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Alumni Reflection: Mike Kaufmann, 1995
THE PROLOGUE I went to Poland in April of 1995 on the March of the Living Tour. My intention was not to have an exhibition but to have photographs for my own use. I took along several cameras including black and white film, being the photographic medium of the time. There are a number of photographs that are out of focus for which I do not apologize, as it was difficult to focus through my tears. There were many pictures that I did not take like the barrack that was full of shoes that as I walked in I choked on the smell after 55 years, the barrack that was full of suitcases and the barrack that was full of children's toothbrushes and personal effects. These photographs are scanned from contacts. The exhibition photos were professionally done (some were redone a number of times) to get certain effects accentuated like darks darker and lights lighter and to try and create moods. These effects are not possible to produce on the computer monitor. The exhibition was held at the Albow Centre Cape Town , South Africa in April 1996 ,was 13m long and 2,7m high, and the background was painted black. I tried to create a feeling of the viewer being overwhelmed by the blackness and size and drawn in to the beauty and by the deception. The idea is, that each picture is in the order that the person who went into the camp, walked and saw what I saw. As you look at each picture try and imagine yourself walking through this camp not knowing what to expect next and in great conflict. The conflict being that as you entered the camp, there was a sign that said "Arbeid Macht Frei" (Work Makes You Free) and these bureaucrats, in and out of uniform, who are only doing their job and carrying out their orders, (which was to process your death) who view you as the scum of the earth, demanding your number(your name is irrelevant) etc. and recording this in a tome. (How much has changed?) While on the trip I asked many questions:Why? What is the same now as was then? What is different now? What makes the situation now that something like this cannot happen again? I have not yet found the answers. The level of deception, distortions, myths, the coverups, the spin, deception by omission and outright lies by the government, the media, corporations, organized religion, the scientific establishment, and others who want to keep the truth from us,is something that is so great the public has no clue as to what is really going on at any given time. "The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth becomes the greatest enemy of the State." - Dr. Joseph M. Goebbels He Believed, was written in April 2000 to try and get some clue as to what my Grandfather may have thought at each year and to try and put an age to ourselves and those people who are dear to us who do things that we really do not understand why they do what they do and think what they think, when he only did what he felt to be right, only to be wrong! "The condition upon which God has given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break , servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt." John Philpott Curran 1750- 1817 I want to thank my family for their continuous support, Grant and Anthony and Gary who have made this presentation possible. MY JOURNEY The purpose of my Journey was to find out and see for myself what had happened in those Dark days. I discovered many things while I was in Poland and even more after my return. I was struck by the beauty of the place and the ugliness, by the dark and the light. By the hope-less despair and by the hope. I was struck By the magnitude of the lies and deception, By the efficiency of the production line murder, By the opportunism of the Nazi's, By the "Deutche Ordenung." I was struck by the gullibility of so many people for so long, until they realized what was happening and took a different perspective. My father died in 1994. I went to mourn for him. I went to mourn for my loss of my loved ones that I never knew. I went to place a plaque in the ground in their memory. I realized that each person who dies has a right to have something marking their place of death. I realized that each person who survives has a need to mourn their loss- thereby freeing them-selves in some way. We cannot undo the past, but in order for us to move on we have to deal with painful issues. We cannot deny them and be whole. We have to go through all of life's processes including death to be whole people. These photographs represent my journey. These photographs attempt to take the viewer through the beauty and deception into the camps and barracks, into the shower and gas chamber, through the crematorium into ashes and memorial stones. I hope that in some way that the Photographs that I have shared with you, the viewer, will enable you to derive benefit from my experience. By Mike Kaufmann, 1995 Alum #gallery-1 { margin: auto; } #gallery-1 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 20%; } #gallery-1 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-1 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */ HE BELIEVED He Could Not Believe It; When he was 61 years old and the Nazis came to power, When