Today the entire group went to visit Auschwitz. We know this isn’t why we came to Poland, but we all felt very passionately about taking the time to visit this important landmark. The site isn’t far away, only about 35-40 km, so we made the trip and spent a long time visiting. To say the least, it was powerful and emotional. By the time we were done at the main site, we didn’t have time to visit Birkenau, which was disappointing. It wasn’t an easy visit, but I think we were all glad we went to pay homage to the terrible atrocities that were committed there. I was proud that we were all able to talk about our emotions on the way home and over dinner as well, and to share some about what the visit meant to us.
Chris, representing the entire COP-24 Week 1 Delegation
I’m glad that you could go – it’s important to remember. I was recently reading a history of my wife’s family (her grandparents left Berlin in 1936 while they could still get out) and it was extremely sobering to read the five-page appendix (“likely incomplete” it said) listing other family members (cousins, aunts, uncles) killed in the Holocaust, some in Auschwitz.