In the evening, we had dinner at the hotel again. Roman Kent and his wife were with us.
Roman wanted to send us off with a few words – it was amazing. Shortly after Roman began, his wife kind of cut in and began speaking (sitting – she is a very small, quiet woman) and told us her story of being in a camp (Auschwitz?) with her mother and how her mother cooked for the Jewish men working for Germans. Her mother said she would do this if she could keep her daughter (Mrs. Kent) with her and it was agreed to. She described how her mother died in the camp of sickness and how she was alone at 14 years old, but still survived. She also mentioned that her hair was never shaved at the camp. Somehow she had avoided it the whole time she was a prisoner. She ran her frail hand over her gray hair and smiled at the thought. I think she felt a sense of victory, of resistance, when she remembered.
Roman wanted to send us off with a few words – it was amazing. Shortly after Roman began, his wife kind of cut in and began speaking (sitting – she is a very small, quiet woman) and told us her story of being in a camp (Auschwitz?) with her mother and how her mother cooked for the Jewish men working for Germans. Her mother said she would do this if she could keep her daughter (Mrs. Kent) with her and it was agreed to. She described how her mother died in the camp of sickness and how she was alone at 14 years old, but still survived. She also mentioned that her hair was never shaved at the camp. Somehow she had avoided it the whole time she was a prisoner. She ran her frail hand over her gray hair and smiled at the thought. I think she felt a sense of victory, of resistance, when she remembered.
Later, Elaine mentioned that we were a privileged group as she had never heard Mrs. Kent speak about her experiences – to which Mrs. Kent said, “it was an awful time, who wants to remember?” But, she and her husband have been instrumental in making sure the world remembers what happened to them and their families.
Roman then returned to his story and told us of how he was working in the forests outside the Goss-Rosen camp. He was with a group of young men who were scheduled to be replaced by a group of grown men who had recently been transported in from a ghetto. Roman was there with his younger brother and they heard rumors that they were going to gas chambers since they were no longer useful. At morning roll call when the new workers came into the camp, Roman stepped forward to the camp commandant and asked if he and his brother could stay working in the camp. Roman said the commandant could have done three things – shot him on the spot, punish him and his brother, or simply refuse. But, the commandant looked at him and asked where his brother was. Roman identified his brother and 3 others came up and asked if they could stay as well. The commandant looked at them for a few seconds (Roman said it felt like years) and said they could stay.
Later, Roman found out that the transport had 800 men exactly. There were 805 young workers at Goss-Rosen scheduled to be replaced, but it was supposed to be a direct swap – 800 for 800. Roman’s suggestion solved a problem for the commandant and saved their lives at the same time. Amazing.
He also mentioned that he was later transferred to Auschwitz. But, since it was so busy, and they were all supposed to be gassed upon arrival anyway, he was never tattooed. He is one of the few prisoners in that camp that was never tattooed (frowned upon in the Jewish religion).
After dinner several of us went off to watch the 4th of July fireworks on the National Mall with about 150,000 of my closest friends. It was great. The mall was packed with people which was fun until it was time to walk back to the hotel – Bedlam!!!
For 15-20 minutes the fireworks went off to different songs. It was extremely loud and we were standing right next to the Washington Monument. All around the drained reflecting pool they had firework launching tubes. The fireworks didn’t rise too high before exploding – they were right in front of us. The concussion from the explosions felt as if it could knock you over. I had never felt fireworks before. It was fun.
The finale was very impressive. I recorded much of it on my little camera – I hope it looks good when I go back and watch it.
July 5: Back in the museum for some more instruction on artifacts. We had one of the curators of the museum show us (powerpoint) several artifacts and go through the specific stories behind them. It really showed me how I can restructure my class by choosing artifacts to show students that will take me where I want to go that day in terms of discussion, history, concepts, etc. I hope to refine the idea more.
After that, we were given a little more time in the museum and then we went back to the hotel to collect our bags and go by bus to Dulles Intl’ Airport for our flights to Frankfurt then on to Tel Aviv. We will then climb on a bus and drive to Jerusalem where I plan on collapsing until the next morning. Here’s why: We fly out at 5:45pm and “enjoy Hotel Lufthansa” for a night. We arrive in Frankfurt at 8 tomorrow morning. Then we take off a couple of hours later for Tel Aviv where we arrive at 3pm their time. Then the bus to Jerusalem where we should arrive by 6pm. Wow. That’s some serious traveling. . . . but, it’s going to be worth it!!! J
More to come when I’m in Jerusalem.
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