WAR IN UKRAINE, ISRAEL AND PALESTINE!
War comes in all different shapes and sizes. I mean you could literally be at war with a friend or family member. Nobody, likes when families are feuding. There are wars amongst Political Parties, Company Boards, Hostile Take Overs, Wars against People and yes even wars between Countries. The reality is that War is Depressing! Wars have existed since the beginning of time. I will never understand War and Why it occurs. If communication was our main weapon of choice, the world might be a more peaceful place. The facts are that the worlds communication skills suck. Wars are apparently here to stay and throughout time.
Today there is War in Ukraine, Israel and Palestine. According to my DNA through Ancestory.com, I have Middle Eastern DNA and Ukrainian DNA running throughout my gene pool. Doing your DNA can be quit fascinating. I even have Moroccan DNA which I find exciting. This is why we are all so unique and diverse. We have no choice as to what our DNA , Race or Religion is when we are born. Yet, many different religions, cultures, races and how we identify, are constantly being persecuted. I wish I could tell you why there is so much hate in the world; however, that would be impossible.
There is a sadness that we experience when there is war in areas that we have a connection to. Knowing that there is war in the places my ancestors came from is heartbreaking for me. I honestly have lived with this idea from the moment that I can remember. Growing up as a Jewish Female in the United States has never been easy. Our parents and family members have instilled the horrors of the Holocaust in all of us as we have grown up. I remember being a young girl and not truly understanding why a religion could be so hated ,in war torn Europe during WW2. In the town I grew up, I would say I was one of the token Jews because there were so few of us. I vividly remember the first day I moved into College a girl looked at me and said with a questioning tone, “You are Jewish?” I replied back to her. “Did you expect there to be horns on my head?” I was completely shocked. I am happy to report that my Alma Mater, The University of Florida has just been documented as having the most underclassmen of the Jewish Faith in the United States. Maybe today if I was in college things would be different, Maybe? Oh, don’t let me forget that every Jewish kid wanted a Christmas Tree because there were no Hannukkah decorations out there in the 80’s.
History has documented that 6 Million Jewish people and other political prisoners of other faiths were killed, tortured, gassed, put in front of the firing squad, hanged and experimented on during the Holocaust. Growing up there was no Holocaust education. The education we got was through reading books, movies and our families telling us about the atrocities. I am happy to report that Holocaust education is in most schools and colleges today. There will always be the individuals who will distort history and conspiracy theorists. Growing up after the Holocaust we had the words #Never Again drilled into our psyche by our families. Why you ask? To prevent any minority from being persecuted again in the future.
In my life I have read many books on the Holocaust. There is an unspoken link between all Jewish People and the Holocaust. I wish I could truly explain this invisible link but I just can’t. It’s just there and we know to never let the history die. This is why I had a strong urge to go to Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Poland to see the history and what occurred there with my own eyes.
It is now the month of October and I toured Auschwitz in the summer month of July. I have not been able to truly put my feelings down on paper or even identify the feelings inside myself. Today I am finally ready to share my insights and feelings. Why now you ask? I woke up on Saturday October 7, 2023 to shocking and frighting news about what was going on in Israel and Palestine. I don’t think I fully realized what was happening but what I did realize is that being a Jewish person will never be easy. In fact it is down right frightening.
History appears to be repeating itself. Many will say it always does. Knowing that this type of history is repeating itself brings back that intrinsic fear that every Jewish person holds inside of them.
Here begins my visit to Auschwitz. We traveled six hours from Budapest to Poland. In the van I was so nervous to actually step foot on the ground where so many were brutally murdered. In the van ride back from Budapest I was completely numb. It has taken all of this time since then for me to find the words about what I saw. I had an odd experience throughout our visit. I look back now and I see that I was detached, as almost if I was watching a documentary. Not that I was actually there standing on the soil. It was a true out of body feeling and a lack of connection. I now know that this was a way for my brain to protect me and my psyche until I was able to process what I saw. I remember first looking at the positive things I witnessed. Yes, I say positive because I couldn’t make sense of everything else I saw. I looked at the street lined with pretty tall trees and a beautiful drawing on the wall of one of the barracks that had a large drawing of a temple. The word “Shul” was drawn, which is the Hebrew word for Temple. In my minds eye I envisioned the children and adults on Shabbat looking at this drawing and remembering happier times. On the ride back in the van this was all I thought about, I mean nothing else.
