{"id":517,"date":"2009-05-08T18:24:25","date_gmt":"2009-05-08T17:24:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.raymondcook.net\/blog\/?p=517"},"modified":"2009-05-08T18:28:59","modified_gmt":"2009-05-08T17:28:59","slug":"why-everyone-should-make-auschwitz-pilgrimage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.raymondcook.net\/blog\/index.php\/2009\/05\/08\/why-everyone-should-make-auschwitz-pilgrimage\/","title":{"rendered":"Why everyone should make Auschwitz Pilgrimage"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This is a transcript of my letter published today in the Manchester Jewish Telegraph<\/a>:<\/p>\n

READER Stewart Reubens wrote last week that he would never go to Poland and that visiting Israel was a better way to commemorate our survival. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

He was responding to the Jewish Telegraph’s complaint that Britain was poorly represented on the March of the Living from Auschwitz to Birkenau. <\/em><\/p>\n

While I would strongly agree that every Jew should visit Israel as often as they can, I have personal experience of the March of the Living. <\/em><\/p>\n

I believe it is very important that our youth and, indeed, the older post-Holocaust generation should also visit Auschwitz-Birkenau. <\/em><\/p>\n

If they can take in “the march”, so much the better. <\/em><\/p>\n

In 1998 I flew with Manchester’s King David High School to Krakow and then went by coach to take part in the 10th anniversary of the march. <\/em><\/p>\n

On my return I wrote in the Jewish Telegraph: <\/em><\/p>\n

“I remember the soul-piercing sound of the shofar which began our march in Auschwitz. I remember walking with pride and defiance beneath those infamous words Arbeit Macht Frei amidst a forest of Israeli flags. I remember our young boys and girls from King David walking with thousands of young Jews and many adults like myself from all over the world in a river of blue coats which stretched in front and behind as far as the eye could see.<\/p>\n

“I remember the impassive stare of the Poles who watched in silence. I remember the gates of Birkenau draped in a Magen David.<\/p>\n

“I remember the clear, strong voice of Rabbi Israel Lau who told us we are an immortal people.<\/p>\n

“I remember the words of Binyamin Netanyahu who proclaimed that we are the victors, not the vanquished and that we are invincible.<\/p>\n

“I remember the cry in the voice of the cantor as he sang El Molei Rachamim when I thought my heart would burst.<\/p>\n

“And I remember the Kaddish and the singing of Hatikvah in that place, in that hell.”<\/p>\n

It isn’t about “survivor guilt”, Mr Reubens, it’s about survivor pride. We are still here, and all the Ahmadinejads, Hamases and Hezbollahs of this world cannot destroy us. <\/em><\/p>\n

Their efforts to deny or belittle the Holocaust are best defeated by our honouring the memory of the victims; and where better than amidst the ruins of the instruments of their murder. <\/em><\/p>\n

I returned from Poland with my spirit uplifted and with a bounce in my step. Never have I felt more Jewish than in Birkenau singing Hatikvah. Never have I been more proud to be part of the Jewish people. \u00a0 \u00a0<\/em> \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/div>

This is a transcript of my letter published today in the Manchester Jewish Telegraph: READER Stewart Reubens wrote last week that he would never go to Poland and that visiting Israel was a better way to commemorate our survival. He was responding to the Jewish Telegraph’s complaint that Britain was poorly represented on the March […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[235,231,232,233,234,17,230],"class_list":["post-517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-add-new-tag","tag-auschwitz","tag-birkenau","tag-jewish-telegraph","tag-king-david-high-school","tag-manchester","tag-march-of-th-eliving","post-preview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raymondcook.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raymondcook.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raymondcook.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raymondcook.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raymondcook.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=517"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.raymondcook.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":519,"href":"https:\/\/www.raymondcook.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517\/revisions\/519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raymondcook.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raymondcook.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raymondcook.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}