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2012 March 24th - April 7th
r u y r o o T t s i y H d
Holocaust Study Tour 2012
Holocaust Study Tour Donors 2012 New Milford High School Donors
Marcia and Joseph Bograd Lawrence Cohen Judith and Robert Cook Curtis Circulation Company, LLC Doherty Enterprises, Inc. – Applebees Restaurants Althea Duersten Ronnie and Martin Eisen Susan and Julius Eisen Fogarty and Hara Joan and Egon Fromm Graphic Builders, Inc. In Memory of Howard G. Schneider Inserra Supermarkets, Inc. Murray Kuschner Barbara and Fred Lafer Jonathan Mann New Milford Jewish Community Center New Milford PBA New Milford Education Association (NJEA) Martin Perlman and Jo-Ann Hassan Barnett Rukin Ellen and Harold Schiff Temple Avodat Shalom Temple Beth Am Joseph Gotthelf Fund The Arthur and Eileen Newman Family Foundation The Burton G. and Anne C. Greenblatt Foundation The Henry and Marilyn Taub Foundation The Jewish War Veterans Barron S. Wall Mimi Weis Shirley and Solomon Weiss United Water, Inc. Arthur Abrams Dana Aufiero Victoria and Keith Bachmann Celia and Sheldon Bass Ida and Gary Borer Robert Borteck Lillian and Isaac Braude Olivia Burten Elizabeth and Robert Chester Susan and Howard Cohn Leanne and Raymond Cottiers James Courter Vivian Davis Laura and David Eisen David Elliot
Joanne and Michael Falk Damon Fellman Lawrence Forster Irene Frank Paula Gellis Ellen and Ralph Gerber Barbara and Robert Grodsky Morris I. Grossman Sheppard Guryan Ilse Heller Bernice and Leon Jaffe Marilyn and Elihu Katzman Sandra Kaufman A.B. and L.G. Kessler Linda Keesing Annette and Michel Kirszrot Joel Kobert Edith and Robert Levine Claire Mann Joan and Brian McCann Estelle Meislich Hanns Martin Merzbach Sarah and David Nanus The Piasevoli Family Dana and Frederic Rubin Phyliss Rubin Peggy Saslow Steven Saslow Lisa Schiff Diana and Ervin Schoenblum The Silver Family Carolyn Smith Steven E. Some Judith and David Solomon Stephen Tencer Rita and Bert Toron Karen Vicari Bella Viezel Thomas Wagner Harriet and Bernard Weinberg Arden Weinstein West Essex Regional School District David Wilson Eileen and Donald Wolmer
We gratefully acknowledge the following individuals for their gracious support. Without their continued generosity this program would not realize its full potential.
Bishop O’Dowd High School Donors Betty Buettner Rabbi Judah Dardik, Beth Jacob Congregation Norma Heath Holocaust Center, Jewish Family & Children’s Services of San Francisco Geoffrey and Barbara Kotin Rabbi Andrew Straus, First Hebrew Congregation of Oakland, Temple Sinai Holocaust Center, Jewish Family & Children’s Services of San Fransisco
Midland Park High School Donors Anonymous Christine Merletto Michael Finnerty Michael DiPiazza – Koch Monuments Inserra Supermarkets, Inc. Midland Park PBA
Saint Thomas Aquinas High School Donors Charles A. Sullivan Charitable Foundation
Trsice Memorial Donors The Conner Family The Piasevoli Family The Kaprielian Family The New Milford High School Student Council Saint Thomas Aquinas High School Bishop O’Dowd High School
A special thanks to the following institutions for their continued support and guidance: The New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, Israel Funding for this publication was made possible by the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) Pride in Education Grants program. The generous and continued support by NJEA has allowed the educational outreach of this program to flourish.
Contents Leading
Tambuscio 8 Colleen June Chang Lisa Bauman Bonnie Sussman
Author’s Message
10
Alexandra Zapruder
“to...remake my own history.”
12 Flori Bako
“...make the history of my own life...”
“...making history prevent the errors of humanity...”
24 Devanni Guzman
“...making history every day that he continues to live.”
26 Sarah Firestone
“...to make an impact with his individual Holocaust history...”
28 Kristina Damiano
“...make history teach... even in the present.”
14 Benjamin Ryan
30 Gabrielle Van Hoet
“Making history make sense”
“...made history by accepting... and educating”
16 Aidan Merris
“...making history have meaning”
18 Alyssa Solonkovich
“...making history acknowledge its pain”
20 Amanda DeCarlo
“...making the absence of their history.....”
22 Samantha Flores
32 Alyssa Loonam “and that the history of their lives was not ultimately made to be cut short.”
34 Callie Prince
“...make history recognize...”
36Hannah Carmichael
“...people who could have dreamed and made history”
38 Vanessa Monserrat
“Making history become lessons”
40 Allison Nativo
The students who participated in the Holocaust Study Tour 2012
“...make our history as twin brothers...”
42 Tyler Ryan
remember and honor the victims of Nazi persecution by reflecting upon their experiences visiting
“...making the history of this area come to life...”
historical sites in Germany, Czech
44Gabrielle Liebermann
Republic, and Poland. New Milford
“Sometimes we cannot make history answer our questions.”
with Midland Park High School,
46
Hannah Smith
“I will make history by shining a light...”
48
Megan Lucas
High School students in partnership Midland Park, New Jersey; Saint ThomasAquinasHighSchool,Overland Park, Kansas; and Bishop O’Dowd High School, Oakland, California, present the following reflections that
Trsice & Olomouc
50
Shalmi Barmore
52
Pavel Stransky
54
convey
the
hearts
and
minds of this year’s participants. Project Coordinators: Colleen Tambuscio New Milford, New Jersey June Chang Midland Park, New Jersey Lisa Bauman Overland Park, Kansas Bonnie Sussman Oakland, California
Our Guides
56
Holocaust Study Tour 2012
MAKING As teachers, we study history. We teach history. We
discuss a book they have read in class with the
don’t think of ourselves as making history. However,
author? This was just one of the many highlights
during our Holocaust Study Tour of 2012 we did just
of this year’s Holocaust Study Tour.
that: we made history.
Each year Holocaust survivor Pavel Stransky
Once again we began in Berlin, Germany meeting our
inspires us with his story when he joins us in
incredible guide and mentor, Mr. Shalmi Barmore.
Prague and takes us to Theresienstadt, where he
Through his expertise, Mr. Barmore taught the
had worked as a teacher during the Holocaust,
fundamentals of German history and the rise of the
and where he married his girlfriend Vera in
Nazi party. As always, students and teachers alike
order to stay together when they were sent to
learned immeasurable amounts from his infinite
Auschwitz. For the entire day our students asked
wisdom.
him questions, and took so much from his words
Author Alexandra Zapruder joined us in Prague, Czech
as we visited the Theresienstadt ghetto and
Republic where she immediately became part of our
prison. Pavel’s story of survival, which he calls
“family” and brought the study of Holocaust history
his “Holocaust love story,” means so much to us
to a new level for all of us. After Mr. Barmore led
because so well do we come to know this kind,
us through the Jewish quarter and taught about the
sweet man who experienced this horrible history.
history of the Jewish community in Prague, we had
In Olomouc, Czech Republic our students met
a roundtable discussion with Ms. Zapruder, in which
another admirable Holocaust survivor, Milos
she read us passages from Otto Wolf’s diary. Our
Dobry. Milos shared his experiences in Auschwitz-
students asked questions and discussed the meaning
Birkenau where he had told the Nazi guards he
of the diary passages. We knew we were involved in
was a cook in order to be assigned a job in the
something extraordinary: how many students in the
kitchen.
