By COLlive reporter
U.S. Senator Steve Daines and Montana Shliach Rabbi Chaim Bruk traveled together to Poland to visit the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial in Oświęcim, the site of the Nazi concentration and extermination camp where 1 million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust.
It was the first visit to Auschwitz for Daines and Rabbi Bruk, along with members of the senator’s staff who accompanied them.
The trip, nearly three years in the making, offered a sobering encounter with one of history’s darkest chapters.
For Rabbi Bruk, the experience was particularly emotional. His maternal grandfather, Rabbi Shimon Goldman, was born in Poland and was the sole survivor of his family. His parents, six siblings, nieces and nephews were all murdered by the Nazis when he was just 15 years old.
“Reading about it, watching documentaries, isn’t the same as walking on the blood-drenched grounds, gazing at the barracks in which my relatives died of starvation and illness, and experiencing the soul-crushing gas chambers,” Rabbi Bruk said.
“The visit will remain etched in my heart forever and serve as a catalyst to teach about love and humanity.”
Daines, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation, described the visit as a profound experience.
“It was very meaningful to visit Poland with my friend Rabbi Bruk,” Daines said.
“Seeing Auschwitz firsthand was a profound and sobering experience. It was a stark reminder of the evil genocide committed by the Nazis against the Jewish people. 1.1 million innocent men, women, and children were murdered at Auschwitz alone.”
“I thank Rabbi Bruk for his many years of friendship and for accompanying me on this visit,” the senator added.
During his time in Poland, Rabbi Bruk also had the opportunity to visit several locations in the northeastern part of the country connected to his grandfather’s life before the Holocaust.
The journey brought him face to face with the history of his own family and the immense loss suffered by European Jewry.
