The Holocaust has always been something that has intrigued me, simply because it is so horrific and unimaginable. I have learned quite a bit about it over the course of my education (and in my own study) and even still, it's hard for me to accept the facts. It makes me sick inside to think about what happened during this part of our world's history, yet I think there are many valuable lessons that can be learned from these terrible events.
For our field trip on Monday (we have a field trip every week) Our Israel teacher Ophir took us to Yad Vashem. Yad Vashem is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. I have been to the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. which is incredible, and very sobering as well but...there was something different about being in Israel and looking at the Holocaust from more of a Jewish perspective. It was really emotionally draining and difficult for me. The museum was extremely well done. Each wing took you through a different part of the Holocaust period. I couldn't take any pictures inside (and I didn't get any outside because my camera died, but that's ok).
One of the buildings we walked through was the Children's Museum. This one was really difficult for me. Anything with children involved touches me more than other age groups. The building was almost pitch dark, but the whole room (ceiling, walls, etc) were covered with stars. As we walked through, a voice was reading the names and countries of individual children who were victims in the Holocaust. It's unbelievable to me how many innocent children had to suffer through such hell. There was a quote I saw (inside the main museum) that said something like "There were no children in the ghettos...Only small Jews." This statement made me really sad. The Jewish children during this time really were not children, they were victims just like everyone else. It made me really want to give my future children a happy and peaceful childhood...and give them a chance to be kids, like these children never got to be.
Another really neat thing that I learned in the museum: At the end of the museum there is the "Hall of Names". The walls are covered in pictures, and there are shelves full of books containing records of the majority of the victims. There was a tour group in there as I was in there, and the tour guide was telling the story of a woman who had been a Holocaust survivor, but never came out and talked about it, for 50 years. Somehow, through a course of events, she ended up coming to Yad Vashem (in Israel) and looked in the book at all of her family's information. She was confused, because she was the only survivor and had never come forward with any information. Then they looked at the bottom of the page to see who had submitted all of the information, and her brother's name was listed. So she discovered that her brother HAD survived, but neither of them knew (for 50 years!) that the other had made it out alive. The story had a happy ending...they were able to be reunited. I thought that was a really neat story.
There were a lot of things in the museum that touched me, but I don't want to depress everyone more than necessary. I'll just share a few more thoughts, and my next post will be much happier, I promise (It's going to be my "Dallin" post...I'm excited!)
Monday night we had combined Family Home Evening (for those who are not LDS, Family Home Evening is something the church encourages us to hold each Monday night in our families. It's a time to spend together, to have fun, to play games, and to learn about the gospel. Even at BYU, we have student F.H.E. groups since we can't be with our actual families). Anyways, for this week's FHE, the Jerusalem Center was able to bring in a Holocaust survivor named Elias. He is 95 years old! He doesn't speak English, but he knows Spanish, and the two Reed brothers were able to translate for him (they served Spanish speaking missions) so that was neat. He told us about his experience in the Holocaust, and it was absolutely unreal. He is from Poland, and his entire family was killed in the Holocaust. He was in NINE different camps (including Auschwitz) during his 5 years as a victim. He said people can't believe that he actually went through what he did, and neither can he. At one point, he went two weeks without any food, and the rest of the time (for 5 years) he had a piece of bread and a cup of soup every day. That's the only thing he could think about, every single day. Those two things...bread and soup. When he was liberated, he was 79 pounds. He said even animals don't treat each other the way that the Jews were treated in the camps. Hearing his experience made it so much more real to me...this actually happened, to real people. And it was more awful than any of us can ever imagine.
The most amazing thing about all of it though...he was possibly the cutest, happiest, most positive person I have ever met! He radiated so much joy, and you can tell he has lived a full and wonderful life. We asked him how he was able to do that, and he said "Happiness is my vengeance on the Nazis! And I made it out, Hitler didn't!"I found his attitude absolutely incredible, and I admire him so much for choosing to move forward with his life and find joy, rather than living in fear and anger for his entire life. He married, had a family, and has shared his experiences with many groups of people. I LOVE this picture of him - photo credit goes to Annie (and I stole it from Hollie's blog).
A few thoughts I had today as I was thinking so much about the Holocaust:
1) I need to be more grateful. I am soo blessed, and the things that I complain about are so petty, in comparison to the hell that these people had to endure. If someone like Elias can have a positive attitude and focus his life on being happy and serving others, I absolutely have no excuse not to do the same.
2) I can't imagine what Heavenly Father felt, watching His children do that to each other, and treat each other that way. He must have been crying the entire time. I never want to hurt anyone (physically or emotionally) and I don't want anyone else to either.
3) This was my biggest "aha" moment: The Atonement encompasses the Holocaust. I already had a testimony of the fact that Jesus Christ has felt all of our sorrows and sins, so that we never need to feel alone. But I had never thought of that principle in this specific context. Jesus Christ experienced every pain (physical and emotional) that was felt by the victims of the Holocaust. He knows EXACTLY what they went through, even if no one else ever can. And because of that, they were never alone either. I had a really neat mental image of those who died in the Holocaust (esp. the children) returning to heaven, into the arms of our Savior, and Him just holding them and comforting them, because He knew what they were feeling. It was a really neat thought, and brought me a lot of peace.
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