Hi, friends! First off, parents, I’m fine, no worries! :-) And all the other family and friends out there - we are all doing well, just a bit emotionally drained and a bit confused.
This is Andrea Rocchio from William Smith (HWS). I’m going into my senior year and I’m a double major in Geoscience and Performance Writing and a minor in Environmental Studies. Below are my reflections on our memorable day in Auschwitz.
Heavy… the word doesn’t even begin to describe what we experienced today at Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II (Birkenau). We heard the heart-wrenching stories from our amazing survivors Henry and Sally. Henry spoke about life 14-year-old in the camps from day-to-day and as one of the 89 Birkenau Boys and the mystery surrounding why some were chosen to live and others shot cold. Later in the day, Sally explained her life as a child in hiding, once a “ghetto rat” who turned into the little Polish girl saved by an amazing Polish family.
We walked through the haunting museum of Auschwitz I observing the rows of person belongings taken from the prisoners, the brick living quarters, the remnants of a wall dividing women and men, the crematorium that mercilessly consumed faces and lives in flames. We cautiously stepped in Birkenau viewing the barracks, the trains, the monuments, the buildings destroyed, the vastness…
More importantly,
We
Marched.
We marched for one person, for a group of people, even for John Lennon. That march was the reason why we came across the world to a new land and we all did it in the spirit of peace.
The grass of the camps and the day fit for vacations juxtaposed itself upon the harshness and cruelty that breathed the past. In this stark contrast there should not be lasting anger, but the hope of a new tomorrow. May every wildflower that spouts from the grounds in the camps represent the 11 million plus lives lost.
We shall overcome.
-A. M. Rocchio
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This is Elizabeth Way, a 2008 MRHer. I've been following your journey and it's been SO strange because I remember it like it was yesterday and I want more than anything to be there with you. Not to relive what I experienced, but because I want you all to know there is hope. I know many of you and I wish I could be there to hold you all and protect you. I think now I know what Lynne meant during our trip when she observed me and felt the need to protect me. I know the questions in your hearts, I know the confusion, pain, and overwhelming emotions you feel. It takes a long time to process these things, but as the returning members can attest, and I am sure you already know, you are doing something so much bigger than you can imagine just yet. This will change your life, yes, but it will also define you as a person. Already you are someone that cared enough to bear witness and dedicate the time, emotion, and energy to bring hope to life in places excruciatingly filled with death. I am proud of you and I am proud of Nazareth for offering such opportunities. I gained more from one hour of this trip than I ever did in all of my four years in classrooms at Naz. Stay safe, don't give up hope, and keep marching. Love love love, Elizabeth
ReplyDeleteGood morning. This is Leah's mom. It is 4:30 am. The birds have just begun singing their morning wake up songs. I am reading these new blogs with so many mixed emotions, as a parent, a woman, a human being and these words cling to my heart and mind.......there should not be lasting anger, but the hope of a new tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteThis is Mike Boucher - Lynne's husband.
ReplyDeleteI never tire of reading these blog entries because they enable me to see with your eyes, hear with your ears and feel with your hearts. I know the days are long, and you are weary at the day's end. Thank you for writing to keep us connected.
Yesterday I had a conversation with a Rwandan genocide survivor. She wondered if there was hope for humanity, and I thought of all of you. What you are doing there - learning, listening, crying, laughing, marching - is all part of the great turning - a turning toward hope.
I can only respond with a quote atributed to Margaret Mead - "Never underestimate the power of a small group of people to change the world. In fact, it is the only way it ever has." May your "small group" keep changing this world - up close and from afar.