United States have the opportunity to sit down and
responsible for initiating the process with Yad
Holocaust Study Tour 8
Years later in the 1990’s, Milos was
HISTORY Vashem to list the rescuers in Trsice, Czech Republic
own peril, somehow took the bodies up the hillside
as “Righteous Among Nations,” introduced us to the
into the woods and properly buried the dead Jews.
living rescuers of the Wolf family and led us to the
Basically undocumented, this new historical knowledge
hideouts in the forest of Trsice four years ago. Milos’
had quite an impact on us all.
passion and determination shine through and inspire
Each year we learn more, and discover new aspects of
us. Despite the horrors he experienced in Auschwitz,
the history of the Holocaust. After two intense weeks
he documented history through Yad Vashem, and
of experiential learning that is the Holocaust Study
thanks to him, there stands today a memorial in the
Tour, our students then go back to their communities
woods of Trsice.
in New Jersey, California, and Kansas.
Because
of
knowledgeable Shalmi
Barmore,
outside,
our guide, each
“Through their words and their actions these students are now the living history; this is the goal of the program.”
From the
friends
and
family would never know the historical knowledge of the Holocaust that they
year we experience new aspects of the history of the Holocaust. This year
now possess. They will be the
we visited the town of Rabka, Poland, a Jewish shtetl
markers of memory who tell the stories of Otto Wolf,
once used as a convalescent area due to the clean
Pavel Stransky and Milos Dobry. Through their words
mountain air. During the Holocaust, Rabka had been
and their actions these students are now the living
used by the Nazis as a site for terror. From 1942-1944
history; this is the goal of the program.
the Nazis used the convent there as a training center
Knowledge is power and because these students were
for Gestapo interrogation techniques.
Nazis used
part of the Holocaust Study Tour, they now have both
Jews from the town as guinea pigs in torture training,
the knowledge and the power to be teachers. Teachers
and threw their dead bodies outside the convent in
study history. Teachers teach history. These new
a heap, unburied. The nuns of the convent, at their
teachers will make the history of the world different.
Colleen Tambuscio June Chang
Lisa Bauman
Bonnie Sussman
Holocaust Study Tour 9
Zapruder Alexandra
and murdered.
I am not sure what I expected when I said I would join the Holocaust Study Tour in 2012.
I did not anticipate the effect of traveling
I met Colleen, Bonnie, and Lisa more than a
with students, seeing the sites of this history
decade ago, and I have heard about the trip for
through younger eyes, being challenged by new
years. But whatever I thought, nothing could
questions, and most of all, bonding through
prepare me for traveling with these exceptional
shared experience, emotion, and learning. For
teachers who provide a historically sound and
me, the most moving part of the trip took place
emotionally safe experience for a group of
when we traveled to Trsice to dedicate the
dedicated students who—as I learned—make up
memorial to the Wolf family and the inhabitants
the heart and soul of the endeavor.
of the village who collectively sheltered them. Long after I returned home, I continued to recall
The trip was, for me, about firsts and about
the memory of walking into the forest—a column
returns. A return to Prague—much changed
of Czech locals, press, teachers, and students—
since I visited as a college student in 1990, just
symbolically leaving our ordinary lives behind for a
months after the Velvet Revolution, and yet still
few hours to enter the past, to inhabit the reality
recognizable as the “fairy tale in stone” that
of a family struggling to survive, to consider the
diarist Petr Ginz described. A first journey to
ordinary people challenged to risk their lives
Theresienstadt, the ghetto-camp that I have
for the sake of another’s humanity. There we
studied and written about but had, until the
saw the rudimentary holes in the ground where
trip, never visited—a place where three of the
the Wolf family hid for shelter and which today
diarists in Salvaged Pages lived and wrote. A
serve as a sober backdrop to the beautiful grey
return to the story of Otto Wolf, whose diary
granite marker bearing the memorial words. We
I read and re-read, edited, and struggled to
stood in small groups in a wide, peaceful clearing,
understand and illuminate in Salvaged Pages.
surrounded on all sides by a cathedral of tall, slim
A first visit to Olomouc, Czech Republic, the
evergreens, the scent of pine needles in the air,
city of his birth and early life; to Trsice, Czech
and considered the accomplishment of those
Republic, where he and his family were hidden;
who created this memorial and the passage
to Zakrov, Czech Republic, where he was caught
of time that made it possible. I looked at the
Holocaust Study Tour 10
faces of the students—serious, contemplative, awed, reflective—and felt again the ineffable, incalculable importance of shared experience; of being in the physical spaces where history unfolded; and of the affection, trust and lasting memory that such experiences engender. The single most moving moment for me that day was hearing two Czech boy scouts reading entries aloud from Otto’s diary in his native tongue. I could not understand the words and I didn’t know which entries they were. The sounds were alien to me and they echoed through the silent space of the clearing. But for me, it was yet another moment of return. It was the return of Otto’s words to the place where he wrote them, the restoration of his dignity and individuality in a way that only such a moment could accomplish. He did not live to see his words published in Czech and in English; he did not live to see Eva Vavrecka, who would have been his niece, standing in for his family; he did not live to see Colleen Tambuscio, an American teacher commit herself to his memory and his story; he did not live to see the once-deserted hiding place restored, filled not only with media, with Czech government officials, with members of the remnants of the Jewish community, but most of all, with Czech boy scouts and American students who were drawn to that place to bear in mind a family they had never met. And yet, it happened. We stood together and we remembered. It is a moment that I will never forget.
Holocaust Study Tour 11
Bako Flori
New Milford High School
Holocaust Study Tour 12
“to ... remake my own history.” How could a train station that looks like any
in my life. I believe that no matter what
other have such a powerful effect on me as
obstacles I encounter, to overcome them
I walked by?
is vital. Even if I have made mistakes, a
Walking through Grunewald train station in Berlin, I felt an overwhelming feeling of confusion and despair. I could not understand how a train station could be used to collect and deport Jews. When I think of a train, so many beautiful things come to mind such as new beginnings and peaceful journeys. The idea that one is embarking on a journey with loved ones, or even alone, seems
new journey means facing those mistakes and correcting them. I have to have faith in my future and to have faith in the ability to start over if need be. This is why Grunewald train station had such an impact on me. I could not grasp that for so many people during the Holocaust getting on a train did not mean new beginnings. It meant the end.
serene. Unfortunately, for the Jews, this
This trip has taught me that my own
was not the case. As soon as they arrived at
journey has just begun. Starting over and
Grunewald they were sent to concentration
moving forward is what makes us stronger
camps and death camps. When in the camps
and better versions of ourselves. If people
they were either sent to immediate death
never let go of what is needed to in order
or forced to work. For thousands deported
to move forward, we will never meet the
from Grunewald, theirs was not a journey of
future. The victims of Grunewald did not
promise.
have that same opportunity of moving
I relate the act of riding a train to the future. By getting on a train, I would be moving forward to new experiences and a new life. Moving forward is a reoccurring theme
forward to a life of new beginnings, success, and happiness, but I do. I will not waste any opportunities to make, or remake, my own history.
