OBVIOUSLY THE TRIP MUST HAVE BEEN VERY OVERWHELMING, BUT OUT OF ALL THAT YOU EXPERIENCED, IS THERE ONE FEELINGS, EVENT THAT STANDS OUT?
The most overwhelming experience of all was visiting Mydonic, which was a death camp at the time. The reason why it was so hard to go through was because everything’s still there. As you walked through the gas chambers, you could still see the blue on the walls from the Zyklon B. In theory, it could be started up and running again in 48 hours, that’s how preserved it is. You’re essentially walking through a place where thousands of lives were taken. You see where the ovens and crematoriums were. It got to a point at the end, where I slowly stopped taking pictures because the emotions the place triggered were just so overwhelming. At the end, we were taken to a memorial which was located inside Mydonic. The memorial was essentially what looked like a heap of dust but was in reality the ashes of over 70,000 bodies. After seeing such an image, your perspectives just change.
Another very surprising thing was that there were a lot of neighborhoods around the concentration camps. When we were in Mydonic, we saw this mom and her child play around in the camp as if it were a park. I have also talked to others who had gone on the trip previously and said that they had seen a group of adults who were having a picnic in one of the death camps. I just don’t understand how they could do that. How they could even live next to such a place knowing the kind of things that had happened in them.

WHAT FEELINGS DID YOU HAVE ONCE YOU ARRIVED IN ISRAEL AFTER EXPERIENCING WHAT YOU HAD IN POLAND?
So after touring Mydonic, we went directly to the airport and arrived in Israel within four hours. It was probably my fifteenth time going to Israel, but this time was different from the rest. You just see it differently after experiencing what we had in Poland. It’s almost indescribable, the feeling. In Poland, we saw the destruction and heard of the atrocities committed by Nazi soldiers. But then you arrive at the airport in Israel and you see the beautiful airport and the beautiful country and it just moves something inside you… you’re home.

WHAT DID YOU DO IN ISRAEL?
Well one of the reasons this trip was scheduled at this time was so that we would be in Poland during the Holocaust memorial day and in Israel during their national memorial day and independence day. So I had the privilege of experiencing their memorial day and independence day. Unlike in the States, Israel’s memorial day is a very solemn holiday. Since Israel’s such a small country, everyone has been affected in some way shape or form by the draft and the wars. They either have direct family who’s been affected or they know someone. At about 11am sirens go off everywhere in the country and everyone who’s driving stops and gets out of the car. The whole country freezes for a minute, and stops to think of their loved ones and those who have fallen in battle. We saw this man who got out of his delivery truck and just started crying. We went over and asked him what he was crying for and he told us it was for one of his deceased friends who had fallen in battle. He said that the worst part was that only a part of him came home.

WAS THIS YOUR FIRST MEMORIAL DAY EXPERIENCE?
No it wasn’t. I visited Israel during its Memorial day when I was in eighth grade. However this time, I really felt the unity of the country. I’ve obviously matured since the last time I went to visit, however going to Poland and experiencing all the things I did also helped reshape my perspective. After experiencing what I did, the emotions hit you so much harder. During the sirens I was thinking about my cousins and how they were all drafted. I was thinking about our tour guide who was balling throughout the whole thing. I was thinking about the tour guide. About Israel.

SO WHAT WAS INDEPENDENCE DAY LIKE?
It was memorial day by day and independence day by night. Everyone’s out at night attending these crazy, massive concerts and celebrations. Everyone’s dancing and waving the Israeli flag. It’s almost another level of American patriotism. Since Israel’s so small and everyone’s been through the draft, there is a deeper connection among people. Everyone is just so happy and proud of their country.

IF YOU WERE TO PICK ONE MESSAGE TO TELL THE REST OF US, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
Everyone in the world, whether you are Jewish or not, needs to see these concentration camps. The reason being, what you learn from textbooks, in class, from going a museum, or memorial just isn’t enough. It’s not the same as seeing things with your own eyes. I will still never understand the Holocaust, I don’t think anyone ever will. But you have a different level of perceiving it. It’s more concrete when you see that there are room upon rooms of shoes that the Nazis stole from the Jews. It’s different when you see history with your own eyes. You see the place where 800,000 jews were massacred and it changes you. As we were walking through the gas chambers, I asked how the Holocaust survivor who was with us could walk through such a place. And she said, “It is because you are here. It is because we (regarding to the Jewish people) are here. The Nazis tried and they didn’t succeed.”

DID YOU EXPERIENCE SOMETHING VERY SIGNIFICANT/SPECIAL THAT STOOD OUT TO YOU?
We were in Auschwitz when this happened. As we were standing there looking at a picture of a group of emaciated children who were dressed in tattered coats and lame shoes, this old lady came up to the photo and stood there for a long time just staring at it. Then she pointed at one of the children and said, “That’s me.” She then took our tour guide’s microphone and began telling us about the photo. She said that even the conditions captured in the photo were too good. She said that the photo was staged to make things look better for the Red Cross and such. She said they didn’t have coats, and she never remembered having shoes. And thus to be able to be in that moment and to have the privilege of hearing someone’s story like that was truly amazing.