Flowers of death. It seemed oddly disturbing that poppy’s would grow here, on the grounds of the mass graves of Chelmno. Right across from the lone poppy growing by the mass grave was a memorial with an inscription that read:
Finding the proper way to express what I’m feeling has been a difficulty of mine during this trip. I’m still unsure how long it will take me to unpack what I’m witnessing here. Especially at deteriorated sites like Chelmno or Treblinka, the absence of the presence of trauma is powerful.
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The “presence of absence” is a familiar phrase in Holocaust scholarship. Today you experienced yourself in read time. And yes, the trip will take a very long time to process.