Youth trip to Auschwitz with FEG Klinga, Pastor Patrick Richter
Review
Our “Auschwitz” team from Tor nach Zion was asked by FeG Klinga if we could organize and lead a youth trip to the Auschwitz camps and the “Fountain of Tears” memorial in Birkenau. When we set off for Poland on April 30, the group consisted of an equal number of teenagers and adults.
After arriving in Oświęcim on the afternoon of April 30, our first stop was the only synagogue that remained in this beautiful Polish city after World War II. Today it serves as a museum and tells the story of the rich Jewish life that existed in Galicia until World War II. Many in the group were visiting Poland for the first time. They were very surprised to learn that before the war, approximately 56% of Oświęcim’s residents were Jewish families. We set out to trace the traces of this life, which has completely vanished.
The next day, Jacek, a Polish guide, led us through the labor camp at Auschwitz and the extermination camp at Birkenau. Particularly moving was the visit to Barrack 27 (the Jewish Barrack) in the labor camp. There, the State of Israel vividly presents Jewish life in Galicia before World War II. The journey of the Jews from “normal” life through exclusion and persecution to extermination is authentically traced in this barrack. Maria Hoffmann then gave a human face to Jacek’s explanations at the Birkenau extermination camp. Elisheva Zimet’s memories, which Maria shared at various stops along the group’s route, stand as a representative of the thousands who were tortured in Auschwitz. Many ultimately met their deaths there. The survivors were and remain scarred for life—regardless of whether a number was tattooed on them or not. During the Shabbat celebration that evening at the “Old Tree” hotel, the emotions and questions of the day were processed and entrusted to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Saturday in Krakow was then entirely dedicated to Jewish life in Galicia, which has since disappeared. Dorothea von Below led the group and provided insight into the city’s Jewish history. A dinner with a rich exchange of thoughts and feelings rounded out the day.
On Sunday after breakfast, we visited Rick Wienecke’s artwork “Fountain of Tears” in Birkenau. For many in the group, it was a unique, horizon-broadening experience to see the seven last words of Jesus on the cross depicted in dialogue with the experience of the Shoah. The spiritual conclusion of the trip then took place at the invitation of Marc and Cathy in the prayer house across from the “Fountain of Tears.” Cathy and Marc shared how, in obedience to God, they had come to Birkenau and built the prayer house. In the prayer room, overlooking the entrance to the former extermination camp, there was first a time of stillness in the presence of God. This was followed by praise and worship. The singing brought home the realization that life has sprung from the ashes of the Shoah. Because with Jesus Christ, sin and death do not have the final say.
Through the feedback from the participants of this trip, we know that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has set in motion diverse processes within each individual.
Maria Hoffmann
