Auschwitz 60 years ago

If you have ``Schindler’s List’’, ``The Pianist’’ or other Holocaust movies in your collection you might like to watch one again today. If you have Holocaust books, behold the photographs or immerse yourself in the survivors’ accounts.

Today is the 60th anniversary of the liberation of prisoners in the German Nazi concentration camps in Auschwitz in Poland.

Thousands will be flocking to Auschwitz today, among them world leaders and monarchs, to remember the more than three million people, the majority of them Jews, who were mass murdered mostly in the gas chambers there and in other death camps in Europe.

The European Jews were the primary victims of the Nazis. According to a Holocaust website, in 1933 nine million Jews lived in the 21 countries of Europe that would be occupied by Germany during World War II. By 1945, two out of every three European Jews had been killed.

But the Jews were not the only group in Hitler’s hate list. So were 500,000 million Gypsies, 250,000 mentally or physically disabled, more than three million Soviet prisoners of war, Jehovah’s Witnesses, homosexuals, Social Democrats, Communists, partisans, trade unionists and Polish intelligentsia.



Auschwitz’s three main camps saw the biggest mass killings by gas—almost 1.5 million from 1940 to 1945. According to the Jewish Virtual Library, historians estimate that among the people sent to Auschwitz alone were at least 1.1 million Jews from all the countries in Nazi-occupied Europe, over 140,000 Poles who were mostly political prisoners, some 20,000 Gypsies from several European countries, over 10,000 Soviet prisoners of war and over 10,000 of other nationalities. The majority of the Jewish deportees were sent to the gas chambers to die as soon as they arrived.

It is sickening to know that there are neo-Nazi diehards now espousing the cause to deny that the Holocaust ever happened. They are very much in the league of those who are trying to prove that the moon landing was a hoax, that it was staged in the Arizona desert. On second thought, these Holocaust deniers are a league of their own. I can live with a moon landing hoax theory, but not with a brazen attempt to obliterate the historical fact of six million people mass murdered because they belonged to a certain race or were simply different.

Auschwitz in Poland, more than Dachau, Bergen-Belsen and other concentration camps in Germany, has become known as a symbol of terror and genocide. It was established by Hitler’s Nazis in 1940, a year before they embarked on the so-called Endlosung der Jugenfrage or ``Final Solution of the Jewish Question’’ (euphemism for mass extermination, by the way).

Annexed by the Nazis to the Third Reich, Oswiecim was renamed Auschwitz. It was at the center of German-occupied Europe and therefore people could easily be sent there. Auschwitz prisoners were used in synthetic rubber, fuel and military plants. It later became the biggest of all death camps.

The local populace of Poles and Jews living near Auschwitz III were driven out of their homes. Many homes were demolished, others were assigned to officers and their families.

In the beginning Auschwitz was just for the ``dangerous’’ Poles—the elite and the intelligentsia, the artists and the scientists and those in the resistance movement, the likes, perhaps, of Karol Wojtyla. Later, the Nazis sent in their prisoners from other countries. Many died there as a result of starvation, disease, torture and criminal medical experiments.

Dr. Joseph Mengele did many of his experiments there—surgeries without anesthesia, blood transfusions, isolation endurance, sex change operations, injection of lethal germs, incestuous impregnations, limb removals. He was fanatical about identical twins and dissected them meticulously.

In a 1995 signed statement, Nazi doctor Hans Munch recounted how he witnessed the selection process on who was to live and who was to die. ``Children and old people, the sick and those unable to work were sent to the gas chambers. These were innocent human beings. Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, Hitler’s political opponents—anyone who did not fit Hitler’s idea of a pure Aryan race.

``I, a former SS physician, witnessed the dropping of Zyklon B into simulated exhaust vents from outside the gas chamber. Zyklon began to work as soon as it was released from the canisters. The effects of the gas were observed through a peephole by an assigned doctor or the SS officer on duty. After three to five minutes, death could be certified, and the doors were opened as a sign that the corpses were cleared to be burned.

``This is a nightmare I continue to live with 50 years later. I am so sorry that in some way I was part of it. Under the prevailing circumstances, I did the best I could to save as many lives as possible. Joining the SS was a mistake. I was young. I was on opportunist. And once I joined, there was no way out.’’

While many brave individuals and families risked their lives to help Jews escape genocide, only one man, Oscar Schindler, succeeded in getting Jews out of Auschwitz on the pretext that they were his workers and by bribing the Nazis. He spent millions, all he possessed, to save ``his Jews’’. Schindler died poor.

With the Soviet Army advancing, the Auschwitz officials started destroying documents and evidence of their crimes. They evacuated prisoners in mid-January of 1945. The able-bodied were marched out in columns by the German guards. Many died in the ``Death March’’ and the few thousands who were left behind in prison were liberated on Jan. 27, 1945.