Holocaust Study Tour 13
Ryan
Benjamin Midland Park High School
Holocaust Study Tour 14
“...make the history of my own life...” We waited in a small alleyway in front of a wooden door. The most meaningful building to me stood there, hidden between other identical buildings. We walked up a steep staircase into a small white waiting room with very few pictures or clues of the stories that waited inside. At that time I did not realize the impact this workshop would have on me. Although I tried to keep an open mind, I thought that I would experience the same feelings I had from the museums and memorials we had previously visited: feelings of the historical importance but not feelings of emotional importance. It may seem hard to believe, but I really did not have any great emotional feelings while visiting the Holocaust Memorial and the Topography of Terror. At these places I saw terrorizing pictures, read horrific stories and found them truly disturbing, but it was only as if I was in a life size textbook walking from room to room filled with artifacts of the Holocaust. In front of this wooden door, however, I felt different: our group was about to enter the first historical memorial of the trip, Otto Weidt’s Workshop for the Blind also referred to as Otto Weidt’s “Hidden Workshop.” This was the place that would leave an imprint on my memory that will never be erased.
As we followed the tour guide into the actual workroom where brooms and brushes were made, I nearly stopped walking when I stood in front of the original tarnished wooden floor. I almost felt as if I should not walk across this “hallowed” ground of the room where blind and deaf workers were kept “hidden” from certain death at the hands of the Nazis. Here I was walking in their same footsteps, in the original rooms, exactly on the same floors. This was not just a “building” anymore; I could now picture the struggles of the workers who had not only had to fear being blind or deaf, but who also had the constant fear of being put to death for having those very disabilities. Reflecting back on this moment of the trip, I realize that it created an open mind within me that would need to be kept open, not just during the trip, but from this point on in my own life. Otto Weidt’s workshop was a place where people were valued and protected and, as a result, Otto made these people’s histories different. I can make my own history different as well by continuing to live with an open mind and by not judging others. Perhaps this will make the history of my own life go in a direction I had never thought possible.
Holocaust Study Tour 15
Merris Aidan
Bishop O’Dowd High School
Holocaust Study Tour 16
“Making history make sense” Facing the reality of the Holocaust is a difficult task; understanding why such a calamity was allowed to occur and knowing who exactly murdered millions of people is even harder. Throughout my trip in Europe, I constantly asked myself many questions, but one that consumed me then and still does today, is “Who were the real perpetrators behind Hitler’s Holocaust?” A simple answer would appear to be the Nazis, but is the answer so simple? When we visited Auschwitz-Birkenau, I not only felt sick to my stomach, I felt a strong desire to escape; to free myself from the barbed wire and to never return. I remained, however, and continued to ask myself who directly killed millions and millions of people. I was desperate to find the answer, to comprehend the incomprehensible and to come to a better understanding of who murdered these people. At Auschwitz, Mr. Barmore told our group of the train driver’s role in transporting Jews into Auschwitz and what exactly they did. Many conductors claimed that they did not kill anyone, but if it were not for their role, millions of Jews would never have reached and entered the death camps and concentration camps. If it were not for the person who opened the train doors, the
Jews would never have gotten out and walked to selection. If it were not for the Nazi soldier in command of the selection, or Dr. Mengele, the Jews would not have been “herded off” to perish in the gas chambers. So who exactly murdered millions of innocent “undesirables” throughout Europe during the Holocaust? Many, including myself, might blame Adolf Hitler, the man behind all of the misery and death during one of history’s darkest times. The Holocaust probably would never have happened were it not for Hitler, for he definitely was responsible for its systemic and widespread reach. But then again, Hitler never directly killed anyone. Another answer might be the SS officer who dumped the Zyklon B crystals into the vents of the gas chambers, which killed hundreds of people within 20 minutes. A third perpetrator of the Holocaust could have been some of the prisoners themselves who were forced to burn the victims, forever “removing” them from the world. Making history make sense would mean finding one single answer as to who is responsible for the murder of six million Jews and millions of other victims during the Holocaust. Perhaps not knowing is just one more incomprehensible part of this tragedy.
Holocaust Study Tour 17
Alyssa
Solonkovich New Milford High School
Holocaust Study Tour 18
“...making history have meaning” During the Holocaust trip, our group was
families, several members of Otto’s family
fortunate and privileged to meet the
were able to survive. Otto himself, however,
prestigious author, Alexandra Zapruder. She
was killed in a roundup of Jews by the Nazis.
has edited and compiled many diaries from
After Otto was burned in a farm house with
children of the Holocaust, allowing us to
others captured, Otto’s sister Lici, was able
become more familiar with the experiences
to continue writing in his diary.
of these children. Included in her work, Salvaged Pages: Young Writers’ Diaries of the Holocaust, are stories that recount a life being lived in a ghetto, a child seeing family members leave to go to their deaths, Jews forced into hiding and countless others. The ages of the diarists range from twelve to twenty-two, and while some of these child “authors” survived, many of them also perished during the time of the Holocaust.
Otto Wolf’s diary, made known to us through our reading of Salvaged Pages, gave us, and the world, the knowledge of the Wolf family’s very courageous and important story. Because of knowledge of the Wolf’s experience during the Holocaust, this year our Study Tour 2012 group completed the memorial site to the Wolf family. We would have been unable to mark the memorial in the forest and unable to
A diary written by a young boy named
allow the hideouts to become a historical
Otto Wolf, from the small town of Trsice
site, had it not been for this courageous
in Czech Republic, wrote of his time spent
young man’s diary, its inclusion in Salvaged
hiding in a small ditch in the woods. With him
Pages and the commitment to making
hid his family including his mother, father
history have meaning in a small town in
and sister. With the help of several Trsice
present-day Czech Republic.
Holocaust Study Tour 19
Amanda
DeCarlo New Milford High School
Holocaust Study Tour 20
“...making history acknowledge its pain” The Nazi massacre of the men, women, and children in the town of Lidice, Czech Republic, was meant to avenge the death of German SS Officer Reinhard Heydrich. Strict orders were given to destroy any village that may have had anything to do with Heydrich’s death and these orders were thoroughly carried out. Despite there being no solid evidence of Lidice being involved in the assassination, 173 men were shot on the spot, all of the women were sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp and eighty two of the 105 children under the age of sixteen were taken from their mothers and sent to their deaths in gas vans—the remaining children were sent to live with German families with the intent of “Germanizing” them. Like many other towns during the time of the Holocaust, Lidice was completely burned to the ground, destroyed in every way with no trace of the village remaining. The Nazis bragged about this brutality, exposing this horror to the world and showing off how they could and would do anything they wanted to do. In the 1980’s, the Czech Republic acknowledged what had happened by creating a memorial statue making sure that the victims of Lidice would not only be honored, but also remembered.
