June 11, 2013
Today’s session was certainly much heavier than
yesterday. The first lecture was
presented by Dr. Black and focused on the rise of the ghetto. While I knew of the use of the Jewish
Quarters and have discussed the aspect of Venice and the Jewish population, I
did not realize that the Renaissance was the origin of the term ghetto.
The remaining lectures wove together and bring up issues of
declining conditions in the ghettos and the rise of the Final Solution. The (wrongful) idea of race and Social
Darwinism was alarming. The idea that an
individual is bound to their race to produce thoughts and ideologies seems so
foreign, but it does fit with the context of studies of the time. Darwin was taken as a springboard for many
radical ideologies. The intentional
deprivation of food, the horrible living conditions, the struggle to find food,
the need to work to get rations and avoid deportation … all of it is quite
startling. It does appear that these
conditions were introduced slowly in Germany but more rapidly in countries that
Germany conquered.
As with yesterday’s museum tour, a section of today’s
presentation reminded us of the individuals in the Holocaust. All too often we tend to lump tragic events
into a single term, to discuss it and move on to the next subject. We forget that the people who died in the
Holocaust, as well as other genocides, were individuals with loves and hates,
sense of humor, and a sparkle of personhood that should not have been
extinguished.
Two other events culminated in what we did today. We met a survivor of Auschwitz. A frail older woman came in and gave her
story in strong words. She grew up in
Hungary. When the Germans arrived the
Hungarians embraced them and the Nazi ideology happily. They gave up the Jews. Our speaker, Judith Szentivanyi, was taken
with her mother and 6 year old sister onto a train. They arrived at a factory where they worked
for a time. The people who worked there
were expected to give up their valuables.
Four to five individuals per day were removed and interrogated for
information on treasures. Those who
failed to give a response were beaten severely.
From there, she and 95 others were put into a box car. She arrived in Auschwitz after a 4 – 5 day
train ride. She was separated from her
mother and sister who were lined up on one side. Both were executed. (Judith did explain that the camps would
separate mothers with small children and execute them together in order to
avoid a dramatic scene. If there was a
grandmother, the mother would be spared as the child would be placed with the
older woman and executed. Many mothers
had to live with that guilt). She was
moved again to walk steps with blocks – with the sole purpose of trying to work
people to death. She went back to the
death camp and they did nothing all day but line up into rows. Daily the Nazi would inspect them and execute
anyone that they didn’t think looked right.
She was again selected for factory work and moved to a place where they
made airplane parts. Finally, the
Russians arrived to liberate the camp.
They moved into the town and the soldiers raped the women; the survivors
were so weak and sick that they left them alone. They would throw food into the survivors and
whoever got it could eat it. After
months of starvation, many could not handle the sugar and starchy foods given
to them; they died trying to eat. She
was eventually removed to a hospital where she recovered. She later married but Hungary was given over
to Stalin and the USSR. After another
period of oppressive rule, she, her husband, and her child fled to
America.
She added some quick notes to her presentation that I hadn’t
thought about. People in the camp were
stripped, shaved, and given a single dress to wear. There was no underwear for them. It was bitterly cold and there was little
food. She described life at her final
factory stop as eating watered down soup and a single slice of bread a day. Food rations were short and forced laborers
were low on the list of food. Some gave
away bread for cigarettes and those individuals died (she thought they were
very foolish to do so).
A snippet of her interview as posted through the Florida Holocaust Museum website: http://www.flholocaustmuseum.org/exhibits/permanent/survivor-testimonials/judith-szentivanyi-nee-szasz-describes-selections-at-auschwitz.aspx
Lastly, we discussed the US role in dealing with Jewish
refugees. The US was certainly grasped
in a wave of immigration reform, fear of otherness (other than the white
northern European standard) and isolationism.
Disgusted by The Great War they didn’t want to get involved with
European problems again. Yet, the fear
of Jews was amazing. America may have
been slow to act as they also dealt with their own minority issues concerning
African Americans and the implementation of Jim Crow laws (a shameful chapter
in our history).
Overall, I have to say that today was a much harder
day. Listening to the very intentional
attempt to wipe out others is incredible.
To hear logic warped into such a horrific scenario and to have that sold
to a people hungry to feel dominant over someone….tragic. It is a lot to absorb for a single day and
perhaps the hardest part of the Holocaust to deal with. I still feel a bit of outrage that the US did
not do more….and that I hope to work out as we continue through the seminar
this week.
One of the pieces remembering the Holocaust. This used to be outside but due to vandalism it had to be brought inside. It now resides in the Museum stairwell.
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