We must know and remember.

Karangalan, gathering time

The boulders in our hearts will quake and break open, the shroud of grief will lift and the sound of wailing will drift away. I make myself say that and believe it will happen indeed.

A terrible season has just passed, a more terrible one we should not expect otherwise we would be mired in grief and hopelessness. But what is hope? It is not hope but mere passive waiting if there is no action, if there is no effort to restore the mountains that collapsed on us, or to find signs of life amidst the flotsam and the jetsam that were swept away and back into our lives. We cannot gripe forever in our comfort zones.

And so we go out and gather, otherwise we scatter.

Did the angels conspire and the gods inspire that now we see people gathering, bothering once again to seek solutions so that this obdurate and benighted nation would move forward and up? Does the Philippines have a future? Does the Philippines have a future with our generation?

The organizers of the Karangalan Conference/Festival ``are confident that the Philippines has a future.’’ When they say future, they mean good, bright.

After a litany of ills, hope comes hurtling: ``Amidst the anger and frustration, there is also the reality of the other Philippines. This is the Philippines of moral strength, courage, vision, initiative, compassion, integrity, political will, socially-oriented businesses, artistic competence, social entrepreneurship, achievement and excellence. It is a reality that is here, right now. It is something not far away but already here in our midst, slowly but surely re-shaping the future of our country for the better.’’ There.



This amazing future unfolds tomorrow, Jan 21. About 2,000 people are expected to join the three-day Karangalan Conference/Festival at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

This conference is also a festival because those who will come will feast because, according to the organizers, last year, the Philippines became one of the most globally awarded countries in the world. Individuals and groups won no less than 10 of the highest global awards for their work in global justice, journalism, environment, culture including music and areas of art, social threefolding as an approach to peaceful society transformation, sports, urban architecture, renewable energy and sustainable towns.

Spokesperson Nicanor Perlas said this will be the first time globally and nationally awarded Filipinos from the three key spheres of society—economy, politics and culture—are coming together to highlight and advance ``the reality of another, much better Philippines.’’ Perlas was a winner of the 2003 Right Livelihood Award, the UN Environmental Global 500 Award and the Outstanding Filipino Award.

I had to squint when I read the roster of speakers and the dazzling global awards after their names. Lahat premyado. Honestly, I’d also want to listen to a really outstanding barangay captain. And I could not help thinking whether Aeta leader Carling has been invited to listen, this G-stringed find from the foot of Mount Pinatubo who has himself done a lot of speaking and reaching out to the original nations of the world. But I digress.

Karangalan means having honor and dignity; it comes from the word dangal or honor.

The goals of the conference (take a deep breath) are: to highlight and celebrate the striving and successes of many Filipinos for a better way of life and country; to empower Filipinos, through an experience of dozens of exciting initiatives, with a sense of vision and hope for our country and our country’s future; to create a social space where diverse, prominent and little-known initiatives can come together and cross-fertilize each other; to enable participants and the larger public to have a glimmer of the present form and future possibilities of the visionary Philippines that is emerging in our midst; to encourage the launching of new initiatives for a better Philippines.

The participants will experience the reality of ``the other, more hopeful Philippines’’ through a lectures, workshops, exhibits and artistic performances. As far as I know, the convenor group, a mix of more than 20 NGOs and institutions, are not identified with any political party. Participants will have to pay a fee (at least P300 a day to cover costs) but students and the impoverished can get discounts. To know more, log on to www.truthforce.info.

Karangalan is not the only gathering this season. ABS-CBN recently convened the ``Forum for the Filipino Future.’’ And today, the three-day Global Filipino Networking Convention in Cebu City begins. Its call: ``Enshrine yourself in the gallery of heroes. Join our stand in pushing our country forward.’’ It’s full-page ad in the Inquirer has a someone girl asking: ``Reklamo…puro reklamo. Pero, ’Tay, ano ba ang nagawa n’yo para sa bayan?’’ Aray. Two weeks from now we will have the 2nd Philippine Summit of the News Media (``Media Nation 2: Owning Up.’’)

I noticed that media and telecommunications biggies are sometimes sponsors of big gatherings. And where one media or corporate giant is a sponsor its major competitor is not likely to be there. ABS-CBN will not cover a GMA7-sponsored to-do and vise-versa. Incidentally, someone from ABS-CBN is co-emceeing at Karangalan. I hope the other networks will not excuse themselves.

Will this three-day Karangalan gathering go down to ground level? Yes, Perlas said, the participants will make ways to spread this awareness of ``another, much better Philippines’’ that is in all of us.

