<p>My D and two friends got to Krakow via train from the south very easily.</p>
<p>The bit about Austrians correcting everything reminds me of the German fortune cookie: “You vill take small bites. You vill chew your food thoroughly. You vill enjoy your meal. Zees are ORDERS!”</p>
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<p>Uh-oh – my normal attire for traveling is blue jeans and comfortable shoes! (Because of all the walking we usually do.)</p>
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<p>I’m not sure I could make it through places like that, especially the concentration camps. It’s all too personal for me given what happened to my family. I barely got through the Holocaust Museum in Washington. </p>
<p>Mathmom, one couldn’t have a last name more obviously Jewish than ours, but even in this country (not in the Northeast) I’ve run into people who had no idea. So what you say doesn’t surprise me that much.</p>
<p>In 1972, when I was 17, I visited Germany with my family. It was the first time my mother had been back since she left the country (and her parents) on December 1, 1938, at the age of 15, as part of the first Kindertransport, three weeks after Kristallnacht. It wasn’t easy for her. And I remember very well feeling very uncomfortable, and very suspicious, every time I saw someone over the age of 50 or so. At this point, though, someone would have to be close to 90 to have had any role at all in what happened. It seems very strange to me that 1972 is much further away in the past now, than the Holocaust and World War II were then.</p>
<p>I know what you mean, Donna. For me, it was important while living in Germany and Austria to, I don’t know, pay tribute (but we were there longer than you and he will be). Believe me, many people thought we were crazy – including the other family who was with us in Krakow.</p>
<p>I did a lot of Holocaust history reading while living in Bavaria (and of course trips to Dachau). I was trying understand it. But of course I still don’t understand it. Not at all. Anyway. If Son goes to any of these sites he will find that if he identifies himself as a Jewish American he will be treated with great respect, and probably be profoundly moved. (as a side note, the Polish people pay the costs of keeping up the sites, the Germans don’t pay a dime…)</p>
<p>About the jeans – oh no, wear the jeans! But a nice fitted Austrian jacket really spiffs up the look.</p>
<p>(sorry to keep posting on your thread, Donna, it’s just…I’m having a little nostalgia moment here. And that is so interesting about your family)</p>
<p>OH – you MUST go to the Neue Galerie in NY! I was there last weekend; Klimt’s “Adele Bloch-Bauer” is on display. The Austrians relinquished it while we were living in Vienna, along with 4 other Klimts that are in private collections. The Cafe Sabarsky downstairs has some of the finest Apfelstrudel I’ve ever had.</p>
<p>No apologies necessary, AnudduhMom.</p>
<p>And I’ll definitely try to go to that gallery with my son after he gets home. He loves Klimt.</p>
<p>My son easily got to Krakow from London and spent a few days there. He felt it was one of the most amazing trips that he took while abroad, though his perception was that Krakow was quite anti-Semitic.</p>
<p>A pitch for Budapest – I went to Vienna and Budapest 2 years ago for business, and while I enjoyed both immensely, Budapest was just … haunting. It really stayed with me.</p>
<p>^^^^^</p>
<p>I don’t doubt it but the son wants to learn German.</p>
<p>Going back to the OP’s concerns about being Jewish in Vienna and possible anti-Semitism–I suggest that you go to the Chabad.org web site and look up the Chabad center in Vienna. Chabad welcomes Jewish travellers and if you call or e-mail them, the rabbi should have a more inside picture of what is going on in Vienna. Plus, should your son decide to go to Vienna, he could go to Chabad for any Jewish holidays and as another Jewish resource in Vienna.</p>
<p>Donna, I sent you a long PM. We’ve spent quite a bit of time in Vienna (my H has Austrian relatives), and you’ve gotten a lot of good advice here. Austrians are polite in the sense of having old-fashioned good manners, but I’ve found they love to laugh out loud and really are more relaxed in many ways than uptight urban Americans. I’ve never found them to be “scolders” at all, even when we were traveling with our son during his tantrum-filled preschool years. And I’m not claiming to be any more well behaved than AnudduhMom 
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<p>Trying to reconstruct your mother’s early life in Berlin sounds like a very moving experience.</p>
<p>Hi Donna,</p>
