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Auschwitz: Then And Now

IIII

ichael Traison grew up in Detroit just after World
where 1.1 million people, mostly Jews, died — in gas cham-
War II. His parents were Russian immigrants.
bers, from bullets, through the inhuman experiments of Josef
Today, he's active in the Detroit Jewish community Mengele or of hunger, disease or exposure.
and a fervent Zionist. Notably, the attorney has spent much
Snow covered the ground as Traison and the others, shiver-
time doing legal and Jewish work in Poland since the fall of
ing, walked the path that once led from the tracks to the gas
Communism in 1992. He founded the first Jewish lawyers
chambers and the crematoria a few meters way.
association in Poland since the war. Polish Jewry is richer
The ruins remind us of the hand that fate dealt the Jews of
today because of Traison's involvement.
Eastern Europe.
So, it was no surprise to hear that the West Bloomfield resi-
"Today we shivered from the intense cold and the intense
dent had gone to Poland last week for the 60th anniversary of
emotions of being here," Traison writes.
the liberation of the German death camp at Auschwitz-
I have no idea how they felt standing there. Only survivors
Birkenau. But it was surprising to learn he kept a daily blog.
could know. But that caused me to think how, with each
His blog, a stream of consciousness that
anniversary of the liberation of the German death camps, we'll
would make writer James Joyce proud, is
have fewer eyewitnesses left to honor.
important reading. It's one man's story of a
Traison tells of how a series of official speeches was broken
visit to what once was hell not only for Jews,
when a survivor, now Israeli, grabbed the mike clad only in a
but also gypsies, homosexuals, prison-
skirt and sweater and seized the moment.
ers of war, "cripples" and others tar-
"She cried out to the heavens, 'Why did
geted by Hitler's Final Solution, a dia-
they murder my parents only because
bolical plan to dissolve the world of
they were Jews?"' Traison writes.
"She was not a president. But she had
ROBERT A. people deemed worthless. He was at
Auschwitz as part of an American
our attention."
SKLAR
Jewish Committee delegation.
Traison tells of a tower of light, similar
Editor
On Jan. 26, the eve of the anniver-
to what New York City has used to illu-
sary of the Soviet liberation of one of
minate the World Trade Center site, cap-
the most notorious of Nazi Germany's death camps,
ping the ceremonies. If there is a link
Traison, a principal with the Detroit-based law firm
between what happened at Auschwitz
Miller Canfield, attended a dinner sponsored by the
and on 9-11, it is that evildoers prevailed
European Jewish Congress. Israeli President Moshe
for the moment, but did not succeed in
Kar7nv told the 300 guests — survivors, young Jews
breaking the spirit, and thus the soul, of
and dignitaries — that we must not forget the slaugh-
the civilized world.
ter of 6 million Jews, the extermination of one-third of Michael Traison
Of the litany of speakers, Traison was
World Jewry and the vaporizing of thousands of Jewish
most moved by Wladyslaw Bartoszewski,
communities. Other Jewish leaders also tried to explain the
a Polish anti-Nazi who aided Jews in the Holocaust.
significance of the moment.
Bartoszewski quoted the Book of Job: "0 earth, cover not
Traison, 58, was most struck not so much by the words,
thou my blood, and let my cry have no resting place."
eloquent as they were, but by the Israeli Defense Forces enter-
"This particular quotation," Traison writes, "is the reason I
ing the room wearing the uniforms of the army, navy and air
came to Poland 13 years ago, the reason I return over and over
force.
again each month since, the reason I have explored hundreds
"The Jews are not alone in this place, as they were in 1942," of cities, town villages and fields here — the reason I wear the
writes Traison, who wants American Jews to understand the
zachor [remember] pin on my lapel each day."
horror that the seeds of anti-Jewish fervor can sow. "The Jews
are not weak nor at the mercy of giants; we are not grasshop-
Shades Of Reality
pers.
The June 27 ceremony on frozen tundra near Krakow went a
"We are strong."
long way toward "if not universalizing Auschwitz; then
Traison sent his blog from a BlackBerry Wireless Handheld
Europeanizing it," as Traison puts it. Leaders of 20 European
computer. The message was so powerful that it should have
lands shared remembrance of a common tragedy.
been broadcast worldwide.
But don't be fooled. As Traison saw, European leaders see
Traison gets it. He knows that the existence of a thriving
and remember the Holocaust differently. There is condemna-
Jewish state post-World War II, a state embraced by the dias-
tion, but also blatant attempts to water it down. The
pora to one extent or another, is one of the greatest examples
Holocaust wasn't the first attempt at genocide nor was it the
of what Jews have contributed as a people. Israel is the corner-
last; consider Saddam's Iraq, Bosnia, RWanda, Kosovo and
stone of democracy and civilized living in the tinderbox that is Sudan.
the Middle East, a region overridden by terrorists steeped in
Working with the Israeli Embassy in Poland, Michael
radical Islamic fundamentalism.
Traison has spoken up for non-Jewish Poles who help to pro-
tect Jewish cemeteries, synagogues and other sites of Jewish
"I Remember >,
heritage. More Poles are trying to make up for the sordid past.
The day after the dinner, Traison looked the legacy of the
The new Polish foreign minister is Jewish. But that's not to say
fihrer in the eye. He and the other 8,000 visitors from around anti-Semitism doesn't exist in Europe, Russia or the Arab
the world took part in ceremonies on the field of a former
world. It's as bad as ever since Auschwitz was liberated.
railhead where the boxcars were opened and their freight of
Most disturbing, Holocaust denial continues.
Jewish children and their parents was disgorged. This was
Jews can't let the world forget — for our sake and that of
other good people squeezed in the vice of madmen. ❑
See Michael Traisons full blog at JNOnline.com

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