Watching the newsfeed coming out of Israel has caused my brain to explode with the images of Auschwitz. I now need and must share. First, let me say that it was heartwarming to see all different races and religions touring Auschwitz. This means we are keeping our promise of #Never Again. As I stand on the railroad tracks that lead up to the Concentration Camp, I can’t help but think. Based on my DNA if I was born in the late 1930’s or early 1940’s, I might have been on the train car headed to Auschwitz. I shake my head trying to get the image out of my mind. You see, I can’t because this is in my blood and DNA. There is an imaginary string that ties all of the Jewish People to these atrocities. I am actually having a form of PTSD right now drawing back on my memories from that day. Fighting back the tears I must continue and tell you what I saw.
Our tour guide walks around the camp pointing out different important points of interest. The tourist all follow in an organized line as we walk through the buildings and look at the items through the glass. We see thousands of pairs of shoes, some even fancy high healed ladies shoes. Suitcases upon suitcases, some with the families name written on them. The next large glass window we look through is of hair that was shaved off all of the prisoners. We were told and shown that the hair was used to weave into cloth. Wait, STOP, what did I just say? You see we all walked by these glass windows like robots not truly processing what we saw. The piles of hair is what I keep envisioning at this moment. The clumps of hair and the cute braids that were once on someone’s head. The piles are all that is left of these people and all I can do is think, how terrified they all must have been. The tour guide continues to lead us in a straight line from room to room. I watch others as they casually walked past the ovens. Ovens that were used to cremate and get rid of the evidence of the murdered people. I stopped, holding up the line because I could not be so casual. I stood there trying to take in what I was witnessing and what actually happened inside the crematorium. Thinking of the Jewish prisoners having to burn their fellow man just so they would not be put in the ovens.
We finally walk outside of the building and I take a deep breath of fresh air. The pressure and the suffocating air in those buildings was choking me. We continue to walk as our tour guide walks us pass the execution wall that still had bullet holes in it. The tourist walked quickly past but I stopped. My husband even said let’s go and I said no I need to stop and really look at this wall. The fear of knowing your life is about to end by a firing squad and the soldiers who would laugh and take pride in what they had just done. The places where the prisoners slept are just like you see in the movies. Cold, dark, depressing and deplorable conditions.
Our tour guide finally takes us back outside and I again take a deep breath in of fresh air. We then begin to walk to what looks like a hill. I then see there is an entrance into this green grassy hill. I finally realize what I am about to walk into. This is one of the gas chambers. Sitting here typing I feel my chest getting tight, tears in my eyes and honestly fear. Before the prisoners entered the gas chambers they were told to take their clothes off to take a shower. Only these were no showers, these were the doors to hell. The tour guide told us that the Jewish people would follow the Nazi’s commands, undress and walk into the chamber. The doors would close and then trap doors right above them would open and the can of lethal gas was dropped into the chamber. Once the prisoners realized what was happening they would begin to scream and cry. This only meant they died quicker taking in the gas. Piles of dead people laid right where I was standing in this chamber. The tourists began to walk through without stopping. I stopped, I looked up at the trap doors and envisioned the horror and terror. I stood there so long I was way behind my tour group. I felt frozen in that moment that I owed it to the murdered to feel and truly understand what they experienced in their last moments of life. #NeverAgain
We finally got to the end of our tour and I have to be honest I was so relieved. Yet, the tour was not finished. Our tour guide who was not of Jewish Faith wanted to leave us with her final thoughts. The lessons that you have learned today are not just something in the past that will never happen again. We must remember what we witnessed today! Antisemitism is on the rise, Ukrainians are being killed based on who they are and where they live by Russia. She said history does repeat itself and we all must remain vigilant and do our part to end racism and antisemitism. The world is just filled with so much hate. We spoke to her privately after and she told us how hard it is to live in Poland so close to Ukraine knowing that genocide is happening there. I understand that racial genocide happens all over the world. But there in that moment in time the war in Ukraine was taking over the news feeds. My feelings now about the Auschwitz tour are that I followed through on a Jewish Right of Passage. I took my daughters there to see what happened to our people and that they now truly understand what #NeverAgain means.
