giving back marching in solidarity by Rachel Klein continued from 777 offering respect teens honor seniors who gave us so much. W alk of the Ages presented annually by the Jewish Senior Life of Metropolitan Detroit Auxiliary is an unforgettable experience. Its purpose is to support the elders in our Jewish community and let them know we are there supporting them. Among the many people participating in the walk, included many _ Y J y teenagers from 3G and 4G (the third and fourth generations of Holocaust survivors) and Frankel Jewish Academy in West Bloomfield. Though I participated with the 3Gs on the walk, all the young adults that took part in it were greatly appreciated by the seniors. During the May 23 walk at the Eugene and 3G and 4G members: (back row) Justin Bronstein, Jew- Marcia Applebaum Jew- ish Senior Life co-executive director Carol Rosenberg, ish Community Campus Anna Eisenberg, 3Gs/4Gs co-chair Nathan Plicowitz, in West Bloomfield, I be- Program for Holocaust Survivors and Families director came aware of how much Dr. Charles Silow, Mitchell Shecter, Eden Adler; (bottom happiness our presence row) Stefanie Rostkier, Erin Rostkier, Ethan Zoldan, brought the seniors. On Rachel Klein, Elana Folbe, Jessie Adler, Natalie Bloom every face, I saw a smile; a few seniors even thanked us for coming to this event because our pres- ence meant so much to them. I personally find it very important to show our seniors that we are there for them in any way they need. Because they helped build Jewish organi- zations in the area that we teenagers have the opportunity to participate in today, our obligation back to them is to participate in these walks and other events and make it clear how much we appreciate all of their hard work over the years. So the next time you are at the Jewish Community Center or around any Jewish senior citizen buildings, stop in and try talking to some people. For all they have given to our great Jew- ish community, we can at least give them a few minutes of our time. FJA students Hannah Cohen, Josh Schostak, Rachel Margolin and Blake Orman before the March of the Living began at Auschwitz tinued as we drove through the deep forests that surround Treblinka. Stand- ing in 37 acres of open field where the average life span was two hours, we felt pure confusion because there is no evi- dence or remnants of the 800,000 peo- ple murdered there. Treblinka, once an extermination camp, is now a memorial filled with 17,000 stones to represent the 17,000 cities and towns where people murdered during the Holocaust origi- nated. We struggled to visualize how many people went through the camp in just one day as the 17,000 rocks in front of us seemed never ending. Our imaginations were put to rest on the very last day in Poland as we walked through Majdanek, a Nazi camp that could be up and running in 36 hours, holding seven original gas chambers and two crematoriums. The ultimate contrast in emotion took place when we left the visual horrors of Majdanek and im- mediately boarded our El Al Airlines flight to the place victims of the Holocaust only dreamt about: Israel. It was as though we had experienced our own personal libera- tion. The stories heard, images seen and thoughts provoked will stay with us for- Thousands of people walk under the gate at Auschwitz that ever. We are the last reads in German: "Work makes you free." generation to witness the horrors of the Holocaust from survivors themselves. Soon the survivors will be gone, and it will be up to us to proclaim "Never again." Rachel Margolin and Blake Orman, pictured above, are recent graduates of Frankel Jewish Academy in West Bloomfield. They were joined by 10 other Detroit teens: Hannah Cohen, Jacob !Akin, Matt Weisberg, Josh Schostak, Mla Gordon, Alexa Kline, Lauren Gold- teen2teen staff • Teens, we want you in the party pages! hotline: (248) 351-5144 • kcohen@thejewishnews.com Reporters I Chaviva Bluth, Eryn Fox, Molly Goldmeier, Molly Grossman, Elizabeth Kirshner, Ruthie Lehmann, Avi Mendelson, Avielle Movsas, Stephanie Schulman, Yona Isaacs (Akiva Hebrew Day School, Southfield); Gabriella Ring, Erica Sachse (Berkley); Nechama Tawil (Beth Jacob, Oak Park); Teddi Cantor, Alexa Eisenberg, Rachel Gorosh, Emily Katz, Lauren Lewis, Emily Schottenfels, Sara Smoler, Carly Sternberg, Rachael Vettese, Rachel Wein (Bloomfield Hills Andover); Abby Hyman (Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook- Kingswood); Mad Cohen (Community, Ann Arbor); Emily Zussman (Detroit Country Day, Beverly Hills); Adina Applebaum, Rachel Brown, Tamar Brown, Carly Cykiert, Hillary Dorman, Polina Fradkin, Emily Goodman, Helene Glickman, Rachel Goutman, Dan Hacker, Jessica Kahn, Michelle Kappy, Rachel Klein, Atara Lakritz, Rachel Margolin, Andrew Milgrom, Blake Orman, Maddy Solt, Samantha Zwick (Frankel Jewish Academy, West Bloomfield); Madeleine Gonte, Sara Weinfeld (Hillel, Farmington Hills); Mayer Let us know when your party is and we might catch you on film or send us your pictures at partypages@thejewishnews.com images must not exceed 5mb, images will be edited by the T2T staff This section is sponsored by Party Layne® Party Pages"4 , You've been Spotted!. and Partyrazzi. are trademarks of Party Layne. TT4 teen2teen June 17.2010 Schneider (home schooled); Robert Axelrod (Huron, Ann Arbor); Sam Gringlas, Nate Strauss (North Farmington); Rob Pasick (Novi); Lily Grier, Liza Kohlenberg (Orchard Lake Middle, West Bloomfield); Laura Katsnelson, Liz Nagle (Walled Lake Western); Ben Eilender, Jennifer Finkel, Bridget Labe, Heather Rosenbaum, Jeremy Sherman (West Bloomfield); Mackenzie Coden (West Bloomfield Walnut Creek) Photographers I Jessica Polk (Frankel), Colton Graub (Cranbrook-Kingswood ) supervising staff Chief Operating Officer I E Kevin Browett Editorial Director I Robert Sklar Executive Editor I Keri Guten Cohen f in West Bloomfield. stein and Josh Lowenthal, all from FJA; Marisa Horn of West Bloomfield High School; and Aaron Klisman of North Farmington High School. IU ' 031g1N 1TSIA Rachel Klein, 17, is a junior at Frankel Jewish Academy Creative Director I Deborah Schultz IT Director Deanna Spivey Teen Consultant I Jon Layne Jewish Renaissance Media — 29200 Northwestern Hwy., Suite 110, Southfield, MI 48034 qp Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit ALLIANCE FOR JEWISH EDUCATION Supported by a generous grant from the Stephen H. Schulman Millennium Fund. A Jewish Renaissance Media publication © 2010 DETROIT JEWISH MWS