Day 20 recap (Mon Feb 28)

[Stef] Today we woke and it was overcast again. It was the best weather over the few days we were here though. We thought we would go visit the Jewish Museum and then off to Bondi Beach. The time at the museum was so interesting and time absorbing that we never made it to the beach.

As a side note, I spent most of my college career studying the different aspects of the Holocaust. Being a French major as well, a lot of my historical research was done on France’s role in the liberation, resistance movement, and reparations paid thereafter. In one of my classes a professor mentioned the museum in Sydney as a worthwhile place to visit. The best part about the museum is that it is run completely by volunteers. Up to 200 work daily to bring the information to the public eye. This makes visiting the museum much more intimate and touching in a lot of ways. If you are ever in Sydney, and have some time you’d like to fill – check this place out!

Security is never really difficult in comparison to the US, but at the Jewish Museum they had to search my shoulder bag and ask us not to take it in with us through the museum. I was fine with that – less to haul around.

We were greeted by the front desk, paid a nominal fee to get in, and started looking around. The first floor was all about how the Jewish people came to Australia. Most of the Jewish people who moved to Australia were sent there because they were part of the movement of criminals from England. They had information on the crimes committed for life imprisonment and they were usually nothing more than stealing a wallet or assaulting someone. A guide came up to us and explained that most of the life terms only lasted about 10 years because they would be released on good behavior. However, if they wished to return to England, the individual was responsible for the cost. Many could not afford to return nor did they have many happy memories of England, so they took up residence in Australia. There was an exhibit commemorating their achievements. The first floor explained some of the traditions in the Jewish religion as well.

The upper floors were all about the rise of Hitler, the Holocaust, the Liberation and the state of the Jewish religion today. Every exhibit provided so much information and insight into the tragedies of this time. As we went through, I felt like Scott was becoming more and more engrossed in understanding a time period that is virtually impossible to comprehend. I enjoyed watching his learning as well as learning new things myself. We saw artifacts like the clothes provided to the prisoners in the concentration camps. Another really grotesque relic was a blanket made from human hair. The prisoners would make blankets out of the hair, left after the heads were shaved, in order to stay warm. I had read about this happening, but it was much more emotional and thought provoking when I stood in front of it. While looking at the pictures, I had to often remind myself that it was not a plaster of paris or bag of sticks, but in fact a pile of human bodies.

As we made our way around to the end, I went into the Children’s Memorial alone, while Scott finished up some of the other exhibits. I was reading about the children – who were one of the major age groups targeted by the Nazis. They were defenseless and useless to the work camps, and so their fate was marked as soon as they were transported to a camp. There were a few small toys and books from Jewish children who had left their favorite toys with neighbors for safekeeping while they were gone. They didn’t know where or why they were “going on a trip” and most never returned. As I turned the corner, I came upon an enormous pile of shoes. There were probably 400 shoes which were removed from the children after transport. They were later found in warehouses in Germany.

As I was about to go to the final exhibit, a tiny elderly man with a small voice, with a German accent, walked up to me and asked me if I had seen all the displays. I told him I hadn’t but from his nametag I gathered he was a guide – on the second floor all guides are also survivors. He told me his name was Alex. Alex asked if I would like to see the final display with him. I agreed (of course!) and he showed me a wall of pictures of children. Alex explained that they were the siblings of the volunteers at the museum who had perished under Nazi control. He slowly, with a shaking hand, showed me his sister. A beautiful brunette, only about 15 years old, who had died, along with her parents, in a concentration camp. He told me how he didn’t know he lost his family until after the war. We turned around and there was a 10 foot wall and at the bottom was a bowl of water. Every 15 seconds, a drop would fall into the bowl from the ceiling. Alex explained that the drop of water was a tear: One for each child who perished during the Third Reich. This second was so emotional; I can only imagine what it must be like for a mother to stand there.

Alex started asking me questions about my background – he was amazed that I wasn’t 15 years old! Just as he discovered I was an adult, Scott walked over and I introduced him. He said, “Hi husband” to Scott. Alex had started telling me some information before Scott had walked over, but began to tell more stories as he got more comfortable. Alex was 21 when the war started and 27 when he was liberated. He had originally lived in Poland but was moved to Germany into a Work Camp. He said the main objective of daily life was not for food or warmth, but to avoid a beating from the guards. The pain and anguish experienced by Alex was apparent as his eyes filled with tears. I can only imagine how it must feel to retell his terrible tale over and over everyday – as a volunteer! He also explained that there were hundreds of doctors doing experiments on the living and dead bodies. Alex said Dr. Mengele is the most talked about, but there were many doing research that was completely unethical. (I have read Dr. Mengele’s book – he is right, it was beyond unethical!)

