My name is Rachel Schowalter, I am 23 years old and come from Germany. I am currently volunteering at ADI Negev as part of an eight-month volunteer program.
I want to tell you a little bit about my family, but before I do that, let me tell you about the organization I belong to.
โMarch of Lifeโ was founded in 2007 in the city of Tรผbingen by Jobst and Charlotte Bittner. The goal of the organization is to remember, reconciliate and take a stand for Israel. March of Life members research their family history and then try to come to terms with questions about their familyโs role in the Holocaust. What happened in our family? What did my grandparents and great-grandparents do during that time?
When my family began asking these questions, we found out that my great-grandfather, Ludwig Frey, was in the Wehrmacht. Between the years 1938-1945, my great-grandfather served in many cities and countries. In 1941, 1943 and 1944, he was in Eastern Europe, in Bialystok and Witbesk. From February 1943 through December 1943, he was in Minsk, where he worked in the Ghetto.
My research taught me what happened in these cities while my great-grandfather was there. I learned that many people were killed in horrible ways. During the time that my great-grandfather was in Bialystok, the Nazis and German people locked all of the Jewish people together inside a big synagogue and burned it down, killing everyone โ men, women and children. My great-grandfather was there and he was part of this mass murder. People were starved, and then shot or shut into gas chambers in order to complete the murder of the Jewish people as quickly as possible.
I am the great-granddaughter of a Wehrmacht soldier and I am here today to tell you the truth, to break the silence and to beg forgiveness for what my great-grandfather did to the Jewish community, to Jewish life and to the Jewish people.
March of Life lends a public voice to stories such as that of my family. We go out and march in the streets, we have seminars and talk about what happened, and we meet with and share our stories with Holocaust survivors and their families and ask for forgiveness.
Since the beginning of the March of Life movement in 2007, we have held marches in more than 200 cities in 20 countries. We work in cooperation with the Jewish communities and Christians of all churches and denominations.
We go out on the streets to proclaim: “We are against modern Antisemitism! We stand with Israel and we are friends of Israel!”
This is why I am in Israel today. I want my volunteering to be an active statement.ย I want to get to know the Jewish lifestyle, to discover Israel, to learn the language, to meet people, to experience the culture and see this beautiful, beautiful country.
I am so honored to be here today and I am grateful that I can tell my story and get to know the Jewish people. Everyone here is so amazing; they welcome me as a friend despite my very difficult family history. It is almost inconceivable to me how this can be. Members of my family killed members of your families, yet you are willing to accept me and befriend me. I am so, so sorry about what happened in the past!
I love my work at ADI Negev-Nahalat Eran. I work in the school and it is a privilege for me to be able to help people who cannot do anything by themselves. Bringing a smile to their faces fills me with joy. I feed them and take them for walks through the village. It is a pleasure for me to be part of this work and to help the residents in any way I can, to give them, the students and the children, a better life. The work done at ADI is amazing!
January 27 is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, and I want to use this day to get my story out. I want everyone to hear my story, to read about it, to know what happened and to speak about it. Donโt be silent!
I met Holocaust survivors. I found out how profoundly they were wounded by my great-grandfatherโs life choices. By my countryโs actions. And I am here to say there is no place in the world for antisemitism. I want to shout, to cry out on behalf of those who were murdered. For their sake, I will not be silent!
I especially want to urge the younger generation in Germany to start asking questions, to research what happened, where their families were and what they did during that terrible time in our history. They must make their voices heard on social media, attend marches and proclaim that we are against todayโs modern-day manifestation of antisemitism!
I want to say out loud for all to hear: I am a friend of Israel and I love Israel!!
Shalom!
