The story:
Wednesday was a day that I will always remember. A girl in my rotary district was able to set up a meeting with Albrecht Weinberg, a holocaust survivor. He went to her school and about 30 of us Rotary exchange students met up there. We all sat in a room together and he began. First, we shared what countries we were from so he had a good idea of how diverse his audience was. Then, he started to tell his story. As it was a long time ago for him and he is now 94, his story was a little disorganized so some of my facts might not be 100% correct.
Albrecht was born March 7th, 1925; 8 years before things started to go south in Germany. As a child, his life was normal. He lived in a small town in northern Germany, not far from where we met in Emden. He had 2 siblings-- a brother and a sister. I believe he said that his father worked in a slaughter house. When Hitler came to power and things started to change, that's when things began to change for his family. He was forced to leave school and he and his siblings lost their friends. In his town there were 3 Jewish families, his included, and the other two left. I'm not sure exactly what happened but it took until 1943 before he was sent to the first camp-- Auschwitz. His parents were sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and killed there. He was sent to Auschwitz-Monowitz, a work camp, with his brother. They both survived there for 2 years. As the Soviets got closer, Albrecht was sent on a death march and eventually ended up in Mittelbau-Dora where he worked on weapons for the Nazis. One more death march onto Bergen-Bellsen where he was finally liberated. As he was speaking, he recalled seeing the dead bodies scattered on the road. The bodies of those who could not make it. He told us that one of the death marches was survivable only because his brother had got him a job where he got some pig lard. That small amount of lard gave him enough strength to continue.
Through some miracle, after his liberation, he found his brother and sister. Every other member of his family had been killed. His brother passed away in an accident shortly after the end of the war but he and his sister found their way to New York City where he worked as a delivery boy in a butcher shop. Together with another man he met, they opened up their own butcher shop together after he had been in the states for about 5 years. He continued living in the states for about a total of 60 years before coming back to Germany. He now lives in Leer, the city right above where I am. He gave me his number so I plan to meet up with him soon and learn more about his story. We only had a limited time on Wednesday so there are many more questions I would like to ask.
One of my questions was about religion. I asked if he feels any connection to Judaism or any religion anymore or if he lost all of his faith because of the Holocaust. He told me that he stopped believing in a god because how could there be a god if the Holocaust happened. Almost every member of his family was dead plus 12 million others. He remembers saying prayers on Hanukkah or just regular prayers in synagogue and, like me, not knowing what they meant. He asked me in I believe in God and I told him that I'm a Jew, but despite that, I don't know what I believe. I told him that I don't believe in the same God that many people do, but I believe in a higher power. But after the Holocaust, and witnessing everything he did, not believing in a god is completely justifiable. I got a picture with him, said thank you, and left with my friends.
Weekend an other news:
I didn't have the best Saturday, but I got to see the Oldenburg Christmasmarkt at night. It was incredibly crowded but it was still so cute and bright. The trains back were insane too. On my train from Leer to Papenburg, there was a rush onto the train. My friends and I ran in order to get on first and get seats. We did. We got the seats. Despite my day not being the best, I got to walk along a hill and enjoy the quiet outdoors all alone. And BIG NEWS: I took out my winter jacket from Colorado. It only took until December 14th, but I did it.
I slept until noon today and then went to the Papenburg christmasmarkt. I worked at a station with my Rotary club selling Glühwein. Glühwein is basically a hot, spiced wine. I tried the kids version because I'm not allowed to drink ;) and it was actually really good. The hardest part of the day was not the German, but it was the math. I had to deal with money. I took money from people and had to give them change. I also had to figure out how much they owed which required multiplication and addition. In conclusion, I love christmas markets and math is hard.
Last weekend, I had another sleepover with the Rotary exchange students. Despite being sick, it was fine. I went to sleep before almost everyone else which was nice. And oh yeah, I passed my German test. No big deal. I passed. Yup. I passed. And I'm so happy I did. I was worried that I wouldn't. But I did. Please be happy for me. I'm happy with myself. I also got an A in my English class. Big surprise, am I right?
Book recommendation: Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. And then read the Da Vinci Code. Dan Brown is an incredible author. His books are soooo good. And weekly music update on my music journey with my dad. He gives me an album or two a week to listen to and I listen to it so we can talk about even more music. Last week was Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen. My favorite song from that album was Backstreets. This week I will be listening to Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles.
Last thing, my Hanukkah presents from my family arrived. I couldn't be happier. The things that I can see are fabulous. Measuring cups for baking, a menorah with candles, a dreidel, and socks! I'm so excited for Hanukkah.
Gallery:
I will post more pictures from the christmasmarkt on my travel account tomorrow because I don't have them right now. The one of Julia, Paulina, and me is from a few weekends ago in Oldenburg. This was just a really cute picture that I forgot existed. In one of those pictures you can see me working with the Rotary vest on. And the firs picture is Albrecht and me. In the second one you can see the numbers still tattooed on him.
p.s. if you have any thoughts on my maybe tattoo for the future (it would be parent approved), please message me. it's the picture with the pencil and my hand. It's mountains and a wave.
hahaha I finished the post in one night! go me!