Remembering in Austin and Auschwitz

Sunday, April 22, 2012—16:03 

    Sitting on the steps of the memorialized seven tons of ashes, I see before my eyes a wooden structure. It doesn’t look that different from how I imagine log cabins looked in those days. Rusted red ladder hooked to its dark, marred walls, 10 sectors of brick above forming that horrid chimney. Inside, the ovens “efficiently” burned five human lives a piece in [30 minutes,] the time it might take each to finish a grocery store run, catch up with a long-lost friend, enjoy a bike ride, a family dinner. We said Kaddish, the traditional Jewish prayer of mourning, next to the steel contraptions. We saw where they poured the fuel to heat—the fuel to murder, destroy, commit evil. Tears glistened on each generally frivolous teen’s face.

– My journal, Majdanek

    I spent last year’s Holocaust Remembrance Day trekking from Auschwitz to Birkenau with 10,000 other participants of the commemorative March of the Living program. At the time, I didn’t even know where I’d be in school for the following year’s memorial. Much less did I anticipate finding a memorial experience as meaningful as the one I found at the University of Texas at Austin.

    Last Thursday, April 4, student organization The White Rose Society passed out 10,000 white roses on campus to represent the number of people killed daily in Auschwitz. Named after a non-violent intellectual resistance movement at the University of Munich during WWII, the Texas group echoed their predecessors’ message of “We will not be silent.” As the gray skies kept up a continuous flow of rain onto the Forty Acres, pristine cream-colored roses rested in hands everywhere below umbrellas. Simple, but everywhere.

    Even more activities were scheduled this week. Organizations sponsoring events include The White Rose Society’s Human Rights Symposium, fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi hosting a memorial ceremony Monday and the Longhorn Research Bazaar featuring a research poster project about my experiences visiting the Poland camps during Holocaust Remembrance Day last year.

Thursday, April 19, 2012—1:25 

    Our tour guide noted the separation between Jews and Poles—though one refers to religious beliefs and another a nationality, the country and its citizens view the identities as mutually exclusive. Of an estimated 2,000 Jews in Cracow, only 150 acknowledge their Judaism through affiliations. Sad, as the Nazis aimed for that diminished Jewish life here.

– My journal, Schindler’s Factory Museum

    But what touched me the most was an interview Friday with a senior broadcast student from China who is producing a video about The White Rose initiative, the horrors of Auschwitz and how China was affected by WWII. She said she'd never met a Jew before interviewing me nor had she heard about the Holocaust beyond history book statistics. As I spoke to her tripod-holstered video camera in the warm breeze of an Austin afternoon, my words took me back to a year previous. We both became choked up just discussing the power of the camps and of speaking with Holocaust survivors as their numbers dwindled. I told her how I had the pleasure of travelling with Majdanek survivor Max Glauben of Dallas.

Sunday, April 22, 2012—16:03

    …The whole time there, I imagined Max’s little brother being one of mine—Jason or Zachary. That mother being Mom, Nana, even Daley in a few years. If it happened to Max, it could happen to me and I’m so grateful it hasn’t yet. I also feel I must live my life to the fullest for them. These six million plus were deprived of an incredible amount and I feel so fortunate that I have friends, a family, free will, the ability to and avenue for pursu(e/ing) my dreams and talents, and an education. . . I’ve become fascinated by the knowledge we’re fortunate enough to have access to and I don’t want to forget it. I feel an obligation to be a witness to this. Everyone’s taking pictures, but I still need to. Same with writing down facts I can find online. I just want to take advantage of everything on this trip because it’s truly unbelievable.

– My journal, Majdanek

    The depth and range of commemoration at the University of Texas at Austin—from academia to research to Greek life to extracurricular activities—is incredible and very representative of the campus' activism and concern. Each venue serves as a reminder that powerful, life-changing experiences come in everyday events. I’m proud to be part of a campus that takes its history seriously, and understands the importance of preserving the past to avoid repeated horrors in the future. Today, the Burnt Orange never forgets.

Jori Epstein is pictured left.