Sharing a Story; The Reason I study the Holocaust.

On Footsteps, we have asked people to share their stories, their connection to the Holocaust. Of course not everyone has a direct connection, we have grandchildren of SS guards, of Nazi Criminals... Everyone from different backgrounds sharing their stories. So I thought, instead of paining everyone with my story via Footsteps, I would post it here, it's nothing special of course, I have no direct connection to the Holocaust. I just feel a deep sense of meaning when I think of my life, working against the rise of racism and making sure that this never happens again. 

This is a brief story of how I came to be part of a wonderful team, and started to fight against the rise of hatred in this world. 

Post-Poland Thoughts

After a few days of being alone, having time to think, to be in this shell (in other words my bedroom) just to reflect on the week which has just past us. I realise there is still so much hatred in the world, still so much discrimination, even to people who are just wanting to make a difference. The power of having a surname which represents something, even if you are nothing like your relatives. 

 Not knowing what the future will bring excites me a little, hoping that some how we can make a difference, that we can educate people in such a way that they also feel the same as we do, that we want to make a brighter and safer future, which doesn’t involve hating because of who we are. We all, this week changed, even if it was only a small percentage of us that did, I already feel myself wondering what more we could do, what other things might help even that tiny bit to step forward, just one more step, to raise awareness and stop this hatred which swarms through our world like the plague. 

Auschwitz-Birkenau; Schmerzhafte Trauer

Auschwitz-Birkenau, the camp which is so vast you can spend hours walking round and still miss so much of the history of this dreadful place. The gates were covered by the tent so that is why there is no photo of the snow covered gates which symbolise the whole camp in the modern day photographs. Of course we were there for the 70th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz, something which I felt honoured to attend, standing in the freezing cold for 4 hours was nothing, as we kept saying 'we are cold in 8 layers... imagine the poor prisoners who hardly wore any clothing at all' It really does make you feel emotionally unstable, just walking through this vast land.

Auschwitz Main Camp; Aller Anfang ist Schwer

Spending four days around Auschwitz, and two afternoons at Birkenau was extremely hard, this is why the article gained the title 'Aller Anfang ist Schwer' meaning 'All Beginnings are hard' This was my first time going to the grounds of Auschwitz, luckily I was with a group who mostly had been before. The first time we arrived, it was getting dark, the snow was falling and the grounds were white. It was such a weird situation to be in, the ground which we walked on had once been scattered with ash, to make it easier to walk on through icy weather, the ash coming from the burning of the bodies which were constantly murdered because of hate.

Sightseeing in Poland.

On the 24th I arrived in Poland for the first time, it was cold and the snow was starting to fall, I didn't know what I was to expect of this week, how much I would be seeing, what I would see. It was all so new to me. We were staying in the Jewish Quarter of Krakow, (Yes it is also where parts of Schlinder's List was filmed, but I don't want to go into that) We headed straight out to explore, I saw so much beauty in a city which once had been captured and tarnished by the Nazis. Seeing Wawal Castle, how it over looked some of the city, remembering that once Hans Frank lived there like a King, a king of a country his 'men' had captured. It was all very surreal to me.