he was 64 years old and his son said LEAVE! Come to South Africa, When he was 66 years old and they burned down all the Synagogues ( and he had to pay!), When he was 67 years old and he sold his house for a song after more than 40 years, When he was 68 years old and he could only take with him that which he could carry, When he was 69 years old and he lived off the charity of his son, When he was 70 years old he who had fought for the fatherland in the Great War was pushed and shoved at the end of a rifle butt into a cattle car. When after 3 days in the cattle car, he arrived at Auschwitz, saw his beloved wife, go into another line, To meet soon after, When he was pushed and shoved from the line into the gas chamber, When he choked from the gas and died, He could not believe it possible, What had he done to deserve this? He lived a good life, kept kosher, held gagim. He could not believe it even after the end. Background to “He Believed” I wrote “He Believed" for my niece who was about to decide on marriage in the year 2000. The reason was that she was so set and determined on her path that I felt that I needed to try and get her look at the whole picture and then make a decision setting aside her beliefs for a short time. So I tried to paint a picture in words to illustrate (her father being about 61 at the time) what my Grandfather may have thought when he was 61 years old. Hitler had just come into power and his intention was to build a great Germany which would last for 1000 years. In order to achieve this one of his goals was to totally destroy by whatever means the Jewish Race. Question then arises what my Grandfather was thinking. He lived in a small village, why would any of this affect him? He had his beliefs. Why would things change? These were the questions needed to make a decision for survival. The threat did not seem so great in 1933.So he made a decision and that was to stay where he had grown up. He had a life there. So to make a decision to stay or go were in fact two decisions. One decision was to stay and the other decision was not to go. Eventually he decided to leave and believed that it would be safe in Holland. He had no idea that it would take a very short time for the German army to overrun and take over Holland. His beliefs were once again "wrong" There was such a vast propaganda machine in action in the press, movies, speeches etc. That it became difficult to see the truth as to what was really happening. If you look around today there is so much disinformation, that it is also difficult to make an informed decision. An example of belief is that when at a traffic light it is green, one believes that it is safe to cross the road. Mostly this is true, unless a motorist for whatever reason (drunk ,texting ,talking on a mobile phone, not seeing the red light, distracted brakes fail etc.) fails to stop and knocks over a pedestrian. Many lives are changed by that event. The person knocked over may be taken to hospital, be severely injured, become comatose or even die. The driver may be arrested be charged with negligent driving, convicted of culpable homicide and spend many years in jail. This all stems from a simple belief that it is safe to cross the road when the little green man indicates that the time to cross is now. In order to get some insight into my own life I look at my present age and try and imagine what my father was doing at the same age. This helps me to try and understand what was happening in his life at that time. We know so little of our parent’s lives other than what they chose to tell us ("in order to protect us") or so they thought. Originally published HERE.
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Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat announced as Honorary Chairman of the ‘Campaign for the Future’
ANNOUNCEMENT New York, NY – Monday, November 16, 2015 – The International March of the Living, a leading institution in Holocaust education, announced that Ambassador Stuart E. Eizenstat has been appointed as Honorary Chairman of the 'Campaign for the Future'. As a Special Advisor on Holocaust Issues, Eizenstat is committed to the mission of this annual program which brings individuals from around the globe to Poland and Israel to study the history of the Holocaust and to examine the roots of prejudice, intolerance and hate. "The International March of the Living is proud to have Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat assume the helm of our Campaign for the Future,” said World Chair, Dr. Shmuel Rosenman. “Ambassador Eizenstat has been a long-standing leader in the world arena and his commitment to Holocaust memory and legacy is in perfect harmony with the mission and goals of this organization. On behalf of the MOTL Board, Staff, world leadership and alumni, we welcome his recognition of the work we do and the importance of our role in the future of Holocaust education. We look forward to setting new standards and reaching new heights under his Campaign Chairmanship." An expert on Holocaust-era Issues, providing belated justice for victims of the Holocaust and other victims of Nazi tyranny during World War II, Eizenstat has negotiated major agreements with the Swiss, Germans, Austrian and