Our trip would be guided by a number of excellent people, one of whom was Irving Roth: Irving Roth is a fine gentleman who lives in New York. He looks much like others from his generation, only he is more smartly dressed and he smiles a lot. His smile is very warm. When he grew up in a Slovakia his family made railroad ties and lived what must have been a beautiful life. The Roths lived in a small village, the town's Protestant Minister was a neighbor, living just across the street. But, before he reached adulthood, he and his family were run out of the country he called home and then deported to the Aushwitz Death Camp. He explained to us how one day he went to school and was told, "Roth, go home. You can't come here anymore." This was when he was just a teenager. Remembering his thoughts as a boy, he said with a little bit of a smile, "Well, I didn't have to go to school! I went home and figured out what I would do." Roth was a fine soccer player, in fact I'm told he was best fullback in the area. What must have hurt more was going to the park to join his team and hearing, "Roth, go home. We don't want Jews on our team." When Irving Roth talks about these things it's difficult for me to imagine them. How could a group of people be persuaded to hate so much? How could they allow their classmates to be barred from the school because of their religion or ancestry, then again these values were not always so foreign to the American mindset. Nazi ideas wer

The first day of what I have come to call, “my fact finding trip to Israel and Poland” began early. I’d not exactly slept that night. I was a little tired, but I was ready to go and explore. I was looking forward to a day in New York. My mother and grandparents took me down to the Airport. It had rained through the night and the day was cool, the air slightly damp. My grandfather said, “wow, everything looks so clean. Mom cried at the airport. I never understand why parents do this. Going through security took about an hour, I had a coffee at the gate. My flight to New York was quick and I was to the hotel quickly enough. In the evening we gathered together and discussed the trip we were preparing for. We talked about the history of the Jewish People in Europe and the Middle East and we were introduced to our guides, who would become our friends. There were a number of fine people who would accompany this Christians United for Israel Student Activist group. We were all excited about going to Israel, most of us were ready for the first leg of our trip as well. We would spend a week in Poland, finding the traces of Jewish life in Warsaw and Krakow. We would visit the where the Jews of Europe had thrived and would confront the places where these innocent people met their end. In Poland we would bear whitens to one of the great failures of humanity. Irving Roth would join us in Poland. He was a born in Czechoslovakia in 1929. I would meet him that evening, wh

“Wow, everything looks so clean,” my Grandfather said on the way to the airport, “it’s as if the rain washed the dirt all away.” This morning was a very beautiful one. It was cool last night in Cincinnati and now, at ten-thirty in the morning is just barely eighty nine degrees. Today is an important day for me. Today I will begin my trip to Israel. I will travel with Christians United for Israel for the March of Remembrance. This is a new program for Christian students to learn about Judaism and Israel. With the other students from the group, I will visit Poland and then Israel to learn the history of the Jewish People in Europe and across the world. I’ve been so excited about this trip! I’ve actually lost quite a lot sleep to sheer enthusiasm. Imagining the Temple Mount, the Dead Sea and the Church of the Holy Seplicure has occupied much of my time. What I’ve looked forward to less is Poland, the first leg of the trip. I imagine Poland will be an emotional and difficult week. Much of our itinerary for the week is devoted to the study of the Holocaust. I’ve not spent much time thinking about it or imagining it because I can’t imagine what it will be like. That said, I plan to leave Poland in the knowledge that even when things seemed darkest, Good still found a way to prevail. In the end the good always prevails, somehow it finds a way. When ever I leave Cincinnati, I realize how wonderful a place to live it is. I’ve grown up here. I feel comfortable here. I am happ