On the day our group visited the memorial, we stared at the sculpted faces of the children; the wet and gloomy weather reflected our moods. Eighty two bronze faces depicting the children who were murdered stared back at us, their fright and sadness palpable. It began raining, making it look as if the children were crying. This in turn made me break down for the first time in a long time. Lidice is just another example of how the Nazis were ruthless and cruel. In my eyes, some humanity was restored when immediate action was taken to show how strongly people felt against the Nazi actions. Towns everywhere were renamed after Lidice and once the war ended, a new village was built 300 meters away. A beautiful rose garden was also planted in memory of those who had lost their lives. By doing the right thing these people helped lighten this dark spot in history and showed that although events can never be altered, they can be honored in such a way that helps people cope by making history acknowledge its pain. Those who contributed to making sure the story of Lidice would never be forgotten show that great tragedies can bring the best out of humanity.
Holocaust Study Tour 21
Flores Samantha
New Milford High School
Holocaust Study Tour 22
“...making the absence of their history...” The Pinkas Synagogue, located in Prague, is a memorial to the many Jews from Prague, Czech Republic and several surrounding towns who were murdered during the Holocaust. The interior of the synagogue was designed by painters Václav Boštík and Jirí John between 1954 and 1959. After remaining closed for a long period of time in 1968, the building was eventually reconstructed. Following the collapse of the Communist regime, a project was launched to renovate the memorial, which reopened in 1996. The names of the victims, along with their dates of birth and death, written on the walls of the synagogue were compiled after the war from transport papers, registration lists, and survivor’s accounts. The victims’ dates of death are unknown so the dates of deportation to the ghettos and extermination camps are stated instead. The victims’ names are arranged according to the towns and villages where they were living prior to deportation or arrest and are presented in alphabetical order. This memorial is there to serve as both a “tombstone” and an epitaph for those whose names are inscribed upon it. As I entered the synagogue I realized that every inch of the walls was covered with
names. The names were not in a large sized font and there was not much room in between the names. Reading all of these names upset me; these people had been innocent—persecuted for merely being Jewish. I found myself calculating the ages of each person I discovered, and realized more than once that I had stumbled upon an infant’s name; it made me cringe. I knew one story from one of the names written on one of the walls. On the second floor of the synagogue I located the name: Otto Wolf. To me, this name held certain significance thanks to the work of Ms. Zapruder, the author of Salvaged Pages which we had studied in class back in New Jersey. But seeing the other names on the walls beside Otto’s made me wonder about the fate of each person. To me, each name at Pinkas represents more than just 80,000 names—it represents 80,000 histories lost. Visiting Pinkas Synagogue made me realize how important each of us in the world are. The artists who painstakingly inscribed the names of the lost Jews on the walls of the Pinkas Synagogue knew this. By visiting this synagogue and paying tribute to the 80,000 victims, we are making the absence of their history mean something.
Holocaust Study Tour 23
Guzman Devanni
New Milford High School
Holocaust Study Tour 24
“...making history prevent the errors of humanity...” On our group’s first day in Berlin, Germany, one memorial that impacted me was a playground. On the playground was a statue that commemorated the Holocaust. Olaf, our guide, said a synagogue was burned and years later a playground had been built over it. He asked if knowing there had once been a synagogue on the grounds, we would allow our children to play there. Instantly, my answer was no. I would not let my children play there because I felt it was sacred ground. Another site we visited while in Berlin, was the Memorial to the Murdered Jews in Europe. The memorial had an eerie feel to it. It is a new memorial built in the heart of Berlin and is impossible to miss. Most memorials are elaborate and summarize briefly the events that took place there. The gray cement blocks of this memorial were plain with no words engraved on them. The blocks looked vacant, gloomy, and depressing. The architect designed the memorial for visitors to interpret themselves. He gave no answers or interpretations, but instead a fill-in-the blank type of model. Olaf’s interpretation was that each block represented a person— and the many shapes and sizes of the blocks represented the loss of many different
individuals. Grunewald was another part of Berlin we visited and there were two memorials there. The first memorial looked like shadows carved in a stone wall. The shadows resembled people waiting on line leading to the railroad that would lead them to their fate—work or death. The shadows set the mood for what I saw next. Along the platform of an abandoned railroad, I read the names of cities and concentration camps and I recognized dates, and the amount of people who were deported. Walking along the platform, I felt grief and desperation because I knew what each inscription meant for the victims who crossed the platform into the trains. Berlin is a city with a terrible past from which its present-day citizens cannot and do not hide. The memorials preserve evidence of the Holocaust and each memorial is as unique and different as the victims brought to their deaths. Germany has accepted responsibility for the Holocaust and in doing so the nation is making history prevent the errors of humanity from happening again.
Holocaust Study Tour 25
Firestone Sarah
Bishop O’Dowd High School
Holocaust Study Tour 26
“...making history every day that he continues to live.” While on our trip, our study group met a Holocaust survivor named Milos Dobry. Milos had survived Auschwitz during the Holocaust by taking an unusual and, what I would consider, very brave risk. We met Milos Dobry in the Olomouc Jewish Community located in Czech Republic. At first, I felt intimidated by him, although I was not immediately sure as to why. Milos came from a family of assimilated Jews who put up a menorah every December, but they also put up a Christmas tree. His parents were Jewish, meaning that he, too, was considered Jewish regardless of what he considered himself to be. Milos told us the story of how one day, while in Auschwitz, he was so hungry that he went into a kitchen in the camp, starving, skinny, overworked, and looking for food. The Nazis caught him and asked him “What are you doing here?” Milos replied, “I am the cook.” In fact he had been given work in the camp as a butcher, but from then on he pretended to be one of the cooks. Even though he had little cooking experience, the Nazis believed Milos. Since the food was simple, and easy to make, he was able to quickly learn how to make the food served in the camp. Having this job meant that Milos always had a meal
to eat, which kept him stronger than the rest of the prisoners. This strength allowed him to sustain himself physically and also kept his hopes up. I see in Milos a story of survival. Whether he developed a faith or belief in God during his time in Auschwitz or whether he was captured already having faith in God, he did not say. But, what was clear to me was his loyalty to the Jewish people, and the Jewish religion. As he retold his story to us, Milos seemed very proud that he had outsmarted the Nazis. He was released when the war ended in 1945, and started a family with his wife whom he had met in the Theresienstadt ghetto in 1942. Today, Milos has two great grandchildren, and his grandson follows in his footsteps as a leader in the Jewish Community. Outwitting the Nazis shows that Milos was, and is, clever, and that he was driven to survive however he could. What continues to come each day, after his survival—his family, his loyalty to the Jewish people, and more— reveals the significance of Milos making history every day that he continues to live.
