Natália:

Our trip to Krakow, after reading Samantha Power: “A Problem From Hell”: America and The Age of Genocide, served to underscore the understanding of the cruelties that took place, but also the challenges of recognizing, and warning about them.

In the chapter, Power mentions both the Armenian genocide and the Holocaust - the response to such atrocities was to not believe in the scary reality. She mentions that Nazi terror was claimed to be only a matter of rumors or propaganda because individuals did not want to believe the unbelievable pain and suffering that was happening. Brave individuals such as Raphael Lemkin, who was mentioned in the reading, tried to spread the word and the truth about the crimes committed within the walls of concentration camps like Auschwitz, which we got the chance to experience, but also outside of them. He was the one, who coined the term "genocide," as well. For me, visiting Auschwitz for the second time was even more powerful, having the additional knowledge from our classes, but also being older. Seeing the museums and memorials served as a reminder to fully acknowledge what had happened, to confront the reality and learn from it. But this is not just a question of the past. Such a lesson is crucial even today - let us look at Gaza, in regards to which many human rights organizations have declared the situation a genocide, and yet, some parts of the world are not able to confront this part of reality yet..