Arizona siblings visit Poland to learn more about their Jewish family history
PHOENIX - Monday, Jan. 27, marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day as 80 years ago, Auschwitz was liberated.
The backstory:
Stories of surviving the Holocaust circle the globe to this day, and one of those stories comes from siblings who attend ASU.
They're the first in their family to visit Poland since their grandmother escaped as a teenager.
Yonatan Rosenbloom says the trip not only helped him and his sister Ilanit Rosenbloom connect the dots on some of their family history, but it showed them the strength of the Jewish people as a whole before, during and since the evil of the Holocaust.
The two recently returned from perhaps the most important Chanukah trip of their lives.
"It was an incredibly emotional trip. I don't think I expected myself to get as emotional as I was," Yonatan said.
The emotion was connected to the siblings' ancestors, including those who fled the horrors of the Holocaust.
"My dad's grandmother, so my great-grandmother and her brother, they fled Łódź, Poland," Yonatan said.
He says the trip to Poland, organized by Chabad on Campus International, allowed them to learn more about their heritage than what they knew from their great-grandmother's stories.
"Every time we tried to ask more questions, she'd get really upset and angry, didn't want to talk about it," Yonatan said, "Rightfully so."
The Rosenblooms knew their great-grandmother was in a work camp for some time, but eventually made it to Israel. This trip gave them some closure as to what happened to their other ancestors.
"We found who we think is my great-grandmother's brother there. It was the correct date of birth, the correct city of origin, and the correct name, so we're pretty confident it was him. Then we also found who we think may have been her parents as well. Also cause of death unknown," Yonatan explained.
But while the trip shows what was lost, it also shows the beauty of the Jewish culture that rose above the atrocities.
"This trip, in addition to going to the concentration camps and showing what happened there and seeing and experiencing the sights, they learn about the communities that were there before the war and the vibrant Jewish life that existed there," said Rabbi Shmuel Tiechtel, Executive Director of the Chabad at ASU.
Big picture view:
The hope is that students will educate others upon returning to America.
"I'm very in tune with my Judaism as is, but going here made me realize that it's not just who I am, but it's important to share that with others as well," Yonatan said.
He said one of the most emotional moments of the trip was seeing the Star of David carved into the wood in the concentration camp barracks. A sign of commitment to their faith and heritage even in the darkest of times.