Martyrdom and Resistance, September/October 2016

ID Transcript mare4301_01 "AMERICAN & INTERNATIONAL SOCIETIES FOR YAD VASHEM RTYRD CE© ^QB^ WB8BSL Vol. 43-No. 1 ISSN 0892-1571 September/October 2016-Tishri/Cheshvan 5777 LEADERSHIP MISSION VISITS POLAND AND ISRAEL BY ISAAC BENJAMIN er, eager to share the special experience together. Sixteen young adults represented the American Society's Young Leadership Associates as the third presence of the third generation was a strong influence on the entire group. ""Seeing all the young people on this trip has been an inspiration. Their vitality and enthusiasm all along the In the summer of 2015, supporters from the American Society for Yad Vashem first began discussing a prospective mission to Poland and Israel. Understanding its unique status as the world's preeminent Holocaust institution, the American Society considered such a trip an exceptional opportunity to reflect on the importance of Holocaust remembrance in the 21st century. A little more than a year later, the 31 Americans on the Leadership Mission joined their international partners in this unforgettable profound testament to Yad Vashem's crucial role as the World Holocaust Remembrance Center. Fifty-five passengers were greeted at the Copernicus Wroclaw Airport in Poland on the morning of July 6th by the large banner welcoming them to the 2016 Yad Vashem Leadership Mission. For these friends and supporters of Yad Vashem, the Leadership Mission was a weeklong journey to trace the Jewish experience in Poland and the Holocaust before flying to Israel for a rare, behind-the-scenes exploration of Yad Vashem. The Leadership Mission had a defining spirit throughout the trip: three generations of Yad Vashem supporters joining together on this memorable journey. From octogenarians to teenagers, the group embraced their different perspectives as a bond to a shared heritage. Many of the participants were visiting Eastern Europe for the first time. Others were making their first trip generation on the Leadership back since escaping to survival more Mission. For American Society board H JJ Leadership Mission began in than seventy years before. Several member Mark Moskowitz, who came ' Wroc/aw, a city once known as generations of families came togeth- with his nephew Sam Gordon, the fft T.ey were , .£ Bente Kahan, a Norweigian-Jewish immigrant who has spearheaded the effort to restore the White Stork Synagogue as the local Jewish community's cul- Leadership Mission to Poland and Israel 1,9,10 tural center. Around the city are signs The last Nazi hunter 2 of the once-thriving Jewish communi- Ukrainian Holocaust perpetrators are being honored 3 ty and its tragic destruction at the At the gates of Birkenau, a name for a name 4 hands of the Nazis. The last stop was American Holocaust survivors struggle ""to finish in a decent way"" 5 at the former site of the largest syna- In Poland, searching for Jewish heritage 6 gogue in Wroclaw, burned down on The Holocaust told from the perspective of a teddy bear. 8 Kristallnacht. The group recited kad- In a Nazi legacy, a son's love is tested by mass murder. 12 dish at the lone surviving wall of the Belgian nobles meet Jews saved by their relatives in Holocaust 14 synagogue, a monument to the corn- Save the date: ASYV Annual Tribute Dinner. 16 munity that was a center for Jewish Mark Moskowitz, trustee of the ASYV board of directors; Ron Meier, executive director of the ASYV; and Roger Sofer, of Houston, holding the Torah at the ceremony in Auschwitz. way has been so moving to witness."" IN THIS ISSUE life for centuries. Outside of Wroclaw was the Wolfsberg forced labor camp. Built as a series of tunnels underneath a small mountain, it was where thousands of Jewish prisoners were forced into hard labor. As the group walked through the damp tunnels, Yad Vashem guides recounted the story of Naphtali Stern, a prisoner at Wolfsberg. Trading his rations for a pencil stub, Stern wrote the Rosh Hashanah service from memory onto scraps torn from bags of cement. Stern survived the Holocaust and later in life donated his cherished prayer book to Yad Vashem. Later on, each participant received a replica of the ""Wolfsberg Machzor,"" its tattered edges a reminder of the unimaginable struggles the prisoners of Wolfsberg faced. It was a bright Friday morning when the Leadership Mission traveled to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Meeting at the infamous Arbeit Macht Frei gate, local Polish guides joined the Yad Vashem staff in leading the group through the barracks that make up the Auschwitz Museum. Block 27 is specifically curated by Yad Vashem as a permanent exhibit to commemorate the loss of Jewish life. Block 27 holds the monumental Book of Names — a collection of the names of millions of Holocaust victims. Many members of the group were able to find the names of their murdered relatives among the 4.2 million names. The Leadership Mission was allowed unparalleled access at Auschwitz. As Dr. Mengele's torture site, Block 10 is not open to the public. As the Polish guides unlocked the dusty padlocked door, several members were too overcome with emotion and trepidation to step inside to see the stark hallways left untouched for decades. In Birkenau, one railroad car stands alone on the abandoned tracks as a symbol of the millions of deportees. For the Leadership Mission, Auschwitz guides opened the usually closed sliding door of the vehicle. As they were led up the otherwise gated-off stairwell to the Birkenau watchtower, the expansive grid of barracks came into view. For Jessica Glickman-Mauk, a grandchild of survivors and mother of three young children, ""it was a sight I will never forget. I want my children to (Continued on page 10) "