French, and other European countries, covering restitution of property, payment for slave and forced laborers, recovery of looted art, bank accounts, and payment of insurance policies. Ambassador Eizenstat served as chief White House domestic policy adviser to President Jimmy Carter (1977-1981); U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs, and Deputy Secretary of the Treasury in the Clinton Administration (1993-2001). “Assuring Holocaust justice for survivors and for the families of victims and perpetuating the memory of the Holocaust has been a central part of both my public and private life,” said Ambassador Eizenstat. “Because of this, I am particularly honored to be able to serve as the Honorary Chairman of The International March of the Living ‘Campaign for the Future’, which is one of the most important ways to assure that the memory of the Holocaust and its contemporary lessons are imparted to future generations. Since its inception in 1998, over 200,000 people from over 52 countries have attended. A recent study validates the impact on Jewish identity and the participant’s commitment to the State of Israel and the future health and vibrancy of the Jewish world. Few other institutions have had this dramatic and lasting impact on young Jews around the world.“ The 2016 March of the Living will take place on Thursday, May 5, 2016. Since the first March of the Living in 1988, over 200,000 participants, from 52 countries, have marched down the 3-kilometer path leading from Auschwitz to Birkenau on Holocaust Memorial Day, in silent tribute to all victims of the Holocaust. For more information please contact: Ariana M. Heideman Starburst Communications Email: [email protected] Phone: 202.670.6723 JOIN THE CAMPAIGN FOR THE FUTURE
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Book Passes The Torch of Holocaust Memory
Seventy years after the end of World War II and 25 years after March of the Living (MOL) began bringing Jewish high school students and survivors to European death camps, MOL is employing the latest in 21st-century technology to help tell the story of the Holocaust. MOL recently launched a handsome coffee table book titled Witness: Passing the Torch of Holocaust Memory to New Generations, which records the testimony of survivors and the reaction of students to the terrible events of the Holocaust. Built into several pages in each copy are digital watermarks that users can scan with a smartphone or tablet and then view video testimony by Holocaust survivors. The free Digimarc Discover app allows readers to expand their experience of the book by viewing – or witnessing – the recorded first hand testimony of survivors themselves. The videos are provided by Steven Spielberg’s USC Shoah Foundation Archives and MOL’s Digital Archives Project. The book itself is a treasure trove of photographs, poetry, commentary and history designed to enlighten a broad audience about the events of the Holocaust. Many of the survivors featured in the book are Canadian, including Nate Leipciger, Max Iland, Sidney Zoltak and Max Eisen. With 7,500 copies in print, there is also interest in translating the work into German, Spanish, French and Hebrew, among other languages, said Eli Rubenstein, national director of MOL Canada, who compiledWitness. In gathering the content for the book, Rubenstein raided the MOL archives for photos, taken both by professional photographers who were part of the MOL team as well as those taken by participants. He combined them with the poems of the young participants and added sections to provide a historical underpinning to explain the events that led to the murder of Europe’s Jews. Rubenstein believes that the underlying message of the book is a positive one, despite the grisly historic event that is at its core. “This book is about hope and making the world a better place. It’s not about hate or revenge. The aim is to heal,” he said. In addition to survivor testimony, the book includes sections dedicated to Jews who fought back – both physically through force of arms and through spiritual resistance – to liberators and to Righteous Gentiles. “No one survived unless someone helped them,” Rubenstein said. The book is based on an exhibit that premiered at United Nations headquarters in New York in 2014 under the title, When You Listen to a Witness, You Become a Witness. That exhibit, which is smaller in scale than what can be found in the book, will go on display later this month at the Schwartz/Reisman Centre at the Lebovic Jewish Community Campus in Vaughan. In a unique touch, the book opens with a message from Pope Francis, who expresses his support for March of the Living. In that, he was following in the footsteps of Pope John Paul II, who also supported the MOL initiatives of remembrance, Rubenstein said. Witness was officially launched at Congregation Habonim last month and is on sale at Chapters Indigo and online at Amazon. Negotiations are under way to provide a downloadable version of the book, Rubenstein said. Original article published HERE. BUY THE BOOK
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March of The Living Exhibit is open to the visitors of Auschwitz Museum
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