July 11 Afternoon was all about testimonies. We heard from 4 survivors all with different stories from being hidden in a convent for several years, to a woman Ava who is a Schindler Jew. Her stories of luck and circumstances were riveting . she had an encounter with Ameon Goetz who found her in this bathtub because her mother ( who was a favored servant due to her ironing abilities) brought her into Goetz villa when he was not there- but like a movie he came back early. For some unknown reason he was amused and neither Ava nor her mother suffered for this. Her testimony can be found on Yad Vashem web site. The evening we were treated to a tour of the underground tunnels under the Kotel wall. It was very interesting and daunting as we saw one of the largest cut stones in the world which weighs (1 stone) the same as several 747 jets. How they moved it remains a mystery, We walked the aqueducts which brought water to the city, and saw a model as to what the city at the time of the 2nd temple looked like . Once we returned several of my new friends and I had a pot luck dinner on the terrace. I am saying hello to Michelle's daughter who I understand is following me!!! thanks.

July 11,2012 We are at lunch break and I thought it would be best to write a bit about this morning. Ephraim Kaye took us through the most difficult part of this conference "The Final Solution" We went through the death process from the Eingintsgruppen to the labor camps, concentration camps and extermination camps. We went through three basic questions: Who gave the order to killed the Jews, When did it begin and Who are the people responsible. All difficult questions. We looked at many books including Ordinary Men, which I use in class, and many others I may have to add to my library. Ephraim talked about his experiences having fought in 2 wars in Israel, and yet believes he , and most he knows were not capable of committing mass murder- as is one of the theories that we are all capable of becoming mass murderers in certain circumstances. After lunch we will have testimonies from four survivors. Tonight we will tour the Kotel but from the underground tunnels

July 9 Although the day is not over I wanted to explain a bit about today's lectures. The first two were by Dr. Yaavov Lozowick, who gave a compelling view of Nazi racial ideology and the persecution of the Jews from 1933-39 in Germany. What was both compelling and disturbing was his explanation on how an idea on a continuum scale can be acceptable one one side ( such as a person being Nationalistic) to an extreme of racism, while both ideas stem from the same point; hence people believed from the 19th century that Jews were a non people and therefore did not warrant to be treated as 'humans' Yes they were humans as opposed to animals however they were on the far side of the continuum. He continued with a lecture on 1933-39 and what was very telling was the explanation on how Hitler operated. Essentially the people who could get a 'meeting' with him were the ones whose ideas w3ere given a nod or not. In the case of Kristalnacht Goebbels whispered in Hitler's ear that it would b e a good idea to hit the Jews hard after the murder of the low level Nazi by a Jewish youth. He agreed. The irony was that Goering also met with Hitler afterwards to say it was a BAD idea since ll the property destroyed was German! and would fall into German aryan hands once the law of possession too hold. In fact there were many Jews who had liability insurance and since so much glass was broken it was costly to replace since thee were no Glass makers in Germany- closes one was Belgium. The second lecture was by Yale educated Dr Rachel Perry and dealt with art. The degenerate art exhibit of those works Nazi's deemed unworthy. Artists like Chagall were looked at as degenerate. The display of this art was in a dirty small space and was free to the public where as the museum for Great German Art was housed in a beautiful venue. In addition over 3 million people viewed the degenerate art as opposed to 400,00 who paid to see Great German Art.

July 9 Pls excuse some of my typos and also the date for the visit to the Christian sites was on July 7

July 8 A beautiful day spent in Tel Aviv. First going to Independence hall the site of the first home in TA established by Disengoff , who became mayor as well,the house became an art gallery and most importantly the site where David Ben Gurion presented the constitution declaring a Jewish State. We went to the musuem honoring the Palmach and then had the day free to explore

the beach

July 8 Today was a day dedicated to my Christan friends. We traveled to the Church of the Annunciation where Mary ( whose name was Miriam) spoke to the angel. We went on to the place where Jesus gave his sermon and to where he spent most of his years in the Jewish town of Capernaum. The ruins date back to the time of Jesus ant the temple that remains is built on top of the temple where Jesus preached. We saw artifacts indicting that this was a Jewish town The "Star of David" is for decoration and did not become a symbol of the Jewish people until the 20th sentury. Ther Menorah , however WAS a symbol and proves that at the time of Jesus this place was Jewish. We went on a boat ride on the sea of Gailee followed by a jaunt into the Jordan river. A hot day but very interesting.