Let’s step out of the past and into the present. The war in Ukraine is still going on as of this date. Sad and horrible but we don’t see much of that on the news right now. The news is consumed with what has happened in Israel. Abductions, hostages, rape, decapitations, burned alive, killing of babies and children. Typing those words make me want to cry. How does this tie into my visit and feelings about Auschwitz? Jews take comfort in repeating #NeverAgain regarding the plight of the Jewish People. However, it appears that history is repeating itself and #NeverAgain is right now. There are marches chanting “Gas the Jews.” in Sydney, Australia and many other places around the world including London, Paris and the Streets of Pennsylvania, USA. How is a Jewish individual supposed to process all of this. I can tell you from the Jewish people I have discussed this topic with they are all scared and frightened to be Jewish in today’s world. How is this happening in Modern Day Society? Because hate transpires all places and times, that will never change. As Jewish people we can’t help but acknowledge that this is reminiscent to the Holocaust. Jews being round up from their homes, killed and tortured.
If you will bare with me for a few more minutes and let me explain why Israel is important to every Jewish person. That imaginary string that I mentioned before that ties us to the Holocaust also refers to Israel. As a religious group that is persecuted we have one state that is just for Jewish people and that is Israel. The homeland of the Jews in Israel goes back to BC, not just when they became a state in 1967. So a person who practices Judaism is connected to this land even if they have never visited. It was the one place where the Jewish Faith could live free and joyous. Unfortunately, they are not so free at this moment. Due to a terrorist group there is now war in Israel and the Gaza strip where the Palestinians live. There is a loss of life on both sides of the border.
War is Depressing! How do we cope no matter what our beliefs are. Watching war, destruction, death in modern times, the second we turn on the television is traumatizing. It is disillusioning to say the least and extremely sad. There is not one Jew or non Jew that I have spoke to in the past week who does not express sadness. Many have stayed home because they don’t feel safe and many have a hard time going to sleep at night knowing what is happening in the world.
We are only human and we all are impacted by this no matter what side or who you believe in. Tragedy is tragedy and death is death. How do we as a modern day society cope with this despair that we are witnessing? The first thing, limit your time around the television or watch the news in limited doses. We can’t turn totally away from the news because that would be doing the affected a disservice. I think it is important to write your feelings down. This is a great way of processing and gaining insight into your sadness. Volunteer your time to help the impacted areas of the European and Middle Eastern states. Oceans may divide us from our people but that doesn’t mean we are helpless here in the US or other places abroad. Seek out a support group, create social media content expressing your feelings, pain and have deep conversations with friends to get your feelings out. It is very heavy to carry this sadness and disappointment around on a daily bases. The first week I truly cried a lot. This week I am empowering myself by telling you my personal story, the story of persecuted individuals and the idea of how we move into the future feeling empowered. This war is not going to end any time soon and there will be sorrow coming from both sides of the border. I believe we must each create an individual plan to help us cope on how we will deal with our sorrow from day to day. If we do not create a plan for positive coping the Depression will take hold. This notion will empower those who start a war. We must not allow them to take that power and control over us. We must keep the power in our own hands and cope in the best way we know how.
I put a survey on my Instagram, FB, and TikTok accounts asking, “Is the current news making you feel depressed?” The result were a 100% YES. This is why I wrote this article because we all must find ways to release our sadness, anger and put the control of our emotions in our own hands. Research, donate money, prepare supplies or find other ways that you can help this area. Their world is suffering and that requires our positive energy and strength to get them through this. I know for me writing this blog has given me a great release of sadness that just keeps flowing from my eyes. If just one person reads this blog and understands just a little why this is so hard on some of us then I have done something good in the world today. I will not, I repeat, I will not let anyone make me feel scared, unsafe and afraid to show who I am.
In the Hebrew Language the word Chai means Life! Every innocent person’s life is valuable. I pray that someday we can all live in peace. I pray that the majority of the world will respect the word Chai! There is nothing more precious then a human life unless you are a Terrorist!
Thank you for allowing me to finally release my pain from my summer visit and to share the importance of striving for peace in the world.
L’Chiam = To Life
POSITIVE THOUGHTS CREATE POSITIVE ENERGY
GO OUT AND EXPLORE ALL OF THE WIDE OPEN SPACES IN YOUR WORLD
SHALOM,
Ilise
