I heard a paranormal theory that goes like this: ghosts haunt places; poltergeists haunt people. There was once a movie about poltergeists, and what became of the people involved in the making of that movie makes for interesting reading. But, if paranormal theory has it right, the ghosts of which you speak do not roam the world, not, at least, in the paranormal sense. They roam the remains of the Auschwitz camps.
I was there, twice, in a guide capacity. The first time was with US high school students, and they took it grimly on the chin. The second time was with US adults, and already at the first room, with those "salvaged" prostheses, dentures, teeth, spectacles, suitcases, one young lady was so taken, I required to escort her back out of the place. Yes, kids can deal with more than the adults can.
I have a Ukrainian friend here in Belgium, and I have vowed that, once the shooting stops, I will go there and pay homage to the innocent who, for Ukraine, for Europe and for me, have paid with their lives for the self-determination of their leaders and, perhaps even, of themselves. Maybe after the war we will hear how many believe they were talked into it.
But I make enemies easily. It is never easier to make enemies than to abandon any hope of determining where right and wrong lie. To maintain the Holocaust was a horror, or never happened; to see Mr Zelenskiy as the saviour of Ukraine in its hour of greatest need, or the reason it was invaded in the first place; to see Israeli hostages as the victims of a political battle that has raged in Palestine since 1948, or as the last-ditch attempt by Hamas to wrench some form of justice out of having been excluded from their rightful - according to them - territory since the 7 day war.
No, no rights, and no wrongs. But mountains of victims. Mountains of spectacles. Mountains of suitcases. Mountains of false teeth and limb prostheses. Mountains of tears. Mountains of ignominy. Mountains of misery. All in the name of kings and countries, whatever your constitution says.
I went to Rwanda this summer and attended four genocide memorials in the country. One of the (many) things that struck me were the people who tend the memorials and provide tours are actual survivors of the terrifying genocide in '94 and each and every day they re-traumatize themselves (I asked, they seemed to be OK with this question) for the sake of educating anyone who comes there on genocide. One man was 17 and running barefoot back and forth between a church and the swamp each night to try to locate any survivors in the pile of bodies in the church. Now he is one of the people who clean the skulls and bones of people still being dug up and buried some 30 years later, and carefully takes each piece of still-bloody clothing out to the sunshine once a year to disinfect it and then places it back where it belongs in the pile. His wife still can't walk more than a block from the house without an anxiety breakdown and is trapped in that life.
Shaking as I read this. Just learned that our new Israeli shaliach's, (an emissary for Israel, sent to represent Israel and educate the community) brother was murdered. While not in Auschwitz I also feel untethered and unsafe. The world is not safe. Anywhere.
It has been many years since I was in a concentration camp. But I distinctly remember feeling presences all around me.
It is always the individual story that hits hardest.
This morning I sent a message to a man I met for the first time last week who is from Tel Aviv, and he just said his nephew was shot and missing, his wife was murdered, and their 3 yr old kidnapped to Gaza.
I can't over this. There will be winners in this war. Ever.
The Israeli defense minister called Hamas "human animals," not Palestinians. All Hamas are Palestinians/not all Palestinians are Hamas. (All Israelis are not Jews/not all Jews are Israelis).
On the other hand, all humans are indeed animals; anything deemed human behavior cannot be alien to any of us--any of us. PFP (Pray for Peace). ~friend of RD
Oh, Christ. More on the villa, please. and thank God for the person working in the collections dept. of Auschwitz. Sorry if I am confusing her with someone else. She grew up next to the villa and played with the kids...oh my god. Thanks again
I can’t help but think of your generational connection to, and trauma from, the barbaric and horrific atrocities that happened there. Perhaps this is why you feel unsafe even when you are. It’s in your DNA. And being there....I can’t even imagine. ♥️
I heard a paranormal theory that goes like this: ghosts haunt places; poltergeists haunt people. There was once a movie about poltergeists, and what became of the people involved in the making of that movie makes for interesting reading. But, if paranormal theory has it right, the ghosts of which you speak do not roam the world, not, at least, in the paranormal sense. They roam the remains of the Auschwitz camps.
I was there, twice, in a guide capacity. The first time was with US high school students, and they took it grimly on the chin. The second time was with US adults, and already at the first room, with those "salvaged" prostheses, dentures, teeth, spectacles, suitcases, one young lady was so taken, I required to escort her back out of the place. Yes, kids can deal with more than the adults can.
I have a Ukrainian friend here in Belgium, and I have vowed that, once the shooting stops, I will go there and pay homage to the innocent who, for Ukraine, for Europe and for me, have paid with their lives for the self-determination of their leaders and, perhaps even, of themselves. Maybe after the war we will hear how many believe they were talked into it.
But I make enemies easily. It is never easier to make enemies than to abandon any hope of determining where right and wrong lie. To maintain the Holocaust was a horror, or never happened; to see Mr Zelenskiy as the saviour of Ukraine in its hour of greatest need, or the reason it was invaded in the first place; to see Israeli hostages as the victims of a political battle that has raged in Palestine since 1948, or as the last-ditch attempt by Hamas to wrench some form of justice out of having been excluded from their rightful - according to them - territory since the 7 day war.
No, no rights, and no wrongs. But mountains of victims. Mountains of spectacles. Mountains of suitcases. Mountains of false teeth and limb prostheses. Mountains of tears. Mountains of ignominy. Mountains of misery. All in the name of kings and countries, whatever your constitution says.
I went to Rwanda this summer and attended four genocide memorials in the country. One of the (many) things that struck me were the people who tend the memorials and provide tours are actual survivors of the terrifying genocide in '94 and each and every day they re-traumatize themselves (I asked, they seemed to be OK with this question) for the sake of educating anyone who comes there on genocide. One man was 17 and running barefoot back and forth between a church and the swamp each night to try to locate any survivors in the pile of bodies in the church. Now he is one of the people who clean the skulls and bones of people still being dug up and buried some 30 years later, and carefully takes each piece of still-bloody clothing out to the sunshine once a year to disinfect it and then places it back where it belongs in the pile. His wife still can't walk more than a block from the house without an anxiety breakdown and is trapped in that life.
Shaking as I read this. Just learned that our new Israeli shaliach's, (an emissary for Israel, sent to represent Israel and educate the community) brother was murdered. While not in Auschwitz I also feel untethered and unsafe. The world is not safe. Anywhere.
It has been many years since I was in a concentration camp. But I distinctly remember feeling presences all around me.
Try to get some rest. You are a force for good.
It is always the individual story that hits hardest.
This morning I sent a message to a man I met for the first time last week who is from Tel Aviv, and he just said his nephew was shot and missing, his wife was murdered, and their 3 yr old kidnapped to Gaza.
I can't over this. There will be winners in this war. Ever.
The Israeli defense minister called Hamas "human animals," not Palestinians. All Hamas are Palestinians/not all Palestinians are Hamas. (All Israelis are not Jews/not all Jews are Israelis).
On the other hand, all humans are indeed animals; anything deemed human behavior cannot be alien to any of us--any of us. PFP (Pray for Peace). ~friend of RD
Oh, Christ. More on the villa, please. and thank God for the person working in the collections dept. of Auschwitz. Sorry if I am confusing her with someone else. She grew up next to the villa and played with the kids...oh my god. Thanks again
I could barely breathe reading this.
I can’t help but think of your generational connection to, and trauma from, the barbaric and horrific atrocities that happened there. Perhaps this is why you feel unsafe even when you are. It’s in your DNA. And being there....I can’t even imagine. ♥️