<p>We have a lot in common and I’d love to be in touch, as the nightmare my mom lived through is never far from my thoughts, and I am tormented by what she lived through. Although she was a physical “survivor” she was not a mental/emotional survivor. My mom left Vienna via Kindertransport on March 13, 1939. When she left she had no idea that she would never see her parents again. Her mother died in Theresienstadt (the “model” concentration camp outside of Prague) and her father in Auschwitz. I don’t know that I could visit either of those sites, and I’m not sure why I would want to. I know all too well the horrors that happened there and don’t want or need any in-my-face reminders.</p>
<p>I was brought up with a complete boycott of all German-made products. I remember my mom cursing the fact that the only good scissors were German! But above all my mom hated the Austrians, and felt they were much more anti-Semitic than the Germans.</p>
<p>It took me a long time before I could befriend some Germans who my husband went to graduate school with, and even longer before I could go to Germany without eyeing everyone of a certain age and wondering whether they were Nazis. I was very upset when my husband decided to accept a year-long sabbatical in Leipzig in 1999; I really didn’t know if I could do it or not and Germany was the last country in the world I wanted to live in. But I found that the Germans go out of their way to apologize for what happened, and it really seems heartfelt. Every town, it seems, has some sort of memorial to victims of the Holocaust. (On an aside, the Jewish Museum in Berlin shouldn’t be missed, and the Holocaust memorial in Berlin, a maze of different height pillars, is extremely moving.) In Leipzig, on Kristallnacht, I went to a very moving service in a Church, and we walked by candlelight from there to the site of the shul that was destroyed that night many years ago. When we exited the church there were police everywhere, in full riot gear, and I was scared to death–I thought they were there to attack us. But, it turns out that they were there to protect us from any skinheads who might have been out there. </p>
<p>I have not been to Vienna but I know the archives have records of when the Gestapo kicked my mother and her family out of their apartment and confiscated their possessions. Someday I’ll contact them and get copies.</p>
<p>My son is finishing a fall semester in Budapest (which has the largest synagogue in Europe, I think) and made trips to Vienna and Prague. He wasn’t able to fit in a trip to Poland due to the convoluted and time-consuming means of getting there, but had wanted to get to Krakow (and Auschwitz).</p>
<p>My best to you.</p>
<p>My father-in-law is a survivor, and when my D decided on Vienna for her study abroad he was, interestingly, ok with it. My mother-in-law (Brooklyn born), on the other hand, had a very hard time with her choice. For the entire quarter my D couldn’t decide whether she wanted to go to Muthausen, where my FIL was held, and my H had the same quandry when we visited her. In the end neither she, nor we visited the camp. The thought of being there was just too painful. We did, however, visit the memorials, and Jewish quarters in Vienna, Budapest and Prague. All different, yet all interesting in the way it has been handled and remembered. My D, not terribly observant at home, found a small synagogue, a progressive synagogue, in the neighborhood of her residence in Vienna. She emailed them and was welcomed, along with her classmate, at High Holiday services. They actually ended up going on Erev Rosh Hashanah, Rosh Hashanah, Kol Nidre and Yom Kippur. I believe they even went back for Neilah. It was a mix of Viennese and expats, but the rabbi was from London. All were welcoming and they were even invited back for a Bar Mitzvah. She would not have been terribly comfortable at orthodox services, so this worked well for her. Interestingly enough, she was most uncomfortable in Prague where the local guide (she was there on an official school tour) told the students upon reaching the Jewish quarter that most of the Jews had “left”. It took all my D’s self-control to not point out that leaving was far from voluntary…her 4 months in Central Europe was indeed a learning experience in all senses of the word, far beyond her courses.</p>
<p>Martharap, thanks so much for writing. I’m so very sorry that your mother had to experience what she did, and lost her parents. My mother was “lucky” enough not to lose her parents (they remained in Berlin until June 1941, when they were able to get out through Lisbon and go to America, pretty much at the last minute before the Jews of Berlin started being “deported” to the East; my mother rejoined them in 1943 after five years in England. However, my mother did lost two grandparents, three uncles, four aunts, and two young first cousins – 11 members of her immediate family). </p>
