Hard Rock Café - Auschwitz

Nearly twenty-two years ago, I made a decision that would change my life. Of course, at the time, I had no idea that participating in Shorashim/CCP’s inaugural high school venture to Poland would have such an impact. How could I have known? After all, I was just sixteen years old.

At the time, Hard Rock Café t-shirts from around the globe were the rage. While my high school peers set off for their 1987 summer adventures vowing to grab trendy Hard Rock t-shirts in Los Angeles, London, Chicago, etc., my CCP traveling companions and I joked about Hard Rock Café Warsaw and Hard Rock Café Auschwitz. Yes, we joked. We had to – out of nervousness of course.

While others sought summer fun at camps, on family trips, and on teen entertainment adventures, we were choosing to go to Auschwitz. The payoff was five promising weeks in Israel; but Auschwitz? No doubt, we thought each other to be nuts. Recently, I have been thinking a lot about Auschwitz. Not because I have a morbid fascination with the Shoah, but more because twenty-two years after stepping foot in Auschwitz, after seven additional trips to Poland as a counselor for Shorashim, after countless summers teaching and preparing Shorashim groups for their upcoming trips, and after teaching about genocide in my own high school English courses, the current world climate dictates that the Shorashim experience, and remembering and traveling to Auschwitz, Majdanek, and Warsaw is more important than ever.

I think of Auschwitz when I hear or see Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Not only is Ahmadinejad vocal about his hatred for Israel, but also he views the Shoah as a Zionist myth. As recently as September 2008 in an Iranian press conference, he stated, "The Holocaust is a lie." Those views are disturbing as are recent Anti-Defamation League studies about European attitude towards Jews. According to the ADL, 31% of Europeans blame Jews for the world’s current financial crisis, and 40% believe Jews hold too much power in the business world. It baffles me that many Europeans feel this way when generations that witnessed the power of hate in their own backyards still exist.

Even though it is halfway around the world, the reality of this developing anti-semitism is scary. But that reality hit closer to home three weeks ago; I was thinking of Auschwitz while talking with the parent of one of my public school students. Curious about my focus on genocide and social responsibility in an English classroom, she asked about my motivation. I shared some of my past experiences and travels with Shorashim; she immediately understood the importance and told me I was lucky to have traveled to Auschwitz – 8 times. 8 times – I chuckled. That’s some luck!

The irony of the thought took me back to my youth, to a time when my friends and I joked about finding Hard Rock Café Auschwitz t-shirts. Am I really lucky? Is focusing on genocide and social responsibility lucky? Is it still relevant and important to American Jews? Is it time to let it go?

That same night, three weeks ago, I sat with some friends at a bar in Deerfield on Chicago’s north shore - Auschwitz and Shoah still on my mind. On Chicago’s north shore with a large Jewish population, where anti-Semitism is a distant thought – something learned about in the media, in textbooks, in synagogue, on Shorashim High School Experience. On Chicago’s Jewish north shore, when I would not move quickly enough for a neighboring pool player, I was told to, “Stop being such a Jew!”

At that moment, any questions about the relevance and motivation for my continued teaching of genocide, of tolerance, of Shoah, and my continued involvement in Shorashim were answered. Yes, I am lucky to have first hand knowledge of the Shoah thanks to Shorashim. Yes, I am lucky to have honored my ancestors by walking their memories at Auschwitz. Yes, I am lucky to have met and shared tales with countless survivors such as Aron and Lisa Derman, whose courage continues to inspire legions. And yes, I must continue to educate the next generation about the perils of hate and anti-Semitism, so they are wise to the vile misinformation spread by detestable people like Ahmadinejad. “Stop being such a Jew!” I am not even sure what that means. I do know it is ignorant, I do know it is intolerant, and I do know that it is something that I will never do. I will never stop being a Jew.

I will never stop loving Israel. And even if I am lucky enough to return to Poland to educate more Jews about the Shoah, I may never find my Hard Rock Café Auschwitz t-shirt; however, if I do, maybe it will be a sign – a sign that I can smile at the memory of my 1987 joke, a sign of a changing world.

Ani v’atah – you and I must continue to work towards that change. You and I should continue to support Shorashim and encourage new generations to learn the dangers of hate and intolerance. Together, you, Shorashim, and I can do our part to help change the world.

Love to all of my Shorashim!

B’shalom, Dan