Photo above: At the Belzec camp, photo by Brittany Fried March 12, 2016 A Renewed Understanding of my Motivation to Understand Tragedy We walked into an underground room the size of a large warehouse. It was cold like the outside, but absent of wind...
Continue ReadingPhoto above: Auschwitz-Birkenau March 12, 2015 I don’t know it I’ve ever really thought about what it would be like to visit Auschwitz. As the prototypical image of the Holocaust, of course I imagined it would be a difficult experience. But I ...
Continue ReadingPhoto above: At Auschwitz-Birkenau, taken by Ari Goldstein March 12, 2015 Many times, Holocaust education centers on what happened at Auschwitz- Birkenau. The horrors I’ve read about have always been difficult for me to understand so I thought it necess...
Continue ReadingPhoto above: Rava-Ruska village profile on the Yahad Interactive Map March 11, 2016 As my week in Ukraine and Poland with Fr. Desbois comes to a close, I am faced with the moral responsibility to reflect on what this journey through the land of my ancesto...
Continue ReadingPhoto above: Mass grave at Auschwitz II-Birkenau, photo taken by Brittany Fried March 11, 2016 Auschwitz is the most commonly visited Holocaust memorial site in the world. For many, it has become the overarching symbol for the Shoah, serving as an icon a...
Continue ReadingPhoto above: Father Desbois at the dedication ceremony of the mass grave in Rava Ruska in June 2015 March 9, 2016 There is no way to truly prepare yourself for the first time you see a mass grave site. Perhaps there’s a degree of familiarity with th...
Continue ReadingPhoto above: Students and Father Desbois at a Jewish cemetery in Busk, Ukraine March 9, 2016 The remnants of an abhorrent kind of evil lay largely hidden in the parts of western Ukraine that we visited. Threads of neglect stretch throughout Lviv and the n...
Continue ReadingPhoto above: Interviewing witnesses in Sokolivka [Photo credit: Ari Goldstein] March 8, 2016 The village of Sokolivka is said to have been completely Jewish before the Nazis arrived. Today, however, all that remains of Sokolivka’s Jewish community are ...
Continue ReadingPhoto above: Father Desbois and students at the Busk Jewish cemetery and mass grave March 8, 2016 These days we look at modern art and a piece by Damien Hirst as either a well priced opportunity, or an absurdity. Alternatively, an academic degree from Geo...
Continue ReadingPhoto above: Father Desbois and students at a killing site of Jews in Lysynychi, Ukraine March 7, 2016 My late great-uncle, Stanley Darer, told me he only saw his father cry once. He was 11 years old and sitting at his breakfast table when his father, h...
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