Holy Land Trip | Part 3 | Yad Vashem
Please note that the following post deals with the horrific events of the Holocaust and will contain a few descriptions. In addition, this post is interpreting our experience of the Holocaust museum through the lens of the Jewish view of their right in this land. This is not the only view, though. I will be sure to bring in the Palestinian narrative and challenges in later posts as we venture into the West Bank.
Jewish settlers have been arriving in this land since 1897 when British sponsored Jews first landed in Jaffa (Shavit, 3). After their initial landing, many more Jewish settlers came to inhabit the western portion of the land. However, many don’t realize that although the history and tradition of the Jewish people goes back much further, the actual State of Israel was only established in 1948 (Shavit, 106). That is only 71 years ago. To truly understand the Jewish story in the 1940s, the establishment of this country, and its continuing pride, you need to think about the events of the Holocaust in World War II. This was a turning point for Jewish settlers living in what was known as, and still is considered by some, Palestine.
On our trip this week we spent the majority of Friday morning going through the Yad Vashem. This is a beautiful and disturbing museum dedicated as a memorial to that horrific era. Its located on the outskirts of Jerusalem and is built into the side of the beautiful rolling hills. The museum is broken into sections by a hallway that represents the various “ruptures” or turning points in what led to Nazi control in Germany and ultimately, to the massacre of millions. It was a somber and heart wrenching visit throughout.
Each section of the museum made you sick to your stomach for many reasons. One thing that was immediately noticeable was the way hateful ideologies begin. Early sections were describing the rise of anti-Semitic philosophy which led to the rise of the Nazi Party. Displayed were board games, posters, and figurines which were all designed to dehumanize Jews. Images displayed of supporters strapping on white armbands and carrying lit torches at the first conventions were disturbing. They bring to mind horrible images in our own time in Charleston, SC where white supremacists strapped on similar bands, carried torches, and sometimes even carried flags with Nazi symbols. It is frightening and clear that we are never far enough away from this event that something similar couldn’t happen again.
It’s important to note how sometimes these small and insignificant items or statements can eventually become mainstream, gain support, and become the leading narrative. In our own time, it’s our responsibility to ensure that we call out racism, hatred, and injustice when we see or hear it. This is sometimes hard to do depending on the individual, their relationship to us, and their level of energy but it must be done. The questions we kept asking ourselves in the reflection time after this experience was “why did so many people support this party and why weren’t the numbers of those who did something to stop it larger?” It’s up to us to help ensure this never happens again.
Moving on in the museum we continued to go through the story piece by piece. We saw the dehumanizing practices like measuring a person’s head, wearing Jewish armbands, or wearing a gold star to mark their identity. We saw the horror of those being uprooted from their homes and moved to the ghettos where rationing of food, disease, and deadly military control was common. Those who survived the horrible conditions were then sent in the “final solution” to death camps.
Millions were packed on livestock train cars and shipped to camps. Pictures of families and children fearfully being shoved into the cars still stings in your mind. Once arriving, many didn’t even stay the night as they were systematically moved to the staging area for the gas chambers. There was a numbness to death and these camps had an industrialized feel. People were moved through like a factory farm. They came off the cars, went into the preparation area, were moved into gas chambers, to the crematorium, and out of the facility having their ashes scattered in the nearby rivers. Millions of innocent people went through this.
While this short writing can’t do justice to those events and the museum, I hope to drive home one point that’s important to understanding the Jewish story. The Holocaust plays a pivotal role in the recognition of the need for a home for Jewish people. It alone did not provide the sole reason for the formation of the State of Israel, but it did seem to push the progress further (Halevi, 35). The Holocaust left Jews once again in exile, looking for a home when all the welcome mats had been taken away. Despite the horror of Europe, the land now called Israel was the place Jews could flee to and eventually be integrated into society.
Reflecting at the end of the day, I think of all the things people in this time period went through. Then, I think about all the People I have seen walking the streets of the Old City at the end of the day on Friday. Many devout Jewish people walked with purpose to make their way to the Wailing Wall before Shabbat dinners. We attended one of these dinners with two Jewish Rabbis leading. Hearing the blessing of the wine, bread, and participating in the washing of hands before the meal brought a sense of peace at the end of a difficult day. It felt as if the Jewish people finally had a sense of home. They finally felt a sense that they were no longer in the diaspora but in a place that they could be free.
Of course, that narrative is not that simple and is not the only picture of this land. On Monday, we travel to the West Bank to spend time with indigenous Palestinians to see how this was experienced and is still experienced for them. For now, linger on what you can do in your own life to ensure that events like the Holocaust can never happen again. It might be changing the language that you use while speaking about others. It might be helping someone to understand the struggles of another. It may even be simply giving a kind smile to another. Everyone has a different reaction to these stories, but one thing is sure. Never again.
Shalom, Salam
Sources
1. Letters To My Palestinian Neighbor by Yossi Klein Halevi
2. My Promised Land: The Triumph And Tragedy of Israel by Ari Shavit