Jewish, Muslim women group visits Auschwitz

Shelia Sonnenschein, who will be at the Renewal Center Sept. 19, traveled with 50 Jewish and Muslim women from across the U.S. this summer on the Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom (SOSS) Building Bridges trip to Germany and Poland. After visiting mosques and synagogues in Berlin, they traveled by train to Warsaw and then by bus to Krakow to face the inevitable: Auschwitz, the notorious Nazi death camp.

The Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom, which has chapters in Kansas City, invites Muslim and Jewish women to meet in each others’ homes, form friendships and build trust. The gatherings happen monthly.

Writing about the trip to Germany and Poland in the Kansas City Jewish Chronicle, Sonnenschein said, “The purpose of the trip was to witness what happens when hate is unchecked and to understand what we can do today to ensure it doesn’t happen again, to anyone.”

“Praying together, with all our hearts, brought tears to everyone’s eyes, and that helped bring the tears I needed to shed,” Sonnenschein wrote.  “I cried for what the worst of humanity brought; I cried for the best of humanity — the innocent Jews and the women standing together to honor their memory.”

Read the full article here: Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom Builds Bridges in Germany and Poland.

Sonnenschein will be at the Renewal Center Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. to discuss the work of the Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom and their trip to Germany and Poland this summer. If you want to attend, register at the bottom of this page.

Pictured above is the Sonnenschein family, Gabriella (from left), Pearl, Sheila and Ken, in the Kanada buidling at Birkenau, or Auschwitz II, following the Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom memorial service there this summer.