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-What was your reaction to our visit to Buchenwald?
I have been there before, and as before it began with extreme numbness and
inabililty to feel anything, coupled with the knowledge that I, especially
I as a Jew, should be somehow feeling the pain of an entire people
exterminated. Of course, that is not humanly possible. What is possible is
to have one single, human reaction, and once you have been there for about
an hour (at least for me) that is possible. I also find it hard to react
personally to something so terrifying when I am on a guided tour; thus, I
didn't have a real "reaction" until I walked around by myself.
That was a
very important thing for me; I walked around by myself for about an hour,
in the pouring down rain and the wind that just whipped right through me.
I was cold and miserable, I couldn't feel my fingers or my face, and all I
could think to myself was, "How dare you fucking think about complaining
about this weather? You are wearing a coat and you had a full meal today.
You are going back to a nice hotel where you can come and go as you please.
You don't have to wear a star of David on your coat and you are not going
to die."
It was very dramatic for me because I feel like with other
people, who are mostly Aryan due to the general makeup of people who travel
to Germany, it is always "How could we let it happen?" whereas with me it's
"How could they..." etc.
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