<p>My mother hated Germans as a people, and never bought anything German-made. She was very bitter about the Germans, obviously (to put it mildly), especially given that she had grown up identifying as German, loving German culture, etc. </p>
<p>Because she was in Berlin as a child, she actually saw Hitler, more than once. She used to tell me how adored he was by the people.</p>
<p>It’s all so monstrous, and so horribly sad.</p>
<p>I’m thinking of posting a short article I wrote about 10 years ago (published in Kinderlink, the newsletter of the Kindertransport Association), about my mother’s experiences, and reproducing translations of a couple of letters she wrote to her parents during that time.</p>
<p>Have you seen Into the Arms of Strangers, the documentary about the Kindertransport that came out in 2000 and won the Academy Award for that year for best documentary? An excerpt from one of my mother’s letters was read by the narrator, and my mother’s name (and mine) appear in the credits. (Of course, it was my former first name, and I won’t say what it was – that’s a state secret.)</p>
<p>But I have nothing against Germans of my generation, or my son’s. Similar to what you’ve experienced, most Germans I’ve met are very sad, and apologetic, that this happened in their country.</p>
<p>My best to you, too.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for responding, DonnaL. Yes, I did see Into the Arms of Strangers, and I also have the book “I Came Alone: The Stories of the Kindertransports.” Is your mother in that book? Can you give me the page number??!!! I would love to read what you wrote for “Kinderlink” if you can post it here or direct me to it.</p>
<p>My mom made a video for the Shoah Project, and for a Holocaust series done by Kean College in New Jersey. Other than that she didn’t want to talk about what happened.</p>
<p>Most sadly, my mom passed away one month ago. I wonder what will happen when all of the Holocaust survivors have passed away; I guess it’s up to us to be sure their stories survive. For awhile I was a guest speaker in a Holocaust class taught by a friend in the university in our town, but it really took a toll on me and I just couldn’t continue. I don’t know how my friend does it.</p>
<p>I’m very sorry for your loss, Martharap.</p>
<p>No, my mother’s story isn’t part of that book. I believe that everyone whose story is there was still alive at the time the book was put together, and gave his or her oral testimony. My mother, unfortunately, died many years earlier, in 1975, when I was 20, when we were in a car accident.</p>
<p>I’ve posted the first part of my article in the Parent Cafe; the link is <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/827831-kindertransport-article-about-my-mothers-experiences-beginning-dec-1938-a.html#post1063701473[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/827831-kindertransport-article-about-my-mothers-experiences-beginning-dec-1938-a.html#post1063701473</a>.</p>
<p>Donna</p>
<p>runnersmom, my son mentioned to me that he has a friend who did the U. of Chicago Vienna program this fall and, like your daughter, went to Spain for the break during the term. Did your daughter go as part of a group? This friend’s name is “S.,” and she’s from Albany.</p>
<p>My D went to Spain with 2 other students, neither of whom was “S”, but, as you might imagine in such a small group, they all knew each other. I think there were only 20-22 of them total in the program.</p>
<p>Well, I am very pleased to report that my son heard yesterday that he’s been accepted into the Vienna program for the fall, his first choice. He was extremely happy; he’s in the middle of finals for the winter quarter and this was a welcome distraction!</p>
<p>I was pretty sure he’d get in, since he told me that the majority of kids get their first choice (assuming that they have good grades and a good reference, both of which he has). But you never know until it happens, and I admit that the thought of his going to his second choice (the program in Pune, in India) made me feel a little apprehensive given what happened there recently.</p>
<p>So this is very exciting. I’ll miss seeing him at Thanksgiving for the first time in his life, but I know he’ll have a wonderful time, and it’ll be a great experience for him. I’m so happy for him. Someone told me recently that when they ask me about my son and I start to speak about him, my whole face lights up. I didn’t realize that I did that, but I’m not surprised. I can’t think about him without smiling; I’ve never been able to. And why would I?</p>
