It's a lot to handle, but especially here at the camp, I tend to work on things alone - not exactly community-driven, but sanity driven.
What makes a community? Sometimes a community is a geographical base. Balatonlelle, and all the people that don't want the camp here, is a community. Sometimes a community is likeminded people, brought together by a similar cause/goal/hobby/interest/etc. All of the volunteers with ÖDÉ have formed a community - a piece of my heart jumped today when I saw Simon walking down the path toward me because I hadn't seen him since March and we're part of the same community. A community can also be formed by circumstances. I hate to say this, but even in my short jail time, I witnessed community. I found myself bargaining with my bunkmate for some coffee if I promised to put a couple dollars in her account when I left. As crazy as it sounds, I bonded with a few people in there and was a little sad to leave, wondering what would be next for them.
Where and how do we find community? This isn't always as easy as it sounds. I may be a part of the Saranac community, but I never really feel like I fit in there. I may have several communities here in Hungary, but haven't exactly found many that I'll be sad to leave in a couple months. This takes planning. What do I like to do? How do I find a group with those same interests? Are there other volunteers here doing this for the same reason I'm doing this? That's probably why I've bonded with the other Americans so well - not only do we have the common language, but we also all seem to have a semi-common purpose, which is very different from those of the "fresh outta high school Europeans."
How do we maintain community? Sometimes you can leave your best friend and not speak for a few weeks... and pick up exactly where you left off. This is a manifestation of the incredible bond you've developed because you've WORKED for it. Community doesn't just happen - you need to get involved in other peoples' lives - because you're willing to make that step, others will also be willing to make that step. If someone asks me where I'm from, I have two choices "Amerika" or "Michigan, egy állam Amerikai" - if I go with my first option, it's easier, but unless they ask "Where in America?" I could be from Florida or Alaska and they wouldn't know the difference (or God forbid, Kentucky :P jk!) If I go with the second, it opens me up to a little more - first that I speak a little Hungarian, second that I'm aware that if I say "Michigan" they might not know where it is, much like if they said "Pécs" or "Debrecen", most of you get blank looks until they say "a city in Hungary."
Anyway, long story short, you have to make a choice to maintain community. You need to be more proactive than you expect others to be in order to show your openness.
What happens when we're taken from our community? I feel like this is the question most people can relate to - in the fact that we don't even realize the great communities we have until we're removed from them for some reason. Many of you may have even witnessed this in my year. If we don't build a community where we are, we know that we never have to worry about this... but for those of us who long for that sense of community, this is simply not possible. We need to mourn, but we also need to move on and seek to build new communities in each new path God puts us on.
How do communities respond to struggle? This one, as I've witnessed, varies by community and struggle. True communities come together and work through it as a team, knowing that in the end, everyone will benefit. Many communities, when faced with a particular struggle, will disband or divide themselves. I've never seen an instance where this has benefited everyone involved. If someone in your community is facing a rough season, you help them. Community in the best sense is like karma - give when others need and when you need, you'll get.
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Memorial Garden at the Dohány St. Synagogue
Behind the largest synagogue in Europe is a memorial garden set aside for those who perished during the Holocaust. It is said that Hungarian Jews account 1 out of every 6 people murdered in Auschwitz and 1 out of 10 people to die during the Holocaust (about 600,000 Hungarian Jews were lost during this time).
This is a memorial to Raoul Wallenberg and other "Righteous Among the Nations," including Carl Lutz, Giorgio Perlasca, Angelo Rotto and others who used fake passports and paperwork to save tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews during World War II. They are memorialized by a fake grave. Wallenberg was arrested in 1945 and detained in the Soviet Union, where he later died, but details regarding his death (dates and cause) are still disputed today.
It is a Jewish tradition to place a stone on the grave of one who passed. Unfortunately, these are graves that will never be dug because they are bodies that were never recovered. Instead, stones are placed in these boxes to remember and carry on the tradition.
This is also a memorial and a beautiful colorful one. The snake you can see in the picture represents the Nazis and the consuming fire represents the Holocaust.
This is the entrance to the former Jewish Ghetto of World War 2. Conditions were terrible in the ghetto and many died. However, because no one was allowed in or out, they needed a place to bury those that passed. Here are 27 mass graves and it is estimated that a total of 3000 people are buried here, all of whom died in the ghetto within the 18 months of confinement. Those whose names were remembered had a gravestone placed and the death year is always the same: 1945.
This is the Memorial of the Hungarian Jewish Martyrs. Made by Imre Varga, it resembles a weeping willow whose leaves bear inscriptions with the names of victims.
"In memory of our mother and grandmother who perished in Auschwitz."
"So our children will never forget."
1 comment:
you finally went in the synagogue. it's a powerful place. i like your reflections on community, they got me thinking about what community means to me and how i understand community in the context of this year. thanks :)
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