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-What was your reaction to our visit to Buchenwald?
The rain and the cold weather were really appropriate for the visit. I
was freezing with my jacket on, and I imagined hundreds of prisoners who
had to stand in that weather barefoot and with a few ragged clothes on.
It really struck me. The evil of the Nazis and the sorrow of the
prisoners were a heavy burden on me. At first I thought it wasn't just
for the tour guide to load us with all that hard-to-digest information.
And then I realized that only by doing that could we, the tourists,
truly grasp and sense one infinitely small part of the Jews' pain. By
the time we got to the crematoria, I was already sate with disgust,
anger, pity, and sorrow. I couldn't take anything anymore. I wasn't even
registering what the tour guide was saying anymore. I just looked at
those furnaces, wide-eyed, and then at those elevators where rotten
bodies were waiting to be burned....I could picture them, but I
couldn't get any emotional responses to those gruesome sights
anymore....I refused to go downstairs and see the hooks. It was too
much. Also seeing Rebecca's face contributed to the heaviness of the
whole visit.
How were expectations of the visit met or not met?
I didn't think my response would be so strong. I didn't cry, but I was
so disgusted by the evil of the Nazis, that I felt weak and powerless
for the rest of the day....>>
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