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CALL 248.351.5107 Visit theJEWISHNEWS.com 22 April 5 • 2012 iN Our trip to Auschwitz was an experi- ence unlike any other. It poured the entire time we were there. Although the conditions were miserable for us, we could not dare complain as we at least were dressed for the weather and knew we would be leaving shortly. "After exiting Birkenau, we went over to Auschwitz, where the original build- ings are still intact:' said Elayna Zack of West Bloomfield, a UPenn student. "From the outside, these buildings almost resemble a college campus; one would never immediately assume what tragic events took place there. As we walked through the buildings, looking at the various possessions that were col- lected at the camp after it was liberated, you could feel the misery and despair all around you of Jews arriving at a place they never expected. "From the things people packed, you knew that most people had no idea they were coming to their death. Our final stop in Auschwitz was the gas chamber, probably one of the most memorable parts of the trip for most of us. The feel- ing of being inside is not one that can be explained, nor is the feeling of walking out. Here, too, our entire trip did some- thing you were not supposed to ever do — we all exited the gas chamber alive." For me, the most meaningful part was being able to visit my grandfather's hometown of Sosnoweic, Poland. The rabbi hired a driver to take me and another student whose grandparents were also from Sosnoweic to explore our families' roots. I had addresses of build- ings my grandfather and his family once owned prior to the Nazi occupation. It was an incredible experience to be able to peer into the apartment build- ing where my grandpa once lived before being sent to the ghetto. As we explored the town, I was overcome with emotion, walking up and down the same streets that my grandpa once traversed daily. There is no evidence of my family's exis- tence left there other than a single piece of paper with the addresses written on it. Most of the buildings are now restau- rants and bars. We toasted our heritage at each site as the rabbi told the bartend- er that these properties were once ours. Emma Soloway, an MSW candidate at U-M, said, "At the end of our 10-day excursion into Eastern Europe, we were asked by our amazing rabbi to give a three-minute spiel on what our cah-ha!' moment was during the trip. Sitting there in a little glatt kosher restaurant in the middle of Budapest, Hungary I struggled to find words that could describe what we had been through. "I am the grandchild of two survivors, but sadly they passed away before I was born. I have no stories, no pictures and no memories that connect me to what my grandmother Rose and grandfather Sam experienced during the war. Their son, my father Elliot Soloway, was told nothing by his survivor parents. They never spoke a word. So what did this trip give me? What was my`ah-ha!' moment? "This trip gave me stories, pictures and memories that connect me to my past. This trip opened up the paths of communication between my parents and me about what it means to be the children and grandchildren of survivors. Not only did the trip strengthen my rela- tionship between my past and me, but it also created a community in which young Jewish individuals could discuss and explore what it means to be a part of such a strong Jewish community in the United States:' This trip to Poland was unlike any experience any of us have ever had. Many of us, grandchildren of Holocaust survivors, thought we knew almost everything there is to know about the Holocaust. This trip showed us that it's not just the facts and figures we must remember. It is the names, the lives, the emotions, the passions, the ways of life, the devotions that people felt and had. Over the course of our trip, we didn't just see, we felt. We pledged to remem- ber, but also to live, to think about what it means to be Jewish, to contemplate our very existence, not only to honor those who died for the very same prin- ciples we too often take for granted, but also to honor ourselves and the unborn generations to come. We all came from different backgrounds and locations and philosophies, but we left as one family, brought together by pain and joy, mem- ory and hope for the future. ❑ Alana Greenberg is a University of Michigan graduate and current nurse anesthesia student at Oakland University.