And so, to the future indeed. Here’s looking at you.

Post-traumatic stress disorder

For those involved in the rescue, relief and rehabilitation operations in the aftermath of the recent series of disasters here and abroad, the realization that the problem is more than material and economic could be daunting. The psychological trauma of survivors could be paralyzing and the effects could be long-lasting if these are not addressed immediately and properly.

The recent killer landslides in our own home ground and the post-Christmas tsunami that killed more than 165,000 people in 11 countries and left millions bereaved and bereft have to mean something and result in something. Otherwise, is it all despair?

Last Monday we wrote about the experiences of a team of clinical psychologists who fanned out to several disaster areas in the aftermath of the 1990 earthquake, the 1991 Mount Pinatubo and 1993 Mayon Volcano eruptions. The team, called HEART (Holistic and Empathetic Approach to Rehabilitation and Training), was composed of Ateneo University masteral and doctoral psychology students led by Dr. Ma. Lourdes A. Carandang, a seasoned clinical psychologist, researcher and author. The effort was funded by Unicef.

One of the fruits of their experiences was the book ``Pakikipagkapwa-Damdamin: Accompanying Survivors of Disasters’’ (Bookmark, 1996). The book is now being updated and redesigned for reprinting. It is a rich source of insights and methodology for those helping survivors to cope with their trauma and find meaning in what is left of their lives. Empowering them is even more daunting. Note that I avoid using the word victim.
That tongue-twister in the title means empathy and more. If sympathy is pakikiramay, empathy goes farther and deeper.



As a journalist who uses words as a medium and as one who had trained in clinical psychology and worked with the breaking and the broken once upon a time, I could not help but note the therapeutic power of words and story-telling. Naming the pain, saying and sharing one’s pain, beholding the pain of others—these could be the beginning of healing.

For post-disaster rescuers and caregivers who must wade into the ocean of human sorrow and who might feel overwhelmed, bewildered and clueless, the book offers not only how-tos but comfort as well. Arellano’s book also deals with the burden and burnout of the caregivers.

This ``Diagnostic Critera for Post Traumatic Disorder’’ crafted by psychologists and psychiatrists (and by the HEART team) could equip those out there in dealing with the pain of survivors as well as there own.

A. the person has experienced an event that is outside the range of usual human experience and that would be markedly distressing to almost anyone, that is, serious threat to one’s life or physical integrity; serious threat or harm to one’s children, spouse, or other close relatives and friends; sudden destruction of one’s home or community; or seeing another person who has recently been or was being seriously injured or killed as the result of an accident or physical violence.

B. The traumatic event is persistently re-experienced in at least one of the following ways:
1. the recurrent and intrusive distressing recollections of the event (in young children, repetitive play in which themes or aspects of the trauma are expressed)
2. recurrent distressing dreams of the event
3. sudden acting or feeling as if the traumatic event were recurring (including a sense of reliving the experience, illusions hallucinations, and dissociative flashback episodes, even those that occur upon awakening or when intoxicated)
4. intense psychological distress at exposure to events that symbolize or resemble an aspect of the traumatic event, including anniversaries of the trauma

C. Persistent avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma or numbing of general responsiveness (not present before the trauma), as indicated by at least three of the following
1. efforts to avoid thoughts or feelings associated with the trauma
2. efforts to avoid activities or situations that arouse recollections of the trauma
3. inability to recall an important aspect of the trauma (psychogenic amnesia)
4. markedly diminished interest in significant activities in young children, loss of recently acquired developmental skills such as toilet training or language skills
5. feeling of detachment or estrangement from others
6. restricted range of affect, that is, being unable to have loving feelings
7. sense of a foreshortened future, that is, does not expect to have a career, marriage, or children, or a long life

D. Persistent symptoms of increased arousal (not present before the trauma) as indicated by at least two of the following
1. difficulty falling asleep
2. irritability or outbursts of anger
3. difficulty concentrating
4. hypervigilance
5. exaggerated startle response
6. physiological reactivity upon exposure to events that symbolize or resemble an aspect of the traumatic event (for example, a woman who was raped in an elevator breaks out in sweat when entering any elevator)

E. Duration of the disturbance (symptoms in B, C and D) of at least one month.
Note: sometimes the onset of these symptoms could be delayed.

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May I say again that there are websites that accept ``tsunami donations’’ via credit card, among them, www.unicef.org, www.ifrc.org and www.catholicrelief.org. Some people I know who are not internet-literate sent money and asked me to do it for them. I was touched. Unicef instantly issues a receipt in the donor’s name via the card holder’s email.

Now please do it yourself.

