OPINION: We walked in the footsteps of those going to their deaths at Auschwitz
Former Yorkshire cricketer Azeem Rafiq, whose family was hit by a still birth, was moved by mementoes of the Jewish people at Auschwitz such as a baby's sandal - during Ramadan
At the Ulma Family Museum in Markowa, there are nine plaques on the wall.
They mark the lives of Josef and Wiktoria Ulma and their six children.
The ninth plaque is for an unborn child – Wiktoria was pregnant when the family was shot by the Nazis for hiding Jews during the Second World War.
I visited Markowa when travelling from Warsaw to Krakow for last month’s March of the Living, the annual educational programme exploring the Holocaust.
The organisers invited me to join a multifaith group visit, because I am trying to improve my own education after antisemitic comments I made in my relative youth emerged last year.
The centrepiece of the programme is a 3.5km march in Auschwitz-Birkenau, but what happened to the Ulma family hit me hard before we even arrived.
In obviously very different circumstances, my wife and I lost our unborn son in 2018.
Yorkshire County Cricket Club’s hurtful reaction to that tragedy ultimately led to me revealing racism in the sport. Auschwitz was no easier a visit.
A baby’s blue sandal sticking out in a mountain of victims’ shoes, reams of women’s hair, a video of dead bodies being piled on top of each.
What struck me was the enormity of the camp and how it had been built so quickly. There are houses next to where Jews were brought in on a train track, a jarring contrast of family life and absolute horror.
During the march, we were on a hill and below were a sea of people – around 3,000 – taking part. In the 1940s, there would have been Jews taking those same steps, only they would have been struggling with their belongings as they walked to their deaths.
What is important is that we unite when faced by such awful history.
I will never forget, for example, my multifaith group waiting to eat dinner until after I had completed my daily fast for Ramadan.
AzI will treasure that memory, even as I struggle to comprehend the evil of what happened to the Ulma family and millions of Jews eight decades ago.
Reply
Forward
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.