remainder of
our time in Poland here,
and begin to understand
the Holocaust from as
close a perspective as
possible.
It was a sunny, crisp early
spring day in Oswiecim, Poland as
we set out to enter the camp. The
weather which put us in high spir
its, however, would not sustain
our mood. My students were soon
quieted by the realization of where
they were. We stood at the en
trance gate of Auschwitz and it
was clear to all that nothing, no
text or testimony, had prepared
them for the impact of being there.
Our days at the camp site in
cluded hours of guided study tours
of Auschwitz I and Birkenau,
workshops, and various presenta
tions, including one with a Holo
caust survivor. We were given
access to archives and collections,
and were able to tour the preser
vation department where we
viewed the belongings of former
prisoners - shoes, suitcases,
glasses. With each difficult day, I
noticed that a transformation tak
ing place within our group.
Each night, as we met to de
brief our day, the students grap
pled with the processing of all that
they had seen. What emerged
from these discussions was an
awareness of the depth of this his
tory - a realization that while it is
difficult to fathom the number of
Holocaust victims, it is equally
difficult to put a face to that his
tory. The students were asked to
listen and to imagine what the soil
at Auschwitz could tell them.
Throughout our journey, they pre
sented to the group stories of indi
viduals who survived Auschwitz.
As a result, a personal connection
was made.
My students came away with
the powerful lessons that
Auschwitz gives us, and a deter
mination to change the world in
their own way. I could not ask for
more as an educator.
Joining us on this journey were
ceramic butterflies created by
Charlotte schoolchildren to com
memorate the Holocaust. The But
terfly Project, a worldwide project
supported by the Charlotte com
munity, has resulted in the cre
ation of thousands of butterflies as
a response to Pavel Friedman’s
poem titled “I Never Saw Another
Butterfly,” which he wrote while
in the Terezin ghetto. Friedman
would later perish at Auschwitz.
We left butterflies in Auschwitz
and returned to Charlotte with the
remainder of them to be placed at
the Butterfly Memorial at Shalom
Park.
As an educator, such an oppor
tunity to influence the lives of stu
dents is rare. Where they take this
experience, only time will tell.
However, the vocation of bearing
witness to the Holocaust and
keeping the promise I made to
myself thirty years ago has come
to fruition. ^
Judy LaPietra is an adjunct
professor at the University of
North Carolina at Charlotte.
Synagog
ONGREGATIONS
Celebrate Shavuot with Your Family in
Ballantyne
The Ballantyne Jewish Center
invites you and your family to join
us to hear the Ten Command
ments read from the Torah and
enjoy a delicious dairy meal in
honor of the holiday of Shavuot.
Shavuot is the time when we com
memorate God’s giving of the
Torah at Mt. Sinai and a time to
celebrate the true heroes of this
holiday which are the children.
Before God gave the Torah He de
manded guarantors. The Jewish
people made a number of sugges
tions all rejected by God until they
declared, “Our children will be
our guarantors that we will cherish
and observe the Torah.” God im
mediately accepted them
and agreed to give the
Torah.
Fet us make sure to bring
all our “guarantors” along
on the first day of Shavuot
to be present for the reading
of the Ten Commandments.
In addition, there will be a
special program, fun activi
ties and an ice cream party
for them to enjoy.
A Ballantyne
JEWISH
Wmm CENTER
CeniiCLli.'ii
Wednesday, May 15, 6-7:30
PM
**Focation TBA. Please check
our website for updates.**
In addition, there will be a Min-
yan and Yizkor service the follow
ing morning.
Thursday, May 16 at 8632
Bryant Farms Rd., 10 AM Service
begins, 11:30 AM Yizkor. Fol
lowed by a Kiddush lunch.
For more information visit us
online www.JewishBallantyne.
com. ^
^1 list blintz and blintzes together, because
I never heard of anybody eating only one.^
-Leo Rosten, The Joys of Yiddish