Progress

I am so thrilled to see that my blog has reached over 5,000 viewers...this is not only a huge honor but absolutely fantastic and heart-warming. Just in the last week, two followers have approached me to tell me how fantastic the program is and how great it is that I decided to embark on this journey and allow you all to follow me, as well.

Standing cells in the basement of a block in one of the
barracks of Auschwitz. After a 12 hour work day, prisoners
would be sent here to stand in brick walled in cells overnight.
Many people died from exhaustion, here.

I am ashamed to say that I still have one journal entry left to blog, the final day we spent in Poland, which included a tour of the Geisha cemetery in Warsaw, a visit to the town of Tykochin and then to Treblinka. Why have I put this off for so long? Perhaps because I simply haven't had the time to sit down and think and write, with work, etc...perhaps because I've been struggling to pick up and read the memoir I bought at Auschwitz, or perhaps I just do not have an excuse at all. And with that, I apologize. This entry will come soon, I promise.

I did, however, finish reading the aforementioned memoir, just today. Hope is the Last to Die, the story of Halina Birenbaum is an excellent read; an excellent look into the camp life, the horrors and terror and abuse and suffering of the Holocaust victims. But it is not all that; it isn't all sorrow and sadness, but also a look at the happiness and hope, love and compassion through this black time in history.

I couldn't put this book down once I really became engaged in it, but also learned so much, and started thinking about things I hadn't before - the camp staff that were compassionate and helped the prisoners; turning a blind eye or secretly delivering food, keeping friends and family together, etc. I cannot fathom how a human race was able to commit the atrocities they did, but it can be understood that there were some forced to complete a job, against their wishes. It is calming to know not everyone agreed with Hitler and the Nazi regime.

Fellow 2011 participant Victoria Clowater, also of Fredericton.

Halina explains herself beautifully throughout the book, and connects with the reader through her wonderful descriptions and words; real, human, and simple. I cannot understand Halina, despite the connection I feel I have with her. I visited Auschwitz and Majdanek, two camps where she was held during the war, but I will not understand; no one ever will. But I understand her in other ways. I understand, to a degree, when she says

"I also lost my faith in people and the little respect I had left. I became brusque, sharp even with my closest friend Polusia. I was closed up in myself, taciturn and in a constant state of irritation. I could no longer find a common language with anyone" (177).


I'm carrying on daily life as if normal, with my thoughts running through my mind. I've yet to openly talk about my experiences, my thoughts, my struggles. I communicate through my blog, and through planning the upcoming event, on 11 August, in which I hope many members of the public attend. And these memoirs are such hope; that the survivors are strong enough to share their story. I, along with 59 other students from across Canada, have the task of carrying these stories through the generations; ensuring this era of history is not forgotten, is not left behind with the passing of survivors.

I do hope you all are planning to attend the event, An Evening of Education and Inspiration, on 11 August at 7pm at the Fredericton Legion, located on Queen Street. Student leaders include myself, Victoria Clowater and Erin Legare. Special guests include Dr. Lisa Todd, from UNB, and Holocaust survivor Israel Unger.




"Some people think that love and peace is a cliche that should have been left in the sixties...that's their problem. Love and peace are eternal" - John Lennon.