Alex talked about his escape as well. He was one of the few who actually escaped and survived. It was the end of the war, and Alex said he could hear the American planes in the distance. He knew it wouldn’t be long before he would be liberated. However, the Nazis made a change in plans. They decided to take the soldiers to another prison to be held farther away from the approaching American Troops. He didn’t know this then, but soon realized it was what the Nazis called a “death march”. They would take the remaining prisoners that were “healthy” enough on a walk. If a soldier stumped or felt weak and started to give up, they would shoot them. It was always the prisoners at the back of the line. Everyday they would kill 50 to 100 prisoners. He said the only way to survive as long as he did was to force himself to stay at the front of the line no matter how he felt. Sometimes he would have to run, but he didn’t care, as long as he stayed to the front. Alex said his walk started with about 1800 men, as the days wore on it got smaller and smaller. Finally one night they stopped the group and had everyone stay in a barn. While the guards were distracted by the sounds of gunfire from the opposing Army in the distance, Alex and a few of the other men began hitting the door to break the lock. Once they broke it, they ran. They ran as fast and as far as they could. Alex said he felt and heard the sound of gunshots whizzing past his head, but he kept going. He ran until he saw what looked like a school. Once inside the school he ran to the top of its bell tower and hid. Alex soon drifted off to sleep. Alex doesn’t know how long he slept, but he woke to a man asking him what he was doing there (in German). Alex answered and explained his situation and begged the man to let him stay there until he could gather some strength. The man explained that this town had been liberated and so he was finally free. He also said he would go look for some food for him and come back as soon as he could with it, but he didn’t know how long it would take. Food was very scarce at this time. A while later he came back with some food – a cup of yesterday’s broth and a potato. Accompanying the man was the town mayor. He said he would do what he could to help him. Alex requested some clothes, to get out of the prison clothing. The mayor gave him some fresh clothes and he stayed a few days to recuperate. He said the mayor knew exactly what he needed – some food but not too much. Many prisoners were so hungry when they got out that they quickly ate as much as they could, and also foods that were foreign to them like American sweets, and that often killed them. So he was lucky that food was scarce after spending six years on the brink of starvation. Alex then decided he needed to go in search of his family and try getting his life together. The mayor directed him to a camp on the German-French border where he could be helped. This was called a “displaced persons” camp, and it was run by the Americans. He went there and stayed a few months before sneaking across the border to France. Alex told us a series of entertaining stories along the way and then said he finally stayed in one for 4 years. He met some people that where from his town and they broke the news of his family’s fate. Alex was saddened and had little reason to return to Poland, so he decided he needed to make a new life. In the camp he met another woman who quickly became his romantic interest. She had a sister who was living in Australia and was able to apply for a visa and other necessary documents at the time to go to Australia as well. His friend soon became his girlfriend, then wife and they moved to Australia after 3 years of waiting for the documentation to come back from the government. Before going to Australia, he did return to Poland and he found an aunt. They spent some time together, but he left as it was too painful to stay there.

Alex got his fresh start in Australia, where he eventually started his own business and had 2 children of his own. Alex has 4 grandchildren and one of them just graduated high school. Alex’s sad expressions and tears dissipated as he told us about his grandson – who will go to a university in Sydney this year. Alex said it was on a full scholarship.

Scott and I felt so fortunate to sit and talk to someone like Alex. He was very shy about his story at first, and then he told it to us in a series of short stories, none of them in order. It was an emotional afternoon for Alex and I can’t imagine doing that as a volunteer job! Alex told me that he plans on doing this job as long as he can. He said it was his life’s mission to make the world aware of what they turned their backs on and also to educate people on things that should be treated as red flags in the future.

Scott and I had to leave at this point because it was 10 minutes before closing time – where did the afternoon go?

We headed back to the hotel and during the whole walk all I could think about was Alex and his life. Makes you want to hug your loved ones a little tighter. We got back and from the emotional experiences we were tired! We took a brief nap before going for a walk down at the harbour. We ate dinner at an okay restaurant on the harbor called James Squire Brewery. It was ok food – we split the seafood platter. It was ok if you like fried food, we aren’t particular fans of it, so we didn’t enjoy it as much as we had hoped. Included in our meal was a taster paddle, which is a paddle that has 4 small beer classes and a variety of their beers. We enjoyed the samples and then went home, packed our bags and dreamed of our Tuesday morning flight to Melbourne.