Youth Hostel in Oświęcim/Auschwitz

for STERN
by Aliona Kardash

Are you still saying "Jew" for fun now? In Oświęcim, the town the nazis called Auschwitz, there is now only one youth hostel. 40 rooms and 115 beds, red roof tiles and white facade. It opened 36 years ago, and almost every German group staying in Oświęcim for more than a day has stayed there since. How do you prevent the memory from fading, how the years have slipped between the past and the present? Where, if not here, can we find the answer to this question.