As a thundstrom was potentially about to roll through, I took out my phone and quickly snapped the photo of the barbed wire on the train car. Once I was sheltered from the potiental storm, I looked at the photo and thought, “as an outsider looking in… what does an outsider see?”
I thought about the answer to this question most of the evening, and the answer that I could only come up with, there really isn’t just, one answer.
As an outsider looking in, I see men and women with with hopelessness in their eyes. I see brothers and sisters who have fear and worry stricken on their faces. Children are being held high enough to possibly get a glimpse of the outside world. I see husbands and wives embracing each other, as it may be the last time they feel ‘safe’. These faces are Hungrian, and Polish, Jewish, Romanian, and Sini. But, what I actually see most of all … nothing.
1 comment
Great picture Melonie. I appreciate your thoughts about those on the inside of a boxcar. I was so struck by the space on the inside and the idea of being packed in there. But your reflection on what “outsiders” saw is vexing because it puts us in the mindset of perpetrators as well. What did they think when they saw the horror and fear in victims’ eyes?