Holocaust Study Tour 27
Damiano Kristina
Midland Park High School
Holocaust Study Tour 28
“...to make an impact with his individual Holocaust history.” “There was not one Holocaust of six million
average Jewish prisoner. Having survived
Jews, but six million individual Holocausts,”
the unthinkable experiences within the
survivor Pavel Stránsky hung his head low
camps, his motivation to push onward
as he recalled the unforgettable horror
was Vera. After marrying and living a
of “his” Holocaust. I stared into his eyes,
full life with Vera, Pavel is still alive and
mesmerized by every word as he shared
well today, living his life as though every
with us his story. He took me by the
day were his last. He shares his story for
hands, looked me in the eyes and made
people willing to listen and for people
his request: “I am not a hero; I am a victim
willing to learn.
with a past that I cannot forget. I can see that you have a strong heart, so stand up for what is right. Love is the only thing that can keep you alive. It did for me.”
Arriving at the last step of our walk, I held onto Pavel and had a difficult time letting go. Like a precious gem that takes many years to form under extreme conditions,
Pavel’s journey began with his father’s
Pavel’s life should also be as valued and
begging him to commit suicide to save
admired. From hearing his experiences,
himself years of Nazi torture and abuse.
I have learned to value life through a
Resisting the idea and gravitating away
different window, to approach love in a
from his usual pattern of obedience, Pavel
different way and to cherish my life as
had another goal in mind—to stay alive and
if I might lose it tomorrow. Pavel’s desire
marry the love of his life, Vera. His story
to make an impact with his individual
miraculously continues on through the
Holocaust history has already done so for
concentration camps of Theresienstadt,
me.
Auschwitz-Birkenau and Schwarzheide, continually escaping the fate of the
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Van Hoet Gabrielle
Saint Thomas Aquinas High School
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“...make history teach...even in the present.” A simple dirt path led me into the forest
Years later, in April 2012, the unveiling of a
in Trsice, Czech Republic. The silence offset
memorial in the name of the Wolf family be-
each step as my feet moved over the rocks
gan in the presence of numerous people—
that were part of the forest floor. As I lis-
some were students, others were Trsice of-
tened, the scenery around me transformed
ficials and others were descendants of the
into the forest of the past. The path had
Wolf family themselves. This was no longer
disappeared; I was in the forest alone. With-
a story of a family hiding from Nazi anti-
out the path to follow I imagined what the
semitism during World War II, but a story of
forest might have been like seventy years
the present generations acknowledging the
ago. And then an unknown boy showed me
importance of the family and their courage
the way to a commemorative plaque. My
to survive. The foundation laid with this me-
musings ended as I came to the realization
morial will pave the way for future genera-
that the boy I had imagined was Otto Wolf.
tions to travel the same path, learn about
The Wolf family, like many families during the Holocaust, had fled their home to es-
the Wolf family and make history teach them even in the present.
cape the Nazis. To remain undetected, the
As the ceremony came to a close, it only
Wolfs were forced to live within holes in
felt right to end with the Jewish tradition of
the forest, away from town. For years, they
placing rocks on the monument in remem-
lived in these inhumane conditions, relying
brance of the Wolf family. I recognized the
on the people around them to bring them
irony that the rocks, which moments ago
food, to bring them water and to keep their
had been part of the forest floor, would
secret. The Wolf’s story was documented
now serve to respectfully mark the lives that
in the diary of young Otto Wolf himself. It
the forest had saved.
would come to serve as a new chapter of information for history books.
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Loonam Alyssa
New Milford High School
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“...made history by accepting...and educating” After reading Salvaged Pages and speaking with the work’s author Alexandra Zapruder, traveling to the Wolf family’s hometown in Olomouc, Czech Republic, dedicating a memorial in the family’s name, meeting a descendent of the Wolf family and, finally, meeting Mrs. Ohera, whose family had help to hide the Wolfs, I was better able to understand the pain and suffering that many people experienced because of the Holocaust. After the unveiling of the Trsice memorial, in the Czech Republic, our group visited a separate memorial located near the Ohera home. It was there to signify the raid by the Nazi soldiers on April 18, 1945 when nineteen men, including Oldrich and Jan Ohera and Otto Wolf, were killed. The faces on this memorial made the situation more realistic than it had seemed to me before. Furthermore, I witnessed tears come from Mrs. Ohera’s eyes as she recognized her father’s picture and stared with appreciation and pride for the reason it was there. Her emotions came alive and it was at that moment that I realized people are still affected today by the atrocities that occurred over half a century ago. As our group moved away from the memorial
and moved toward the Ohera home, I stayed behind to reflect and closely observe each person’s face and name on the memorial. I felt that those people deserved my respect and that I should acknowledge the pain and suffering of each soul. When I decided that it was time to move on from the memorial, I headed back in the direction of our group. I got chills as our guide pointed to a window of the Ohera house and explained that the very window I had been looking through was the exact one where Lici Wolf had often been trapped opposite my side of the glass, staring out into the open field. At this moment I couldn’t contain my tears because the thought of Lici suffering behind a window, unable to reach freedom, was quite painful for me. I am still unsure today if it is pain and suffering that brings people together, or if it is genuine love and altruism that triumphs over that pain and suffering. One thing, however, is for certain: we cannot disregard pain and suffering, but we can acknowledge it and allow it to impact the people around us. The Holocaust Study Tour group of 2012 did that by dedicating a memorial in the Wolf family’s name, and we have made history by accepting the pain of the past and educating the present and the future about it.
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Prince Callie
Bishop O’Dowd High School
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“and that the history of their lives was not ultimately made to be cut short.” Learning about the separation of families during the Holocaust illustrated the tragic truth that so many victims died alone and separated from loved ones whose fate they would never know. While standing on “The Ramp” at Auschwitz-Birkenau, where countless people went through the selection to either work or to receive immediate death in the gas chambers, our guide, Mr. Barmore recounted the story of the mother who “abandoned” her young son. Mr. Barmore told us of a mother, son, and daughter deported to Birkenau. The son experienced confusion as they all got off the train and the mother, taking the daughter’s hand, tried to walk quickly away from him. When he caught up to them, the mother pushed him away, and again, the son ran up to them, but this time the mother pushed him away so hard that he fell to the ground. Other men from the deportation shuffled the son away to the men’s barracks, but not without enough time for the boy to bitterly shout to his mother “I hope you die!” The son learned later that his mother and sister had been
sent to the gas chambers, and she, the mother he had cursed hours ago, had saved his life alone. While sitting in a classroom studying the Holocaust, it was impossible for me to comprehend how many people had lived and died in each camp. However, while on this trip, there was a personal shift for me. I saw the shoes, the eyeglasses, the luggage, and the gas chambers and it was no longer about the large number of victims, but the victims themselves. As I began to accept my shortcomings as an observer, I attempted to channel my energy into remembering each member of the families. There were probably millions who had died within a crowd of people—a crowd of strangers, but strangers who would share a common history. Most likely, they also shared a common hope: that the members of their families from whom they had been separated were not experiencing their same fates and that the history of their lives was not ultimately made to be cut short.
