2017 March of the Living
Abe Waserstein
Today, we visited the concentration/death camp of Majdanek. Tears ran down my face as we saw the barracks, gas chambers execution pits, and the crematoriums.
While hearing the story of children digging to hide their most treasured possessions so that the Nazis would not strip it away from them, I clinched onto my necklace which holds the Chai given to me at birth and the Magen David given to me when I turned 18. This has always been my beloved item and an object that encapsulates the sum of my Jewish passions, but now this chain means so much more. What I wear around my neck is a symbol of the Jewish collective experience. The same collective experience that gave my grandmother and grandfather the hope to survive as well as for many other Jews.
After seeing the crematorium and saying the mourner's Kaddish, I cried. I then emotionally collapsed when I saw the pile of ashes of my ancestors, but I am grateful to have my fall suspended by the hands of those around me, the strangers and friends who have now become family. I now truly understand what Jewish oneness and mishpacha means.
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