"They simply don't talk to each other," she said. "It's scary." Erdstein, who stayed with the Pissenbergers, a Catholic family, said the trip has ex- panded her perception of the world. The trip also tied in to her personal interest in Holo- caust studies. Erdstein tra- veled to Poland last summer and visited Auschwitz- Birkenau, Treblinka and Ma- jdanek concentration camps. Erdstein, who makes presen- tations about the Holocaust for local student groups, plans to include her trip to Vienna in future talks. Visiting Vienna gave Erd- stein some idea of Viennese culture and community, she said. "I know a little more about my past and I feel more com- fortable," she said. "But the trip semi-satisfied my urge to know where my- father is from. I want to return with my father, who has not been back since the war." Brian Erdstein, Rachel's 18-year-old brother, a Univer- sity of Michigan freshman, stayed with Franz and Karla Seyringer and their two children and spent some time exploring in the Vienna Woods. While he hiked and biked through the coun- tryside and mountains, he considered that he could have grown up in Vienna had there been no war. "I considered what it would be like to live in Vienna," he said. "Then I tried to imagine what it would be like to be uprooted from your home?' He did not personally ex- perience any anti-Semitism but learned about its presence in conversations with Jews. "I found out that it's not blatant but an at- titude," he said. But the trip did reaffirm his Jewish identity. Growing up in a Jewish community I never felt like a member of an oppressed people," he said. "But I had to confront it while I was in Vienna. I was there because I was Jewish." Since his return from Vienna, Marnin Robbins, a 16-year-old junior at Corn- munity High School in Ann Arbor, has not thought about much else. "Through this trip I got to know more about myself and my grandfather, Berhard Chomet," he said. Chomet left Vienna in 1938 and lives in Ann Arbor. "My grandfather never told me anything about my family because it was too hard to talk about," he said. "It was very interesting to see a part of my past:' He enjoyed getting to know the city — walking around the main streets, seeing historical sites and going to pubs in the evenings. "It was all really interesting and I had an excellent time," he said. At the same time Robbins imagined the difficulties of being the Jewish minority in a country that is 93 percent Catholic. Discussions about the trip often turn to his visit to Mauthausen, the most power- ful part of the trip, he said. "The 'camp looked almost too nice," he said. "I expected it to look rundown and dirty, like it was years ago:' Seeing the camp and hear- ing tales of tragedy made Robbins marvel at the narrow escape of his family. "If my grandfather had been there one more year, he could have ended up in Mauthausen. That is a scary thought," he said. Sandy Rockind, a 17-year- old senior at Andover High School from Bloomfield Hills, went to Vienna to be united with her grandparents' history. But she later discovered a diplomatic and political purpose for her visit that she did not know beforehand. "Once I was in Vienna I was told we were there to help unite the Jews and non-Jews of Austria and show that Americans can get along while still preserving their Jewish identities," she said. "I had a wonderful time yet I also felt somewhat used." Because Rockind stayed with a Jewish family — Ruth Marcovici and her 20-year-old son Michael — she had the op- portunity to experience the Jewish community of Vienna, she said. "They are so tightly wound up with themselves there is no communication with any- one else," she said. Rockind saw the district in which her grandfather, Herbert Reinstein of Oak Park, grew up in and hospital where her grandmother, Marianne Reinstein of Oak Park, was born. The Reins- teins left Vienna in 1938. A high point of the trip was meeting Karl Bauer, her great-uncle, for the first time last month. Bauer moved Fine furniture accessories and gifts always 20% off. Tel-Twelve Mall 12 Mile & Telegraph Daily 10-9 Sunday 12-5 354-9060 SAAB CONVERTIBLES 8 TO CHOOSE FROM LEASE FOR $499.88* NANCY GORMAN ASK FOR MICHIGAN'S #1 SAAB SALESPERSON American Heart Association _,•;2 'OUR LIFE WE'RE FIGHTING R-- womommemmommor DAVID M. DEUTSCH Certified Professional Photographer "Elegant Photography Never Goes Out Of Style" 'Based on $1000 dn. w/approved credit. 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