History Students Travel to Poland

A Reflection by History Student, Michela Roman

David and Eva Bross were two Holocaust survivors who endured and survived the second world war. As Polish Jews during the Holocaust, David Bross lost his wife and four children, and Eva Bross lost her husband and two children, before immigrating to Canada following the war. Their sole son, Alon Bross, is a close friend of my family. I was lucky enough to be able to hear the story of his family and his own personal journey to Poland. He shared with me the details of his family roots and how, by visiting the hometowns of his parents, he was able to trace their journey from the evil of the Holocaust to their liberation and freedom in Canada. In Listening, one particular story of Alon’s journey had left me troubled and heartbroken. During his 1997 trip to Poland, Alon had visited the Warsaw Cemetery in hopes of finding his grandfather, Aron Bross. However, after hours of searching, the tombstone was nowhere to be found and Alon had left Poland with low spirits.

After learning Alon’s perspectives and sorrows I had decided that during my own journey I would find what he could not. Through the history course HIST 3005: Looking into the Darkness, I was provided the opportunity to expand my knowledge and understanding of the Holocaust to a capacity I had not known to be possible. Prior to departing, I had shared Alon’s story with Professor Hilary Earl, who had helped me significantly by placing me in contact with a tour guide of the Warsaw Cemetery. I was on a mission to find Aron Bross’ tombstone and complete a grave rubbing to bring back for Alon. Warsaw, being the final city on our itinerary, I can confidently say my knowledge regarding the previous treatment of the Jewish community had been developed and our group entered the Warsaw Cemetery with a greater amount of understanding, in comparison to the beginning of the course. Our tour guide was able to find the section of Aron’s grave, and after bringing us there, our entire group spread out to find his tombstone. It was not long before it was found. I was filled with joy at the thought of being able to finally show Alon his grandfather’s resting place. The photos you see show me clearing and cleaning the tomb of the roots and dirt that had begun to suffocate his stone, setting the red candle onto the stone after a group prayer was said, and finally creating a grave rubbing with the help of my close friends.

It was difficult to speak in front of the group and explain this personal connection, however, it is through these personal stories we learn the best. Mass numbers and facts tend to numb out the realism of the Holocaust, and strip the humanity from its victims. Aron, Eva, David, and Alon all have very different stories, all however stand to express the cruelty of their suffering and strength of their humanity. For David and Eva in particular, their story was one of survival and the rebuilding of their lives, in a country that was polar opposite of the torture perpetrated during the Holocaust. The teaching of the Holocaust is the contradiction of evil, death, and destruction against the values that are required for it to never happen again, which include; tolerance, compassion, and respect for humanity. The act of this grave rubbing is to express my compassion and respect towards Alon’s family and to hopefully allow him to feel at peace with his journey from twenty years ago. I was able to give him the rubbing as well as a hand-drawn map to ensure he would not get lost if he or his family ever choose to visit Poland, and his grandfather again.

This course has helped me grow as an individual and understand the deeper aspects of life. Through the use of hands-on learning, we were able to experience modern-day anti-semitism, see the development of Jewish Community Centres in Poland, as well as the horrific conditions and activities that took place among the concentration and labour camps ranging from Krakow, to Lubin, and finally Warsaw. Among it all, we understood enough to not let the mass numbers of victims direct us away from the mass amount of humanity and personality that the Holocaust stole.