Phillip Robbins: "Later Never Came"

On Saturday February 6, 2016 Dr. Gabor took his Suffering and Forgiveness class on a long, bumpy ride to visit the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Skokie, IL. The first thing I noticed when we got there was the somber appearance of the museum itself. The only color on the building was from the steel and concrete from which it was constructed; being winter and all the vegetation in the surrounding area being dead also added to the gloominess. As we made our way through the museum, the exhibit showed the progression of atrocities committed against the Jewish people and people that the Nazi regime considered inferior.

Photo Dr. Kip Strasma

One of the things that stuck out to me the most was a small hallway that you turned into with a single screen in it. Upon entering the hallway I noticed it was decorated differently from the area I came from and the one ahead. I couldn’t make out what was so different until I started to watch the screen. The screen showed various images of executions and the mass graves that the bodies were just piled into. Then, I noticed that the floor and the walls were made to resemble one of the empty trenches that ended up being so many people's grave.

After finishing the exhibit, we had the privilege to listen to Mrs. Magda Brown’s survivor story. Mrs. Brown was 17 years old when she lived in a Jewish ghetto in Hungary and was eventually deported to Austria to be in the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Many things stood out about Mrs. Brown but the biggest one was her character. I would have never imagined that someone who survived what she did could still have such a friendly glow or the ability to make you want to smile as she talked about anything but her survivor story.

Something else that stood out was a phrase she said a few times throughout her story. When she talked about the separation of her family upon arrival at Auschwitz or when she had to undress, she was told that she would see her family again later and to fold her clothes neatly because they would be given back to her later, but "later never came." She repeated that phrase a few times throughout her story and talked about how "later never came" for so many things or so many people.

I had been to the museum once before around 10-15 years ago, but this experience was completely different; adding our meeting with Mrs. Brown turned it into an unforgettable one. It’s amazing how differently we take things in as we mature. One day I will take my daughter to the museum and I am curious as to what she will take from it and what new experience I will have when that day comes.