The Holocaust had a great impact on the international community and how the law and its punishments are carried out. Terms such as ‘genocide’ and ‘crimes against humanity’ were not used or cited until the Nuremberg Trials that followed World War II. The fact that these terms did not exist in the legal arena while …
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Jul 03
Treblinka: From Hope to Despair
Final Paper Embedded in the functions of running an extermination camp, the Nazis made concerted attempts at deceiving their victims, thereby minimizing their resistance to deportation. Victims were led to believe that conditions “in the East” would be better than those they left behind in the ghetto. Even Jews who had heard rumors of the …
Jun 01
Digesting the pieces…
What can I say about the last few weeks? Actually, quite a lot. My best thoughts always come after I’ve spent time in solitude to digest the pieces then put them together into a whole, sort of like a jigsaw puzzle. I ask myself all of time why I chose to study the Holocaust. After …
Jun 01
Reflecting with Responsibility
Prior to this trip, I had no idea what to expect, what I would encounter, and what the landscape of the Holocaust even looked like. What I have learned in my classes and my own reading can not compare to being in the field working with experts on the subject of the Holocaust. I am …
May 31
Post-trip reflection
Since coming home a week ago from Poland, (I can’t believe it’s already been a week!) I’ve had a moment to readjust to the time and weather.. (I definitely could go back to the cooler weather over this hot, sticky mess). Going on this study abroad trip, I didn’t know what to expect, except that …
May 30
Post-Trip Reflection
It has been less than a week since our group returned to the US, and I have not stopped thinking about everything we experienced. All study abroad trips, regardless of topic, provide students with unique learning environments. However, especially while studying the Holocaust, these unique learning environments surpass any lesson that can be taught in …
May 27
Thank you….
Many thanks to those who worked with us in Poland on an amazing study abroad. The list is quite extensive…all gave amazing presentations/tours/conversations/insights/relfections. THANK YOU! Annette Finley-Croswhite, Ph.D. and Tom Chapman, Ph.D. Krzysztof Suszkiewicz, Plaszów; Dr. Edyta Gawron, Jagellonin Unviersity, Kraków; Maciek Zabierowski, Learning and Special Projects, Auschwitz Jewish Center, Kraków, Oświęcim; Paweł Sawicki, Press …
May 27
Projecting Empathy in the World; believing in the human race.
I’m not sure why I trek half way across the world taking students to sites of atrocity. Many people tell me that they don’t know how I do it. My response, is: how could I not? I was born Christian, the daughter of a Protestant minister, and it was devout Christians who in many instances …
May 25
We made it home!
Yesterday is a blur. 6:30 am hotel departure, 10:40 am flight from Krakow to Munich; 12:20 pm flight from Munich to Washington, D.C. Dulles; 515 pm flight from Washington to Norfolk. Below is our last picture, minus Kaerra Smiley who left a few hours before we did for a flight to Guam and Dr. Chapman …