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Carmichael Hannah
Saint Thomas Aquinas High School
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“...make history recognize...” A little girl walks upstairs. She turns on the lights, and all the horrors that were there before vanish. Her brother timidly walks behind her and, hand in hand, they walk into his room. Hallucinations plague the little boy, making him afraid to go anywhere by himself. Soon, his best friend is not the little boy across the street, but his ceiling fan. The little sister helps in any way possible, assuring him that she will always be there to turn on the light—to take care of him always. This little girl was me. Living with my brother has altered the way I view life and how I take on challenges. Even though he has made my life extremely difficult at times, I could not imagine life without him.
The other victims’ belongings in this part of Auschwitz were just as personal: rooms filled with suitcases and even human hair. With tears blurring my vision, I felt like I was looking into the past with sad eyes. While walking through these rooms, I imagined the owners of these belongings who had been here. Standing in front of the exhibit with the prosthetic legs and wheelchairs, I pictured what I would have done. I created many scenarios where I would have had to say goodbye to my brother because of his mental illness, and it took the breath out of me. I couldn’t speak or move. I was one of the last of our group out of that particular building that day. I just remained there— staring and crying.
Because of my relationship with my brother, when I was with our study group in Auschwitz, what made me rock back on my heels the most was the exhibit inside the museum with all the prosthetic limbs and belongings of physically handicapped people. There were wheelchairs, crutches, and prosthetic arms and legs, all slightly tattered and worn. Seeing their belongings directly in front of me allowed me to picture the people who once needed them.
Looking at that exhibit and comprehending the stories from Auschwitz helped me to not give up on my brother. The Nazis looked at the mentally ill and physically handicapped as a defect of human society. My brother, the one who loves to play guitar and video games with me, is certainly not a defect. He is actually a blessing to all who encounter him and his gifts make history recognize the loss of the blessings so many others may have offered as well.
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Monserrat Vanessa
New Milford High School
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“...people who could have dreamed and made history” Millions of people died under Hitler’s rule. Some of these people were business owners, musicians, educators, lawyers, doctors, amateur writers and journalists. These souls all died leaving their dreams behind them when walking to their deaths or the instant they were shot. Others were never able to pursue their dreams because of the status of inferiority implemented by the Nazis. Then there were those who were never given the opportunity to dream because they were too young. Every single human life that was lost due to Nazi control took a talent and gift away from the world. Who knows where our world would be today had these individuals been able to pursue who they wanted to be. Every mile, every bullet, every can of Zyklon B took away a talented musician, doctor, lawyer, loving father or mother and so many more from this world, leaving only ashes in return. Auschwitz I - the concentration camp was where I saw cases longer than 12 feet deep of human hair, shoes, and suitcases. Each of these items had once belonged to a person. Each belonged to someone who was created for a reason. A portion of these people had been living their dreams, or well on their way to achieving them. However those dreams were cut short. Some would only know the limits of dreaming. In Prague we went to the Pinkas Synagogue. There I saw pictures drawn from 1942-1944 by children from the Terezin concentration camp in the Czech Republic. The pictures represent the different emotions all these children had experienced— from hope for liberation and acceptance to the brutality they saw daily. Even though all the
pictures were moving, there was one young artist, a little girl, who had drawn so clearly and carefully. I recognized that such a talented youth had obviously had so much potential. I stood there and dreamed of greatness for her. At Auschwitz I, I saw the proof of even more young souls who had never had a chance to dream. Baby clothes, shoes of little children in addition to all the other artifacts, brought a crashing wave of emotion into my body. Children that fit into these clothes outside of all this tragedy see daily examples of who they want to be whether it is from novels or real people. However, many of these children whose garments were left behind had lost their chance to read a story or find figures whom they would admire. Once they had the ability to process such ideas and use their imaginations, there would be no possible way for them to make their ideas come to fruition. Throughout this whole experience I battled with the idea of how the value of dreams could be extinguished so completely. I could not understand how such “educated” people who had become the Nazis could create crematoriums not for just people, but for dreams and human potential. How do we know that one of those murdered could not have cured cancer? Written a beautiful aria? Become a significant world leader? Draw a sublime piece of art? So I end where I began: millions of people died under Hitler’s rule--millions of dreams, potentials and people who could have dreamed and made history if had they been given the chance.
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Nativo Allison
New Milford High School
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“Making history become lessons” The ramp in Birkenau had a major impact on the course of history and the course of many lives. The selection at the ramp took thousands of innocent lives and tore families apart. As I walked down an actual ramp from the days of the Holocaust, an eerie feeling came over me. And then Mr. Barmore shared a hard hitting, shocking story with all of us on the trip. During the Holocaust, a teen boy, his mother and younger sister were at the ramp in Birkenau for selection. The boy was weak from the journey when his mother decided to push him down to the ground. The mother and little sister kept walking straight even after the boy called to them and ran to rejoin them. He reached his mother and was very puzzled and upset. Again the mother pushed him down and continued walking ahead with his sister. The boy, flustered with anger, then yelled out: “I hope you die!” He could not have known that his mother had just saved his life; later that night she and his younger sister were killed in the gas chambers.
say things out of anger that they do not necessarily mean. Teenagers say plenty of thoughts without thinking and I am an offender of that as well. Numerous times I have said things I did not mean at all when I was upset; I have witnessed others do the same. At the end of our day in Birkenau we walked back down that exact same ramp. During the Holocaust, however, anyone who had originally walked up the ramp was not to return back down it to exit the death camp—a chilling realization. After this long emotional day at AuschwitzBirkenau, I realized that I should choose my words more carefully as one never knows what the next moment or day may hold. Back home in the United States, we live very privileged lives where we do not have to be worry about being sent to a concentration or death camp as well as being separated from our families. Making history become lessons for our own personal lives can only happen if we are willing to learn those lessons.
The story at the ramp disturbed many of us. I came to the realization that people often
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Ryan Tyler
New Milford High School
Holocaust Study Tour 42
“...make our history as twin brothers...” I am a twin. Because of this, I have always experienced life in a different way than most of my friends. My twin and I have shared family events, have shared similar friends and have often shared the same classes at school. Every time I have turned around— just because we were twins—there has been my brother, Sean. But on the Holocaust Study Tour in April, I went off on my own. Only the students from New Milford, and of course Mrs. Tambuscio, knew that I was a twin. The other students and teachers did not. Until the day we went to Auschwitz. At Auschwitz, I heard stories about Dr. Josef Mengele and the experiements that he would perform on twins. Hearing that and being a twin really had an impact on me. How could someone have been as cruel as that Nazi doctor? What was the purpose of this treatment specifically toward twins? What if my brother and I had been alive then, and had been sent to Auschwitz on a train? What would have happened to us just because we were twins? After listening to our speakers and really comprehending what I was seeing, I realized that the experiments on and treatment of
twins by Dr. Mengele was done because Nazi thinking saw twins as “not the norm.” This was so upsetting to me that some of the people in my tour group noticed my change in behavior. They questioned me and I told them that I had a twin brother who had not come on the trip and that this part of the tour was significantly difficult and personal for me, even among all of them. It was then that I realized that I was doing something completely different for me—something that Sean could never experience—I was dealing with being alone for the first time in my life. It was an incredible feeling and I thought that maybe this was how a “normal” person, who did not have a twin by their side, felt every day of his or her life. Dr. Mengele made history by experimenting on twins. It is something people have heard about for many years. I will never forget what it felt like standing on the ramp at Auschwitz and thinking about Dr. Mengele and his defintion of “normal.” Being a twin is normal for me and I will now look at my brother in a new way and make our history as twin brothers the best it can possibly be.
