By Jacqueline Murrer When someone mentions the name, “Auschwitz”, the first thing that most likely comes to mind is the concentration camp in Poland, Auschwitz-Birkenau. But, did you know that this camp was actually named for a historic town where the Nazis established the camp – Oswiecim, which is still a functioning town today? Before visiting […]
By Zoe Fruchter There is a prayer towards the climax of the Kol Nidre service of Yom Kippur, the evening service before the holiest of holy days in the Jewish year, called Ki anu amecha, “for we are your people.” In this prayer, the congregation calls out to God and to those who sway around […]
By Maryrose Dollard During my travels through Krakow, Poland located not far from the Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau and Berlin, Germany, which is home to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, I noticed a similar trend at each site I had the honor of visiting. I felt that visitors at each site were […]
By Madison Bollart When we think about totalitarianism, an immediate reaction often associates such a form of government with restriction, political repression, and complete control. In studying the 20th century particularly, we see this political system deem a particular prominence in Europe more times than one, specifically in Germany. To different extents, under the Third […]
By Caroline Simon Our walk ends in a huge square in the central Mitte neighborhood of Berlin, one of the two districts that includes both former West Berlin and former East Berlin. This fusion of the city shows a reconciliation for Germany’s divided past and sets the tone for its future. We are amid many […]
By Kate Christie Throughout our travels across Europe, we’ve been exposed to various accounts of inhumanity; inhumanity—whether propagated on xenophobic or racist principles—that’s left a devastating legacy. I was particularly struck by how its legacy has affected Central European Roma. Roma, or “Gypsies,” are estimated to have moved here from India in the Middle Ages […]
By Aaron Alonso In the various countries that we have visited throughout Central Europe we are confronted with different interpretations of the Holocaust. Some citizens of Austria and Hungary admit to the role they performed to shape what would lead to the mass genocide of Jews. While these countries admit some culpability, they are experiencing […]
By Madison Bollart Throughout our two weeks of travel in Central Europe, it was rather easy to become captivated by incredible architecture, views, and artistic displays within all of the cities we had the opportunity to visit. Vienna however resonated with me the strongest; not only for what I saw while I was there, but […]
By Hannah Gavin “How does one mourn for six million people who died? How many candles does one recite? Do we know how to remember the victims, their solitude their helplessness? They left us without a trace, and we are their trace.” Ellie Wiesel Elie Wiesel asks us in that quote, as the next generation, to […]
By April Dvorak As I immerse myself in Central Europe through travel and studies, I have become fascinated in Kwame Anthony Appiah’s writing about cosmopolitanism. Appiah explores that every human holds value and are entitled to live according to different ideals. For example, one can be tied to a country of birth as well as […]