It’s day four of our adventure here in Budapest and we have met many students and seen many sites around this wonderful city. Today we visited a neighborhood synagogue with a memorial to all from the synagogue that had been killed during the holocaust. All 9000 of them. Listed were the names and ages of every single person.
Alan M. Reinitz, Chief Executive Officer of SOS International showed us his relatives’ names on the wall. He said that when you say how many people were killed in the holocaust, it’s just a number – but when you see their names and ages, you can visualize them as a person.
I have been thinking a lot today about how similar these students are to my own and how meeting these students and learning their names, I am establishing a connection that really couldn’t be established any other way. From the hellos I am getting in the hallway now, to the questions about life in the U.S. – this is a unique experience both for the students and for myself. I am new to this, I am learning as I go but I hope to establish a connection to my partner teacher, Lauder students and to this place that will last for years to come.
