Off to the Land of Orange

This morning we departed France and Belgium.  We stopped for a quick 90 minute shopping spree near Antwerp, and Euros were spent no question.  Mostly on time we get them back on the bus with their bags of clothes and shoes for some, lunches for others and nothing for some of us.  Our trip to the Netherlands will take a couple of hours and then we are in for some heavy thought provoking information as we visit Kamp Vught.

Kamp Vught was one of three German concentration camps in the Netherlands during World War II . The other two were the transit camps Amersfoort and Westerbork . Camp Vught was located in the North Brabant town of Vught. It functioned as a concentration camp for over a year and a half.

The stories that we are about to hear will be hard, but in one way these students are prepared with the fact that we were able to host the Holocaust exhibit in March at TOSH.  These lessons are necessary but still difficult to digest at such a young age, that is until they see the ages of the victims who suffered at the hands of the Nazis during the occupation of the Netherlands.  As with all camps, it was not just Jews, but political dissidents, homosexuals, nomadic gypsies(Romas), and people of color. 

I will pass it over to Sara McCarthy to detail the rest of the tour.  Sara has taught about the holocaust, done extensive reading on the subject and now for the first time visited a concentration camp.

“This trip has been, in many ways, a roller coaster of emotion. I have felt wonder standing in front of landmarks that I had previously only seen in pictures - architectural feats like the Eiffel Tower and the Notre Dame Cathedral. I have felt awe standing inside breathtaking cathedrals. And I have felt pride, watching our TOSH students represent their school and country so well. I will remember these moments and emotions fondly, but it is the moments of heartache that will live in my blood and bones forever. 

I have held back tears and let tears flow many times since our arrival in Europe. The older I get, the younger those lost soldiers seem, and sometimes it’s been hard to keep my emotions in check.  

Today, we acknowledged a very different kind of war victim when we went to Camp Vught, an SS concentration camp in the Netherlands. I have studied the Holocaust; I have taught about the Holocaust; I have read memoirs of Holocaust survivors; and I have watched films and documentaries about the Holocaust. 

None of that prepared me for the heartache of standing in a building where so many suffered and died, where bodies were cremated because there were simply too many to bury, where humans treated other humans like animals. 

None of the knowledge I have obtained from years of study prepared me for the sorrow of reading the names on the memorial that is dedicated to the 1,296 children who, being too little to be useful as workers, were sent away in trains to extermination camps. Some of their ages were measured in years. Some of their ages were measured in months. 

No amount of books or documentaries about WWII could have prepared me to stand in the spot where political prisoners were executed for standing up for their country and its people and where Dutch citizens were executed for being worthless in the eyes of the SS. 

When we are forced to face the reality of the horrors humans have committed against other humans, we ask ourselves, “How could this be possible? How could a person do this to another person? How could an adult, who is perhaps even a parent themselves, put innocent children on a train, knowing they are being sent to their deaths?” 

Our tour guide said something that very simply summarized the complex answer to these questions. She said, “This is what happens when one group of people believe they are better than another group of people, and they act on it.”

The memorial at the execution site has been defaced twice. This is why learning history is so important. This is why we need to continue to take students on these trips. Our youth need to see what can happen when prejudice and hate take hold. Our youth need to learn about the past so we can continue to say “never again” - and mean it.”

Sara McCarthy

Following the defacing of the memorial a second time, one morning the staff at the Memorial camp went to the area, and they discovered a poem left by an anonymous writer. I had the pleasure of reading that poem to our group today to finish the tour:

Count you paint tar

Across stone, names, the past?

Pitiable fool, such names

Can never be erased

They are ingrained in countless

Human souls, untouchable

For your foul hatred

They are written in fire

In the skies, whoselight

Is insupportable to you.

You have accomplished nothing,

Tarnisher

Above all you have only smudged

Your own name

Not theirs:

They are smiling at your anger,

Bathing in light,

Gently rocking on god’s breath

And signing very softly and still

For those who want to hear:

Peace

The day was tough emotionally, but sometimes lessons in life are tough, because life is tough and that is ok.  Resiliency of the human spirit in these parts was forced on many of them at an early age.  This is a learned skill and is extremely valuable in today’s topsy turvy world  and they are showing they understand.  You allowed them to come over here and experience the highs and lows of long days and competing emotions and they are thriving.  Another key skill in life is compassion, to you it may sound weird that I refer to it as a skill, but I do think it can be learned.  Some people simply have it; however, by seeing and hearing about the tragedies that others have gone through, I feel like they are learning what we need more of in the world, and that is compassion.  You will see an image of me pointing out a name on a monument.  That name was intertwined with one  of the most tragic events in the history of World War II in the Netherlands. On 6 and 7 June 1943, two trains with Jewish children left camp Vught. All children under 16 had to leave, their mothers were allowed to go with them. They were told they would go to a special children’s camp nearby. But the trains went to the Westerbork transit camp. And then to Sobibor in Poland. The almost 1,300 Jewish children were killed here almost immediately upon arrival.  The youngest of which killed was just 6 days old.

Today was a heavy day and it’s a good thing that we get to our new hotel relatively early for check in and then an unbelievable buffet that stuffed most them….chicken wings fries and plenty of pastas and veggies!!! Something for all!!  Some free time walking the gardens of a wonderful hotel and town Osterwjik.  We even got into a little game of sewer ball before heading into the hotel for the evening at 9 PM.  Night night is 11 because tomorrow is our big day at Bergen Op Zoom.  We are finally all together with our island contingent so plenty of familiar faces to see for a few days.  Good night from the Netherlands…or good morning for most of you!