Tuesday 10/6 Ethiopian absorption centre and Yad Vashem

Our day started with being picked up by a taxi to go to an absorption centre for Ethiopian immigrants. There was slight trouble trying to find the taxi that was sent for us but we eventually got it. This trip was organised by the new UIA shaliach (community representative) in Perth.

We drove out west of the city and got to the place which was in a town (now a neighbourhood of Jerusalem) called Mesveret Zion. We were met by two ladies, one being some sort of manager of the foundation there in Israel, and the other doing their national service by running community activities at this centre. We watched a short video about program, bringing the Ethiopian Jews here and helping them to adapt to a modern society and teaching them Hebrew. They talked a bit about what they do and how it all works.

We then got taken to a kindy class where there were some kids playing around outside and inside doing arts and craft type activities. The kids were very cute, and all spoke better Hebrew than I do, as new immigrants and only four years old! We got to have a couple pictures taken with them, and then we headed over to a medical clinic. On the way there we bumped into some older kids, and our guides spoke a bit to them, asking them basic sort of questions about their lives here.

All in all it was actually quite interesting, and well worth the visit out there. The amazing thing is that out of thousands of Jews they were bringing over from there over the last few years there are only about 300 left to bring now. Their program is almost completed (except for the actual absorption part for the newcomers, which takes two years or more).

Our driver took us then to Yad Vashem, the other real important place to visit in Jerusalem. Yad Vashem is a large and famous Holocaust memorial park, museum and galleries.

We walked through the main exhibit, housing the museum with a chronology of the events from the 19th century though to the 1950s, and all the objects, papers and other items relevant to the Holocaust. There were numerous quotes from various sources and people, on most of the walls as we walked through.

There were quite a few tour groups going through. I recognised a couple large groups to be American, and thought they must be on some sort of birthright or other programs. There was also a large group of soldiers, but they were very young looking, like just out of school almost. I´m fairly sure that they must have been going there as a part of their induction to the army. It seems an important thing for new Israeli soldiers to see before they start to serve their country. Seeing the museum, and remembering the events of the Holocaust, should remind them of the reason that Israel exists, and why they should take pride in their national service to defend it.

Much of the museum was quite graphic and heavy, as you might think. I was expecting it of course, but you don't really feel it until you actually get there. Certain bits were quite emotional, feeling for the people who not only had their lives but their basic human rights and dignity taken away from them. My heart sank mostly at the descriptions about, and images of the general public who joined in the discrimination and murder, and the countries that turned a blind eye to the plight of the Jews and closed their doors to a people in need. It was hard to even fathom that only 60 or 70 years ago the world was full of people and governments who would not lift a finger to stop a genocide, an act unspeakable by today´s standards. One can only hope that they learned from the holocaust and will not repeat their mistakes.

The walk through the museum section was quite long, lasting about two hours from start to end. After we finished it we went to a cafeteria for some lunch, and then set out to see more of the memorials in the park. We first stopped at the Hall of Remembrance where the names of 22 places of death or discrimination were placed, with a large ornamental candle holder in the corner. I saw the importance of it but it didn't quite have the same emotional response as the images in the museum itself.

We walked past the Pillar of Heroism, a large, well, pillar dedicated to those who fought in the ghettos, the camps, the forests, against the Germans, and also struggled to reach Israel. We kept walking and reached the Children´s Memorial. This one was quite moving. A single candle was placed in the middle of a dark room, with a number of mirrors lining the walls and throughout the room. The effect that was caused was to reflect to the light a million times to stand for the million children that lost their lives. The room seemed to be filled with an infinite number of candles, whilst the names, ages and countries of the murdered children were read out.

We continued walking and passed the memorial to the deportees. The memorial itself was a train carriage on a bit of track, over a cliff. The train car was one used in Poland to take Jews from their homes, I believe.

We then made our way out of the park, and went up the road to Mt. Herzel to find a bus back to Jaffa Gate.