Resource Materials

Hi, everyone!

I've been busy running around doing things for the trip; doctors appointments, needles, buying this and that, organizing this, completing that...and also adding some movies and reading materials to my list of "To Do" before 14 May, on top of the two exams I still have to write!

I just thought I'd share this little list with you incase any of you are interested in brushing up on your knowledge and getting a feel for the things I'll be trying to grasp and deal with while overseas. Some of these I have seen, some are still waiting to be checked off my list, but here's what I've found so far. Please feel free to leave a comment with anything I've missed that you feel worthwhile.

Movies:

• The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
• The Pianist
• Sophie's Choice
• Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary
• The Reader
• Life is Beautiful

Readings:

• Maus I and II (Art Spiegelman)
• War and Genocide: A concise history of the Holocaust (Doris L. Bergen)
• Night (Elie Wiesel)
• The Diary of Anne Frank
• Hana's Suitcase
• The Book Thief (Markus Zusak)
• Sarah's Key (Tatiana de Rosnay)

Online Materials:

• Winnipeg Free Press article by Dr Catherine Chatterley on anti-semitism and Holocaust memory
• Prism Magazine: there are a few interesting articles on victim/bystander/perpetrator in both issues 2 and 3

"Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy" - Anne Frank

"You're living in Heaven and you don't even know it"

As I mentioned in a previous post, and as my very supportive mother mentioned in her blog, I had the opportunity to contact and meet with Philip Riteman, who spent his teenage years in five different concentration camps, including Auschwitz.

I was so unbelievably touched and amazed by Philip's story and his courage to devote his time to educating my generation about the Holocaust, in hopes "you'll never need to know, you'll never understand."

Through word of mouth and through a friend of my mom's, I found out about Philip, and from there, contacted him about meeting to discuss his experiences and the Holocaust in general. I was so pleased when Philip obliged, and we had a wonderful chat over coffee last week.

I have chosen Philip as the subject for the actual March between Auschwitz and Birkneau, in May. I will be marching with Philip in mind; for his strength and determination when he was in the camps, and his strength and determination to date, in educating and recalling his younger years, to educate. As Philip gave me a hug and thanked me for taking interest in his story and the Holocaust, I started to tear up, and thought of how it is he who should be thanked; for having the courage to educate and for sharing his painful, yet amazing, story.

Philip's book, Millions of Souls, is a must read. I will cherish my special, autographed copy for years to come and have found myself thinking of Philip and the read several times in the last few days; this morning I had a warm shower, and thought of Philip, shaved and stripped down in January, in a freezing shower, as his book describes. Philip has received many letters about his book, just released this past fall, including one from a Nova Scotia Judge saying this is a book every Canadian citizen should read. So whether you're interested in the Holocaust, looking for an engaging, real-life story of years past, or are planning a visit to Auschwitz, I urge you to read this book to put a voice and a face to the visuals.

As I am not Jewish, nor have I experienced anything life-altering such as this, I am finding it hard to connect and was struggling to find a reason for my participation in this program. However, I can now say that Philip is the reason; that reading of the mass murders is not enough, one must really feel and hear the emotion in someone's voice; and hearing Philip talk has inspired me to engage in this program all that I can and make a difference upon returning home.

For more information on Millions of Souls, click here.

I hope to stay in touch with Philip in the time leading up to my trip and upon returning home, so please stay tuned.

"Once you choose hope, anything's possible" - Christopher Reeve

Testing...testing...

I found this app for my iPod hosted by Blogger and am testing it out! I'll hopefully be able to use this as a means of updating my blog while I'm gone as I can write on the go, save the draft and post when I can pick up a wifi signal.

I'm hoping this means I'll be able to write while in transport to and from the camps so things are fresh in my mind.

I obviously won't be able to post photos and do quotes and any formatting but I hope you'll bear with me and be patient as I do what I can from overseas and update and add photos upon returning home.

I look forward to having the opportunity to do this trip as well as document it.

This app also automatically updates my Twitter and Facebook that I have updated my blog, hopefully reaching a wider audience and everyone interested.

Please note my "signature", for when I'm overseas as well ;-)


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone, from Europe!!

Location:Halifax

"The future will need your compassion..."

"...even more so than now"

Irena Sendler, may her brave, beautiful soul rest in peace, constitutes a hero. Sendler, who saved 2500 Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust is the topic of the 2009 Hallmark movie The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler.

A beautiful but harrowing depiction of life within the Ghetto, the fear many Jewish families faced and, as the title suggests, the courageous hearts of many bystanders, this film goes well with kleenexes, and teddy bears to hug.

The film was, however, heartbreaking. The screams of children and mothers as they were seperated is enough to break anyone's heart, and the brutality enforced and performed by the Nazi soldiers, while Sendler reminded herself, and her own mother: "You see a man drowning and you must try to save him, even if you cannot swim". This woman deserves the recognition and awards she received if anyone does, in my opinion.

The opening of the film, in which a German solider tells Sendler, a social worker assessing the state of the refuge centres for typhus: "You Pols must solve this problem, it's a disgrace" really shows the degree in which this belief system, the ideologies, were rooted. It is no one's fault for an outbreak of a disease, other than those that set up the Ghetto and forced the Jews into such a confined space with such little resource and proper clothing, bedding, etc.

I feel this movie should be on your list if you are planning a trip to Auschwitz for sure, as it offers a different side of the story: what was done by those that had the opportunity to help, and how others risked their lives for something they believed in, as Sendler so courageously did.

This film, if anything, got me thinking. What are the stories of the other men and women that did acts such as this? Whatever happened to the children, the families? Were any reunited? And really, what was it like to be herded onto the trains to Auschwitz?

I may have to do some further research to answer these, but, I hope to have a better idea of the latter, tomorrow. I will be meeting with Philip Riteman, who I mentioned in my last blogpost. Check back over the next day or two with an update about that.

"Act as if what you do makes a difference.  It does" -William James