Holocaust Survivor

Today was a very full and fun day. Free days always are. This morning we went as a big group to a field to have a sports morning. We played ultimate frisbee and some played soccer. Now, the fields here in Israel aren't really fields. They're more like a dirt field with patches of weeds littered with garbage and crushed up glass. We had to take shifts to watch out stuff so it didn't get stolen. When it was my turn I wanted to sit down so bad but there was so much glass in the grass that I couldn't. Someone even found a steering wheel amongst the debri!

A quite note about BYU students and ultimate frisbee- They're crazy! They were so intense and serious about it, I had to laugh because we play Ultimate at BYU-I but it's not really a life and death situation, most of the time. Scary.

When I got back I worked out a little bit. I had planned to go out with a group at noon, so I planned for an hour workout. At the end of my workout someone in the group I was going out with came in and said they were leaving right then, an hour early. So, needless to say, I had to join with another group and change my plans from what I wanted to do today.

My new group was good, though. I went out with Bonnie and Jeff. We went to Jaffa Gate and walked along the ramparts of the city. That was really cool, we could see where soldiers way back when fought their battles and it also gave a really great view of the city. After that we walked in through Dung gate and walked through the Jewish quarters of the Old City. I had never been on that side, I usually stay on the Palestinian side of the city. The Jewish side is a lot cleaner and has a lot of tourists. And a ton of cats! Gross. The people are a lot less friendly and their shops are overpriced and at a fixed rate, no bartering allowed! I guess they can do that when the tourists will pay those prices.


I will not yet state my position or opinion on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, mostly because I know I don't know enough about it yet to make an informed decision, but I have been gathering and seeing a lot of things just from being out and around the people. Such information I will maybe share at a later time.

When we came back I did some homework and then ate dinner. Dinner was good! (For the record, I have not gained any weight yet!) After dinner we were all very honored to have a Holocaust survivor come and speak to us. His story was incredible and I took detailed notes if anyone is interested in them. He is 92 years old, a sister in our branch lives at his house and takes care of him. He speaks Hebrew and Spanish so we had some of our Spanish RMs translate for him. Two RMs translated for him and sometimes it was frustrating because it was like we were watching a power struggle the whole time on who was going to translate for him. But anyway...



His life story is so hard to believe; how did people really get treated like that by other human beings. He told us that he would see dogs, all the time in the streets, that had more food than him. He still had his number tattooed on his arm and he showed us. It was surreal. It makes me sick that that actually happened, but this man was a very happy man and you could tell that he made the best out of his situation. Every day he thought to himself "God will help me. Maybe tomorrow, maybe tomorrow". He went away to work when he was young and when he came back home he found that his dad had died in the ghettos at age 41 from hunger and his mom, five sisters, and little brother were taken to a concentration camp and killed. He was left all alone and the Gestapo got him. He was freed by the Americans and worked at an American camp in the Kitchen where he met his wife. They were married there in the camp and had 3 children. His wife passed away and a year and a half ago; they were married for sixty two years.

**Explanation of the pictures: The first two pictures are of the ramparts around the city. The video is of the Holocaust survivor, what a cute old man!