Treblinka, Extermination Camp
When we arrived in Treblinka, the first thing we were told is that this camp no longer exists. While gazing upon a to scale model of what was Treblinka, we were forced to grasp the realization that proof of the atrocities that occurred here has disappeared. We were also told that Treblinka was part of a three camp operation meant only for Jewish annihilation. There were only Jewish victims and no selection. With that in mind, we made our way down the cobblestoned path to the monuments, all of us caped in our Israeli flags. As we were walking, two random Polish men started recording our precession on their phones. I was filled with both joy and despair at once. The joy: look at us the descendants of those who perished, we have returned just as strong. Nothing can break us. The despair: our ancestors were filmed in this fashion just before they marched to their deaths. Once again the Jews are a show to be watched.
Model of Treblinka
Stone Describes What is No Longer There
March in Treblinka
Entrance to Treblinka's Destroyed Campus
When we arrived at the monuments, we were taught a nigun that was composed on the train to Treblinka, and that two people risked their lives to spread to the rest of the Jews by escaping from off the cars. Then we were told to each choose a stone with the name of a town on it and say some tehilim there. When scanning the stones, one immediately caught my eye. I didn't need to speak Polish to know what it said. Czechoslovakia. The home country of my family. I prayed by the stone for all of my family and then made my way to the main monument. It was a huge stone structure with bodies carved into the top. Behind it was the bed of coals used to burn all the Jewish corpses- the proof of Treblinka. As I fell to my knees and shook with anger, only one word escaped my lips. Monsters. They were monsters. I recited tehilim there for the dead.
The Monument to Czech Jews
Main Monument to Treblinka's Victims
Smaller Monuments to the Individual Towns that were Slaughtered
This motto was written on one of the stones
The Pit of Coals
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