<p>Speaking of possibly wonderful experiences, he also heard this week that several places he applied to for summer internships want to interview him, including the Frick and the Whitney in New York and the Newberry Library in Chicago. I don’t want to count any chickens, or talk about it much at this point, but for him to get any one of these internships would be amazing. I am almost completely clueless on the subject of summer internships, and have no idea how competitive they are in terms of the percentage of people who apply who even get to the interview stage, but it’s certainly not a bad sign that they liked his applications enough to get in touch with him. (He says that for one of the positions, the place picked only six people to interview for one spot, and I have no idea how many applied, but I’m sure it was more than six!) So I think he justifiably feels honored simply to be interviewed. </p>
<p>I’ll admit that <em>I</em> would be pleased if he were in New York for the summer (especially since I hope to be living in Manhattan again by then, after 23 years in exile in New Jersey – another story for another thread – and he could stay with me and commute to his internship every day). But it’ll be great for him wherever he ends up, whether at one of these three if he’s extremely lucky, or at any of the other places where he applied in NYC and Chicago. He didn’t apply for any position he wouldn’t be happy to take.</p>
<p>Also, to add to his current cornucopia of good news, he started doing paid work as a tour guide this past week – not giving tours by himself yet, but doing so along with another person with more experience – and has reported that he loves it so far. The pay is nice (he made > $60 for the week) but he especially appreciates the opportunity to meet kids and families from all over the country and get to know them a little, and maybe help persuade them to go to the U of C. He gave me a rundown last night of almost every family on the tour he co-conducted. I’m always pleased that he still likes to share stuff like that with me, and that he hasn’t yet lost the intense curiosity and enthusiasm he’s had since he was a tiny child. </p>
<p>OK, sorry for going on like this, but I haven’t had the chance lately to give any news of him, and I can’t help my own enthusiasm, and my own joy at his happiness.</p>
<p>Donna</p>
<p>Wow, what a fascinating and unexpected thread! Thank you, Donna, for posting your mother’s story and letters, and also for the update which bumped the thread–I missed it the first time. I’m sure your S will have a wonderful experience in Vienna. </p>
<p>p.s. I lived in Switzerland for several years, and the old ladies there like to lecture people, too.</p>
<p>Great to hear that Vienna came through. I’m wishing the very best on the internship front. Our son has a great summer internship lined up (yay!), but out in California (boo!) He was in California last summer too. So I can really appreciate how it would be nice to have a kid close at hand. I’m glad he’s enjoying tour guiding. I gave tours at the National Cathedral one summer and loved it.</p>
<p>Well, my former spouse and I took J. to the airport earlier today, and he’s well on his way to Vienna (with a change of planes in Zurich sometime around 4 or 5 am, EDT).</p>
<p>He seems very excited (although naturally a little anxious), and so am I. I have a feeling he’ll have a wonderful three months there. Right now, though, I doubt I’ll fall asleep until I hear that he’s landed safely, at least in Zurich. I don’t get that nervous when I’m the one flying myself, but when he’s doing it, and I’m not with him, it’s very, very difficult for me. (I’m trying not to check the flight tracker too often. Staring at that little dot, presently over the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, and trying to hold it up in the air with force of will, doesn’t really help!) </p>
<p>As happy as I am for him, I know that in a day or two, when I fully realize that he’s really gone and I won’t see him until December, I’ll start feeling quite sad. I’ll miss him very much. I <em>loved</em> having him home for two months – especially because he was obviously very happy with my new apartment and new neighborhood, and with spending so much time in New York City in general – and I started getting very used to his being around again. </p>
<p>I’m afraid I’ve done a pretty miserable job the last two years in dealing with the empty nest, and have given in far too much to my natural inclination to be something of a hermit. Moving back to the City after all these years was, at least in part, an effort to do something about that, but I have no idea if I’ll actually take advantage of the opportunity. I haven’t so far, at least not nearly enough.</p>