Subject: The Holocaust and the touch of human hands
From: Tim O'Connor (tim@roughdraft.org)
Date: Thu Mar 30 2000 - 12:00:31 EST
Jason, I appreciated the story of your backpacking adventure; I, too,
felt a chill at the circumstances, and have a similar type of story
to share.
A few years ago I was in Amsterdam for about a week, and in that time
I was fortunate enough to get a private tour of the Anne Frank house.
The director led me through Otto Frank's office (where the family
used to huddle around the radio at night) and through other parts of
the house that are not open to the general tour, and the experience
reduced me to a cracked voice and tears.
She said that a few weeks earlier, a woman who had been a dancer in
the 1930s/40s had come through, and on the wall of Anne Frank's room,
where there were posted pictures of movie stars and such from
magazines, this visitor saw a picture of herself posted there, under
the glass. She was deeply shaken by the knowledge that Anne had
clipped her picture and stuck it on the wall.
It was one of the most emotional moments I recall having in my entire
life. Utterly overwhelming. Like trying to stay dry while outdoors
in a monsoon. My hands shook all through the rest of the day. I
cannot imagine what a visit to Auschwitz would be like. It dwarfs
anything I can imagine.
--tim
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