Poor helping poor

When the poor give to their fellow poor they give of their very substance and in so doing, become materially diminished in a way. There is the Filipino saying ``Isusubo na lang, ibinigay pa.’’ Roughly translated, what one is about to put into one’s mouth, one gives up for someone more needy. Giving even if it hurts--literally. That is often said of mothers of impoverished families.

I am reminded of birds and other wildlife who hunt prey, masticate their catch and then regurgitate the partly digested stuff into the open mouths of their young. You see a lot of these magnificent images on wildlife TV. How literal, how from-the-gut this giving is. But we are not wildlife and as humans we go through a complicated non-gut process in feeding others who are not our own.

Many who have much also give much but they do not hurt as much or may not even hurt at all. Millions of pesos, hundreds of thousands, a few thousands. All that changes are the numbers, not the digits, in the givers’ bank accounts and they may not even notice the change, much less feel it. They will not count the cost. They will still eat their favorite food, ride in one car at a time, fly first class. They are not diminished, nothing of their substance has been given up or taken way. Still, they are to be appreciated. Actress Sandra bullock just donated $1 million to the tsunami victims.

But the poor also give. They may not count the cost but they will certainly feel the cost.



Last week, at Christmastide, a group consisting of members of the Alay Kapwa Christian Communities went to the disaster-stricken towns of Real and Infanta in Quezon. I tagged along. They were women mostly, all coming from poor urban and rural communities served by the Good Shepherd Sisters. They brought with them a big jeepload of relief goods. Each bundle had the staples--rice, sugar, coffee, milk, canned goods, pieces of clothing.

Included too were packs of spaghetti and meat sauce which, I was told, were part of the Christmas ``bundles of joy’’ that Alay Kapwa poor families had received from benefactors. Now they were giving them up to the more needy.

They even raised some P11,000 from their own pockets. They have been so lucky, they admitted. The late Sr. Christine Tan, whom we all missed during this trip, had poured out her life for them. They knew how loved they were, now it was their turn to reach out.

We went in two vehicles that breezed through the zigzag until we reached that part in Real where the mountains had dumped mud, huge rocks, uprooted trees, logs and remains of homes in the last days of November. Already a month since the killer-landslides struck and road clearing was still going on.

How terrible indeed, the women said, to be poor, homeless, hungry and bereaved. Most of the time, while we were viewing the ruins, there was only awe and silence. If there was something here they wanted, the women said, it was the fresh mountain air along the way which city folks did not have. We should bring home mountain air in a bottle, someone quipped, and we all laughed.

Infanta town center was a wreck and groaning in the mud. Bishop Rolando Tria Tirona’s residence (made mostly of bamboo) was a mess. Our shock was eased by our brief rest and lunch at the Carmelite monastery garden. This was not your regular monastery with grills and cloisters. This was a lovely contemplative community of nuns minus the formidable walls, attuned and open to the poor and to nature. That was how it was begun during the time of now retired Bishop Julio Labayen (himself a Carmelite), this is how it continues to be.

During lunch the nuns told us about the mountains roaring and how their place became a refuge for those who had to flee. Everything the nuns could lay their hands on they had to give away to the wet, cold, hungry and homeless. Frightened was an understatement.

The Alay Kapwa group had to decide whether to leave the bundles at the social action center for centralized distribution or hand them over themselves to residents of a barangay. The group opted for the latter which was a more complicated process. They wanted to be skin to skin, they said, with their fellow poor even if briefly. So to Sitio Maypulot we went.

This was not their first time to reach out. When Mount Pinatubo erupted and buried portions of Central Luzon in lahar, the Alay Kapwa poor helped their fellow poor rebuild their homes. Their efforts were small and unnoticed. They only had their hearts and hands.

I am not romanticizing the poor here. They are not the easiest to work and live with, as the nuns might tell you, but the poor have their great moments and they too have shining spaces in their souls.

Our conversation often dwelled on the tsunami that struck the day after Christmas and claimed the lives of more than 150,000 people and brought sorrow to millions in Asia and parts of Africa.

Are we too busy with our own? Do we feel too small to help? I remember the series I wrote in 1998 on the overstaying Vietnamese refugees no rich nation of their choice wanted to take. The Philippines offered them citizenship and, with the help of the Catholic bishops, built them a permanent community in Palawan. Thank you, Philippines, the Vietnoys said. I wept.

We are a poor nation but we are not a stingy people.

Help! Eager to help the tsunami victims but can’t find a local fund campaign? Log on to www.unicef.org, www.ifrc.org or www.catholicrelief.org or contact pnrchq@redcross.org.ph. You could use your credit card. It’s fast and easy. But shouldn’t we do a piso-piso collection? If one billion of the six billion people on this planet would each give a dollar…