Today was our last full day in Israel. Our last full day in our people’s country. Our country. The past few days we have been celebrating this country because of Yom Hatzmaoot, but today we focused on our ancestors who perished like we did in Poland. We started at Yad VaShem, the museum for the holocaust. Yad VaShem translates to hand of god, which is very symbolic to the Jewish people regarding the holocaust. We started at the remembrance hall for all the concentration camps. It only named a few of the 40+ concentration/death camps.

Then we went to another room where we had a chance to get our numerous questions answered on the Holocaust. One that stood out to me was the inquire on how so many men were able to turn “evil” and murder hundreds of people in cold blood. A rabbi answered saying that people have two choices in life. they can choose to either be good or evil and in the case of the holocaust, many men chose to blame their sufferings on the Jews and turn to destruction of others than reconstruction of themselves. Taking away from today, and the whole experience so far, the Holocaust has taught us a lot not only about human nature and what certain circumstances can push people to do, but also to always push each other up, help a brother out, and always ALWAYS be sure to stand up for any injustices because you will never know what it could lead to.

Alumni Reflection written by Hannah E, Western Region 2018