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Lieberman Gabrielle
New Milford High School
Holocaust Study Tour
“...making the history of this area come to life...” When our group visited the Bavarian Quarter in Berlin, Germany, a place where many Jews had lived before the Holocaust, we saw memorial plaques on signposts along the streets representing the first laws against the Jews—the beginning of Jewish persecution. As we continued through this neighborhood, we came upon a mural depicting the Bavarian Quarter in the late 19th century. In the bottom corner of the mural there is a picture of a very overweight man. Upon seeing it, Mr. Barmore asked us to contemplate the purpose of this mural that was not actually a part of the town’s memorials. I immediately focused on the drawn face of the overweight man. It had a very exaggerated and long nose that reminded me of pictures I had seen of Nazi propaganda. But there was something different—instead of depicting a “stereotypical Jew”, the face of Albert Einstein was plastered over where the face of the original drawing should have been. This was utterly shocking to all of us who stood there. We noticed that the “vandalism” seemed to have been done in two stages. The painted face underneath had been scratched off and then the face of Einstein had been placed on top. So many questions ran through our heads. Why would someone do such a thing? Initially, I was confused. The mural was insulting, but to me, this drawing was even more offensive. It felt as if someone was trying to still
mock the Jews. First, I wanted to know who did this. Was it a Jew who walked by the mural every day and seeing the old image, became so angry that he or she tried to scratch off the face? Or maybe it had been done by an ignorant young teen, thinking it would be funny? Who knew? I was confused and frustrated and wondered: why would someone try to make the history depicted in the painting disappear? Even today, I think back to the woman who actually painted this mural in the 1980s. What was she thinking? Even though this was painted many years after the Holocaust, why did she paint it? Maybe she wanted to remind us of things like anti-semitism, or how Jews were stereotyped, or how those stereotypes can still lead to hatred. This mural, in its own way, and especially this year, is making the history of this area come to life for everyone who passes. Next year, I wonder whose face it will be. Will the artist come back and paint over Einstein with her original Jewish stereotype? Will another person put a different face on the fat man sitting on the bench in the corner? Even though I don’t have the answer to my questions, I know that seeing the mural impacted me and the way that I will view physical representations of people for the rest of my life.
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Smith Hannah
Saint Thomas Aquinas High School
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“Sometimes we cannot make history answer our questions.” As we walk among the Grzebie Mountains behind a farmer’s house in Rabka Zdroj,Poland we discover a small cemetery that could easily be missed. This is because the path to this place of remembrance is unmarked. During World War II, a Catholic convent in Rabka became part of the site of a Nazi interrogation school. Under the direction of Wilhelm Rosenbaum, the Nazis learned interrogation methods and practiced them on Jews from this shtetl. They tortured countless Jews to death and left them without a proper burial. The Catholic nuns from Rabka, seeing this utter disrespect for human life, took it upon themselves to bury these people in the best way they knew. They did not know the very specific Jewish burial traditions, but they gave the bodies what they believed to be a proper burial. These nuns risked their own lives to do what they believed was right. They did not care that the people were Jewish; they only cared that they were people. The nuns buried the murdered Jews in the forest without any markings on the graves so the Nazis could not find and perhaps
desecrate the grave site during the war. It wasn’t until later that the Catholic nuns returned to put tombstones in the cemetery. These gentile nuns made history when they showed respect to the Jews in Rabka. By learning and teaching the story of this place we were making this history known. The cemetery now has a fence around it with a Jewish star on the gate. It is marked now so that people will know what this cemetery was and is, but there is little information about the actual cemetery itself. To this day the nuns at the convent in Rabka still do not readily discuss the situation. I know Mr. Barmore speculated that there has been some ridicule by members of the Jewish community because the bodies were not buried in the proper Jewish tradition. I also know that the gospel of Matthew says, “When you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you.” While our visit to the Rabka cemetery may raise many questions, it raises a final one for me: does religion really matter in determining respect for human life? Sometimes we can not make history answer our questions.
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Lucas Megan
Saint Thomas Aquinas High School
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“I will make history by shining a light...” “Gray.” Gray was the color of the Holocaust, of the pain and anguish felt. Gray was the color of the sky on that cloudy, rainy day when we stopped in the Krakow ghetto. Gray was how I felt when I thought of all those who used to live inside the ghetto, trapped. And gray was the color of the Krakow ghetto’s walls. Before I went on the Holocaust Study Tour, I knew that it was one thing to study the Holocaust in class, but a completely different thing to be where it took place. But nothing, no book or movie I watched, would have ever prepared me for the flood of emotions that were to overwhelm me on this trip. In my Holocaust class back in Kansas earlier this year, I studied the Krakow ghetto, learning it was terribly overcrowded, with an average of four families sharing an apartment. Once our group actually arrived there, I could see that the ghetto walls appeared to be made of Jewish gravestones, now the color of gray, that stood a few meters high. At one point, while standing outside a pharmacy in what had been the ghetto, Mr. Barmore told us a story that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. In March 1943, the Jews from the ghetto reported to the square right outside where the pharmacy now stood, and it was there where they were separated from their children. The parents were told that they would walk to Plaszow, a camp a few miles away, and their children would join them a day later. After the parents departed, the Nazis shot and killed their children. The parents learned this when at Plaszow they were forced to sort the clothing of the dead, some finding what had been the clothes of their very own children.
Later that day, as I looked back out at those gray walls from inside our group’s bus, I tried to imagine those who had stood, walked and lived behind those walls during the Holocaust. What had they gone through? Who had stood behind the walls, longingly gazing out at the world, wondering why they could not be free? In my life there have been times when I have felt trapped, whether it be by fear or by my own doing. I know from experience that once I began to feel trapped, a “gray” slowly overwhelmed me until I began to lose all hope. And then something would happen for me that would bring the light out once again. The Nazis, however, by murdering the children, had denied that light to their Jewish parents. I wondered how they had found the strength to go on living in a “gray” world knowing their children were dead? Being a part of the Holocaust Study Tour changed the way I now live my life. This trip made me realize that I have the chance to live life to the fullest— the chance to experience the light of the world and all that light can offer me. The children of the Krakow ghetto never had that chance to fully live and experience the colors this world can bring. Learning about the children made me realize that I want to live for those who never had the chance to. I can make history day to day simply by living and acknowledging that through the gray there is always light. I am part of the next generation and I will make history by shining a light on the world through remembering and giving voice to this horrific event.
