Three Saddening Aspects of Watching Holocaust Testimonies for me
The Normalization of death
One of the saddest aspects of the Holocaust for me was how death became normalized amongst the inmates and how the grieving process was nearly non-existent in the camps. Lilly Yunger described how towards the end of the the war when her older sister died, none of the other prisoners at Bergen Belsen grieved with her. By 1945, the inmates in camps had become so accustomed to death that it no longer held the same tragic impact. They were used to the disappearance and death of their family members and friends. For me this was extremely saddening to me as the death of family or friend has always been a tragedy in my eyes. Even distant acquaintances have tried to comfort me if I lost a close relative.
The Long Term Trauma the Survivors Experience
One deeply depressing aspect I feel that is often overlooked when it comes to the consequences of the Holocaust is the emotional and psychological trauma survivors experienced after the Holocaust. When listening to the survivors stories, one sees the long term effects of the Holocaust on people. Even when the Nazi regime and terror was no longer physically present, the Nazis still found ways to torment and hurt their victims. Chana Konopiski vividly described how she had tremendous difficulty in finding happiness after the Holocaust and the death of most her family members. I found this depressing as in many of these stories, the governments after the war did not help survivors cope with the trauma and in some cases it seemed like these survivors were abandoned after the war.
The Continuation of hatred in the Present Day and how we have Not Learned
The most depressing aspect for me is when I can see parallels of certain situations from the Holocaust to events in the modern world today. Recently, there was a mass synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh that resulted in the death of eleven people. In the United States the number of anti-sematic incidents rose by 57% in 2017. This is deeply depressing because it demonstrates that we have not learned to protect minority populations, even after the Holocaust. Anti Semeticism is still prominent in segmants of society and discrimination exists against other minorities as well. I hear employees at the education center discuss how Holocaust knowledge amongst Canadian millennials is very low. I am concerned about whether our generation will forget the lessons of the Holocaust.
(An FBI agent outside the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh. Photograph: Brendan Smialowsk)
I highly encourage people to visit the Holocaust Education Center and remember the effects of hatred and Anti-Semitism.
How I Cope
Learn to Externalize ones Emotions
At my internship, I have learned that internalizing my emotions is extremely detrimental to my stability and that taking breaks to express my emotions is necessary. While crying in public is awkward, I sometimes go to the washroom and take a deep breath and calm myself. It helps me cope with the testimonies and I feel better afterwards. In my opinion, humans were not made to be robots and I feel that expressing your emotions is healthy. Sometimes I will even cry in the washroom and I do not regret doing this.
Phone a Friend
I cannot phone a friend when I am working with the testimonies, but during lunch or after work, I sometimes phone a friend or family member for comfort. These people provide support and extremely valuable on the more depressing days. Friends and Family members know you personally and usually can cheer you up after a sad day.
Building a Support Network at the Library
At the internship, I have tried to build a support network with some of the staff, so I feel comfortable in my environment and I have people at the Library to help cope with these traumatic testimonies. My supervisor Anna is really nice and I frequently speak with her about the testimonies. In addition, I also found the exchange of food items was useful in bonding with people and I now feel more comfortable sharing my emotions. The first week in the second semester I gave white chocolate to many people at the office. An employee at the library named Bo, gave me an Austrian chocolate bar after I gave him white chocolate and another employee Dan gave me chocolate as well. Furthermore, I went to Bo’s office birthday in the first semester and we had red velvet cake. By feeling more included in the office environment, I feel more comfortable about sharing my emotions.
(courtsey Whitakers Chocolate)
(courtsey Flower Delivery Dubai)