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ESTABLISHED 1920
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353-2500
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40
Friday, November 7, 1986
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
NEWS
"YOUR
DOORS"
NEED P`
to 1116
o
A Trip To Germany
Opens Teen's Emotions
ALISON GUBEN
Special to The Jewish News
s I sat on the
Deutsches Bundes
Bahn on my way
from Cologne to Luebbecke,
my homestay community
where I was to meet the fam-
ily I would live with for one
month, the words of my
group leader wandered in one
ear and out the other.
Eric sat behind me and
continuously babbled,
the strength of north man
er
beer. To my right, Dan was
working on his 26th ciga-
rette. Whether or not our
12-member group was wor-
ried about the food, the
showers, or what relation-
ships with our families would
be like, the fears were lurk-
ing behind closed eyelids and
narrow minds. Our group,
which had been so close
throughout our four-day
orientation and our first two
days in Cologne, now seemed
so remote even as we sat next
to each other.
I was the only Jew in the
group, and everyone was
aware of this special identity,
which somehow made others
see me as very brave. I was
not afraid to enter Germany
as a Jew, which many both at
home and abroad found curi-
ous and odd. I had been
studying German since the
first grade and wanted the
opportunity to use my lan-
guage skills while learning
about the German culture
and land.
If I was not afraid of going
to the country which had per-
secuted my fellow Jews, why
was I trembling as I stepped
off of the train? For a split
second, I knew the answer.
We were all the same, 12
teenagers with some common
fears, jumping into a foreign
culture. But I was entering a
land from which so many,
with both common and differ-
ing fears, fled.
I met my family with the
same nervous handshake that
was familiar to 11 others that
day, and within a week I was
more or less adapted and ad-
justed to my new environ-
ment. No one had ever said
that this adjustment period
would be easy; everyone said
it would be worthwhile. The
food was different; the house
was small, with only one
bathroom, and my family was
patient as I stumbled with
some words and held my fork
and knife in the wrong
hands. I didn't though, throw
myself into the German cul-
ture only to improve my
German and to learn to eat
the "European Way." I
wanted to learn as much
about my family as they
wanted to learn about me.
Through going to school
Alison Guben is a high school
senior in Baltimore, Md.
with my 16-year-old "sister,"
going on Sunday drives or
excursions with my family, or
by simply meeting and talk-
ing to people in the town, I
was learning more than I had
expected, and more than I
thought I was.
Informed during our orien-
tation not to bring up sub-
jects such as World War II or
the Berlin Wall, I did not
mention them, but was
pleasantly surprised when
my "mother" volunteered the
information. My German
mother had asked me if I had
been nervous to come to
Germany as a Jew. When I
replied, "No", she seemed re-
lieved and tried to add some
words of comfort when she
"My German
`mother' asked me
if I had been
nervous to come
to Germany as a
Jew. When I
replied, 'No,' she
seemed relieved."
said, "Germany has had some
bad people in its past and it
still does, just as the United
States has had and does have
badpeople." Upon first hear-
ing this, I merely thought
that it was her attempt to
bring our two worlds to-
gether. After a couple of
months of reflection, I realize
that she did not want to say
this. She had to. It was her
only method of rationalizing
the event itself and the guilt,
which she will never forget.
What had seemed on the
train like such a long time to
live with a strange family
flew by, and before I knew it,
it was time to say goodbye to
a family who had welcomed
an apprehensive American
and done everything possible
to make their home my
home. I left with my sister,
who was to be traveling with
our group along with the
other host sisters and
brothers for two weeks, feel-
ing as if I had just gotten to
know my family and now had
to leave them. I thought my
experience was nearing an
end, but was obviously un-
aware of what lay ahead.
I had been told by many
who had visited German con-
centration camps what a
shocking, intense experience
it was. I entered Dachau with
12 Americans and 21 Ger-
mans at my side, expecting to
walk out with a completely
different train of thought. As
I walked through the "Arbeit
Macht Frei" gate ("Work
Makes Free"), the museum,
the gas chambers, cre-
matoriums, grave sites and
model bunkers, I could sense
that I was being observed by
the others. "Is she going to be
alright?", they were thinking.
I had read on the visitor's