Excerpted from “Why Bernie Kept Going Back to Auschwitz” article adapted from writing by Zen Peacemakers founder Bernie Tetsugen Glassman.
When you come to Auschwitz, stay a while, and begin to listen to all the voices of that terrible universe — the voices that are none other than you — then something happens. During a retreat, a man of Jewish descent living in Denmark stood up one evening and spoke about forgiving those who had perpetrated cruelties at Auschwitz. A short while later I stood up and suggested: “And then what? Is that the end of it? Or is there something else to be done?”
If I really bear witness, if I become all the voices of Auschwitz, then it is myself that I am forgiving. If I see that at every moment a part of me is destroying while another part is being destroyed. A part of me goes hungry while another eats to excess. A part of me is paralyzed and a part of me takes action. Then it makes no sense to stay in the place of blame and guilt, of anger and accusation.
When I begin to see that all these parts are me, I can begin to take care of the situation.
When we’re bearing witness to Auschwitz, we’re doing nothing other than bearing witness to aspects of ourselves. It’s no different when we bear witness to poverty, homelessness, hunger, and disease. We see how one part of us does something, and another part of us suffers.
If we get stuck in anger and in guilt, then we’re paralyzed, we can’t act. When we see that all these demons are nothing other than us, we can actually take action. We can begin to take care of the other, who is none other than our self.
~ Bernie Tetsugen Glassman
Join us in Bearing Witness this November
Zen Peacemakers from all over the world — Jews and Poles and Germans, Palestinians and Israelis, Buddhists and Christians and Atheists, descendants of victims and descendants of perpetrators — will gather in Auschwitz-Birkenau this November to bear witness to the joy and suffering of life together.
We invite you to join us.
Scholarships are available, and guidance for Raising a Mala to support travel and retreat costs.
Bearing Witness Retreat in Auschwitz-Birkenau
November 15-21, 2026
Oświęcim, Poland
Learn more and register here
Attend an Information Session:
Wednesday, September 2nd
12:00 - 1:30 pm US Eastern
Online - Open Q&A - All are Welcome
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