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with a Holocaust survivor. This experience was unique since we were sitting down at a dinner table with 100 people we had never met before and having personal and meaningful conversations. Another thing that stood out to me was the concept of people not knowing they were Jewish. One of the speakers told a story about a woman who found out as an adult that she was Jewish. When her own grandmother was separated from her mother in the ghetto, her mother told her to never tell anyone that she was Jewish. Until she was lying down on her deathbed, the grandmother kept this secret and hid that part of her identity. This stood out to me because Judaism is such an integral part of my identity; I couldn't imagine hiding who I truly was for 70 years; and I never considered that there could be other Jewish people who don't realize that they are Jewish. Finally, the last thing we did in Krakow was visit Auschwitz where we had a detailed tour that highlighted its history and huge role in the Holocaust. While I have seen many photos of Auschwitz and Birkenau, I don't think anything can prepare you for how vast and massive it is. While it was horrifying to see the remains of the gas chambers and death camps, I feel that it was important to witness and honor so that no one ever forgets what happened there. After Krakow, we departed for Warsaw, our shortest stop. There, we did a walking tour that included the Ghetto, Jewish Cemetery, and Old Town. We also went to a Chopin concert which was beautiful, fun, and an antidote to the sadness we had all felt. While we only spent one full day in Warsaw, I enjoyed the city and found its architecture and landmarks to be quite beautiful. After Warsaw, our final stop was Berlin, where we had some free time to explore the city on our own before having a traditional group dinner. The next day, we each presented our research on a specific landmark that we'd toured that day. My landmark was Checkpoint Charlie, the most well-known crossing point in the Berlin Wall between East Berlin and West Berlin. During the Cold War, many citizens tried to flee into West Berlin, the American occupation zone, because they didn't want to live in a communist country. The other sites we visited included the Reichstag Building, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, the Jewish Museum, Platform 17, the New Synagogue, and the East Side Gallery, a long strip of the Berlin Wall covered in graffiti art. Something I found interesting in Berlin was how intertwined the past is with the present. Throughout the city, one sees remains of the Berlin Wall just standing there without any explanation or covered in art and graffiti. For our final day in Berlin, we explored the city on our own and went to the TV tower for a beautiful aerial view of the area. Overall, this trip was full of eye- opening experiences that allowed us to study the past in a meaningful and respectful way. I am super grateful for those 16 days in Europe. n I N S I D E T R E VO R T R E VO R T R A N S L AT E S F E AT U R E A R T I C L E S A L U M N I TREVOR DAY SCHOOL / 25