‘We are still here’
Published in The Australian Jewish News
April 13, 2018
Piles of shoes.
It is a distinct memory that stands out for Ben de Winter when reflecting on his visit to Majdanek Concentration Camp on March of the Living (MOTL).
He was 16 and it was snowing when he visited, the persistent Polish winter stretching into spring. And there in the darkness of memory and misery and a sea of leather, lay one small, pink shoe.
“At that moment, I felt such a strong connection to my family, and to my Judaism,” tells Ben, now aged 21.
“All of a sudden, I understood the significance of being a young Jew in Poland, and the importance of carrying on that memory, ‘Never again’.”