From 1-6 April 2008, Holocaust Centre Director Dr Stephen Smith led a staff tour of sites of the Holocaust and former Jewish life in Poland, accompanied by Auschwitz survivor Kitty Hart-Moxon.
The tour started in Warsaw and included visits to the old city, the Jewish Historical Institute, the area of the former ghetto and the Umschlagplatz; a tour of the old town of Lublin and the Lubin Ghetto; a visit to Zabia Wola, where Kitty and her family spent time in hiding; Majdanek death camp and Belzec death camp, where Kitty’s grandmother was murdered; Auschwitz-Birkenau; Auschwitz Stammlager Museum; a visit to a synagogue in Krakow for Friday prayers; the Galicia Jewish Museum, and a tour of the Krakow Ghetto. The following few images capture some moments from that tour.
Some staff reflections on the Poland tour…
“It was a unique experience to be able to visit Auschwitz with Stephen, James and Kitty Hart-Moxon, the challenge of which will stay with me for a very long time.”
Debbie Barker
“Having Kitty on the trip to identify buildings and recall memories gave a real insight into camp life. Each site which we visited made me experience different emotions and thoughts which sometimes conflicted. Definitely thought-provoking, and reinforcing the reasons why the Centre is in existence and why the work carried out at the Centre is important.”
Margaret Platek
“Why would a human being want to dehumanize another human being? We like to ask why a civilized country becomes like that. But actually, what does civilized mean? I learned in Auschwitz how shallow, consumerist and weak we are. Kitty shared with us her testimony… I was really impressed. It was very sad that when everything was over, Kitty’s British family didn’t let her to tell what happened. They welcomed her but didn’t want to listen. I couldn’t understand why, and I found that fact as cruel as what perpetrators did.”
Rocio Miron
“For me the most poignant moment was when we stood and reflected at the monument at Birkenau, not just about the six million but also about Alf Vincent, whose funeral was taking place at the same time back in the UK. As I recited Kaddish, I thought to myself; I wonder what the real number is of those whose lives were not only lost, but also shattered by the Nazis - those who lost loved ones, their homes, their dignity, their sanity. Six million is almost an unimaginable number, particularly in the obscene context of the measured throughput of the gas chambers, but the larger number, if it can be ascertained must surely comprise a significant percentage of the population of Europe at the time. The phrase "a life-changing experience" is an oft-used cliche, but if the trip was not that, then it is as close as I have come - thank you Stephen and Kitty.”
Mike Caro