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Trsice & Olomouc
Walking through the woods, we lead this year’s group of students—our fifth—through the dense forest. This year the path is clearly marked with fresh wood chips leading to the new memorial. We hear voices in the usually still woods; TV crews and news reporters with microphones approach our students to ask questions. In the distance near the memorial stone, on a clothesline strung between towering pine trees, laminated pages from our 2008-2011 Holocaust Study Tour books flap in the chilly breeze. Closer, we can see pictures of pages from Otto Wolf’s diary previously photographed by our students when they
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went into the archives at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. We also see photos and written reflections of students from past Holocaust Study Tours, This year we are honored that two very special guests journey here with us. One is Eva Vavrecka, Otto Wolf’s niece and Lici Wolf’s daughter, who has been our friend since our first meeting in Prague last year. Walking beside her husband Tony, Eva makes this surreal trek back to the hiding place of her mother, uncle and grandparents. Another honored guest is
author Alexandra Zapruder, who read pages to us from Otto’s diary at our Teacher Fellowship in Washington, DC in 1998 before publishing Salvaged Pages. Since joining us in Prague a few days ago, she has become a friend to each of our students, forever changing the way they view authors of classroom texts. We stand here overwhelmed with emotion, watching Olomouc Jewish Community leader Petr Papousek, grandson of Milos Dobry, who first brought us to Otto’s hideout in the forest in 2008. How remarkable for Milos, a survivor of Auschwitz, that his great-granddaughter and great-grandson stand here, now, hugging the legs of their father, Petr, as he leads a ceremony for Czech dignitaries 70 years after Jews from this area were rounded up by Nazis and sent to their deaths. In the crowd, we see familiar faces, friends from the past five years. The mayor of Trsice, Leona Stejsksalova, whose efforts led to the construction of the Wolf memorial, anticipates its unveiling. Mrs. Ohera stands with her sister, who we have not met yet, but who must also remember taking the Wolf family into her family’s home in the last months of the war. Even though we can’t understand their language, we understand the loving looks and tears in their eyes as they greet us with hugs and smiles. Dr. Brezina, who as a young boy remembers seeing the Wolfs in these woods, stands with other members of the Trsice community. An elderly woman in a wheelchair tells our guide, friend and translator, Ilona, that she was Lici’s friend
before the war, and that today someone carried her here because this memorial dedication means so much to her personally. So many people—new dignitaries, presenters and markers of memory—mingle with our students and stand with us to watch this history in the making. After the unveiling, tears roll down our faces as together we place stones on the memorial, seeing there, also, the names of our schools back in the United States. Most importantly we think of Otto, the unwavering boy, whose diary led American teachers and students here, together with his descendants, to this secluded forest to mark the place where Czech rescuers saved his family. Otto is the historical figure, whose words have become so much more than just pages in a book studied in the classroom. His words have become a memorial to all the people who risked their lives rescuing a Jewish family during the Holocaust. These words have become a marker for future generations who will come to this place to remember the brave Wolf family, who trusted the villagers of Trsice— and the villagers who honored that trust in the name of humanity. As we walk out of the forest following the path, we take one last look back. The people have all gone, but the memorial stands, surrounded in silence, beside the eroding holes in the hillside where the Wolf family hid for three long years during the Holocaust.
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Barmore Shalmi
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O
ur lead historian, Mr. Shalmi Barmore, brings to this program his many years of historical research in the field of Holocaust education. He founded the Department of Education of Israel’s Yad Vashem. Over the years he has reshaped the face of Holocaust education in Israel and abroad. He served as the historical consultant for Claude Lansmann’s ground breaking film, SHOAH. He has been the Director of the Jewish Museum in Prague, Czech Republic and founded an Israeli-based education experiential learning program, Echo-Melitz, which focused on Jewish identity and its relevance to the Holocaust.
Mr. Barmore’s knowledge and expertise shape our thinking as we engage in the complexity of the human behavior which surrounds the Holocaust. As we contend with the essential questions he presents before, during and after the experience, we realize that Mr. Barmore’s formal input becomes the lens through which we learn to articulate this history to our families, peers and community. His historical guidance and insight deepens the meaning of this experience and offers an approach unique to our learning framework. We are grateful for Mr. Barmore’s leadership and commitment to educating the participants involved in the Holocaust Study Tour each year.
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Stransky Pavel
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O
ur time in Prague, Czech Republic each year is enhanced by a special day with Holocaust survivor Pavel Stransky. Pavel was deported to the Terezin Ghetto from Prague where he worked actively as a teacher. Pavel was imprisoned in Terezin with his fiancÊe Vera. Pavel and Vera married in Terezin just before being deported to Auschwitz. In Auschwitz-Birkenau Pavel was assigned to work in the children’s block, which ultimately saved his life. After liberation, Pavel was reunited with his wife Vera and they returned together to Prague.
Through lectures and tours of the former Terezin Ghetto, Pavel seeks to educate students throughout the world. He shares his experiences in the hope of eradicating indifference in our world today. At the age of 91, Pavel is determined to bring his message to all who will listen. We admire his remarkable courage during the Holocaust and willingness to educate others on such a difficult and tragic part of his own life and his survival. We are grateful for Pavel’s dedication to teach others and for his strength in recounting such a complex Holocaust story. His presence, poise and compassion have inspired each participant to become a spokesperson for future generations.
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Guides Our
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A
special thanks to our local guides, Olaf Kolbatz of Berlin, Germany; Ilona Zahradnikova of Prague, Czech Republic, and Ewa Czuchaj of Krakow, Poland. These guides provided insight into local history as well as how this history played a role in the Holocaust. Each of these individuals took great care in opening our eyes to the richness of culture offered by every country. Through these individuals we learned to understand and appreciate the efforts put forth by each country to preserve the integrity of their heritage while struggling with their nation’s participation in the Holocaust. Over the years, these guides have become our
trusted friends in an important journey of Holocaust study. We are grateful for their open-mindedness and willingness to further our knowledge. A special thanks to Paul Stilling of Frosch Travel and Marjorie Brandon of Five Star Touring for arranging every detail of our trip with great care and consideration for our needs. Their commitment to our program and their providing us with an exemplary itinerary allowed us a seamless, educational, and memorable experience.
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New Milford High School, Midland Park High School, Saint Thomas Aquinas High School and Bishop O’Dowd High School recognize and appreciate the support of the Board of Education and the administration of each school. Barbara Collentine, Editor Walter Pevny, Graphic Design Bedros Kharmandarian, Layout Editor Samer Jaber, Matt Trento & Chris Redmond, Contributing Graphic Designers Kasandra Appice, Cover Design Karen Vicari, Proofreader
Contact Information: Colleen Tambuscio, Project Coordinator New Milford High School One Snyder Circle New Milford, New Jersey 07646 Phone: 201-262-0172 ext. 2235 Email: ctambuscio@newmilfordschools.org Website: www.newmilfordholocaustproject.com Blog: www.hst10.blogspot.com
Funding for this book was provided by a New Jersey Education Association Pride Grant