Opting In vs. Opting Out

"Opting In" vs. "Opting Out" - The Holocaust Center's Director of Education, Ilana Cone Kennedy, responds to apathy towards the Holocaust and genocide in her article "Opting In." In the "Opinions" section in the JT News.

Click here to find both articles.

Opting in
Ilana Cone Kennedy
Special to JTNews


Why it’s important to humanize and bring awareness of the Holocaust and all genocides

I work at a Holocaust Center. My daily language consists of the most obscene of numbers, concentration camps, death, suffering, and incredible personal miracles.

I am just about to complete my seventh year as the director of education. When I tell people where I work, I am often met with looks of pity or silence, and then a change of subject. “Isn’t that depressing?” is the most frequent question I receive.

Until recently, I would answer that I am inspired daily by the educators with whom I work. The teachers in our schools who teach this subject — a subject that is not required or mandated — are creative, insightful, and motivated. Seven years later I am only more impressed by their efforts and determination.

However, my answer to the question has changed. The gravity of the Holocaust — of any and all genocides — is severe. The depth of human suffering is beyond description. This tragedy did not end in 1945, but continues in the survivors’ memories, in their children, and in new generations of survivors of more recent genocides. As I type this, there are at least four places in the world on the brink of genocide. No one should suffer so extremely at the hands of another person or group of people. No one.

It’s easier for us to turn the other way, to bury ourselves in our own lives, to glance over the headlines without associating the individuals involved. It is easier because we have no explanation for innocent people being persecuted and suffering so greatly — we know it is unjust, we recognize the absurdity of it all, and this is why we can hardly bear to face it.

I am the mother of two young children. When they were born, as everyone warned me it would, my view of the world changed. I think I was always sensitive to people’s feelings, fears, and to the pain and hurt a person experiences at being rejected, put down, disappointed. After having children of my own, the stories of parents hiding their kids, sending them to safety, holding on to them — all of it was too personal.

The fear experienced by children, parents, grandparents, the grappling with the unknown, the efforts to save loved ones, and even the pursuit of joy that occurred in the worst of conditions — all of this becomes part of the world we live in. We wish this was history, but in fact, people around the world continue these experiences on a daily basis.

No, depressing is not the word I would use. Overwhelming, really, is more like it.I love my job. Many people have heard me say it. I work with the most incredible people — survivors, educators, and a staff of the most driven, intelligent, passionate people.

But, there are days I go home and feel overwhelmed by the suffering, pain, hatred, and ignorance that exists in this world. What can I, one person, do? Sometimes I feel hopeless. Still, I like to think that maybe I’m making a microscopic dent. I’m idealistic, I suppose. I try to live honestly by my values, to practice the things that I tell others Holocaust education imparts: To stand up to intolerance, recognize the dangers of stereotyping, be respectful of each other’s differences, know that your words and actions affect those around you…because really, if I can’t do it, how can I expect anyone else to? All I can do is to try to work toward these lofty ideals and hope that maybe others will find it worthwhile to do so too.

On this Holocaust Remembrance Day, April 11, I am thankful to the survivors for sharing their experiences and for trusting their listeners with their stories. I am thankful to all of those who have made an effort to remember, search for, and hear the stories of those that did not survive. On this day, we must not simply remember, we must feel, and we must act.

Read this article and/or another viewpoint "Opting Out" - click here.

WSHERC exhibit is traveling to...Pennsylvania!

The Holocaust Center's six-panel traveling exhibit, "Stories Among Us: Washington State Connections to the Holocaust," will be traveling to Albright College tomorrow. Albright College is in Reading, PA and the exhibit will be hosted by their Holocaust Resource Center. "Stories Among Us" will be on display in their main library from April 21st until May 10th.

To find out more about the Holocaust Center's traveling exhibits, click here.

Stories of Local Survivors: Frieda S.

In honor of Holocaust Remembrance Week, we will be posting a links to stories of local (Washington State) Holocaust survivors.


Frieda S.


Frieda is standing just to the left of the instructor in the middle of the photo. She is wearing a white shirt.

Why are corners of this photo cut out? Click here to find out about this photo.

~ ~ ~

In 1933, the Nazi party was elected in Germany and Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor. Hitler and the Nazi party quickly put into practice their belief that Germans were “racially superior.” Jewish people were not only defined as “inferior,” but became the primary target for Nazi hatred.

On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland and World War II began. By the end of that same year, Nazi forces occupied Czechoslovakia. For the next 5 years, Nazi forces occupied country after country in Europe.

In 1943, at the age of 14, Frieda was deported to Theresienstadt, a concentration camp in her native country of Czechoslovakia, because she was a “mischling” – half Jewish. Frieda’s mother was not Jewish, but her father was. Against the odds, Frieda survived the Holocaust in Theresienstadt.


"After the war people told me I was lucky to have been sent to Theresienstadt. It was the model camp. Intellectuals, artists and individuals who might someday provide something to the Reich were sent to Theresienstadt. I was sent to Theresienstadt because I was a “Mischling” (half Jewish). I didn’t feel lucky..." Read more of Frieda's story.





Frieda is a member of the Holocaust Center's speakers bureau.

What groups were targeted by the Nazis & their collaborators?

In the week leading up to Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) the Holocaust Center is posting challange questions and discussion topics on Facebook. Join the discussion here or on Facebook.


Today's question:

While Jewish people were the primary target for destruction by the Nazis and their collaborators during the Holocaust, other groups were targeted as well for racial or political reasons. Can you identify one or more of these groups of victims?

Answers:

Poles
Roma/Sinti (Gypsies)
Homosexuals
Handicapped
Jehovah's Witnesses

More details on these victims groups and others who were persecuted click here.

Want more information on Nazi ideology and the reason the Nazis determined these groups "enemies" and "undesirable" - click here.

YOU are invited...

Yom Hashoah
Holocaust Remembrance Day—Community Commemoration
Sunday, April 11, 2010
1:00 pm – 3:30 pm
Stroum Jewish Community Center,

3801 East Mercer Way, Mercer Island

From Generation to Generation

L'Dor V'Dor

1:00 - Moments of Reflection and Reading of the Names
Remember those who perished at the Holocaust Memorial.

1:30 - Kaddish
Event Emcee: Marcie Sillman, KUOW
Join us inside the SJCC to say Kaddish and listen to musical selections from Temple Beth Am’s choir.

2:00 - “How the past leads us forward”
A panel of children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors.

2:45 - “Voices of Hope”
An inspiring play focusing on the Holocaust by SJCC Center Stage, directed by Daniel Alpern.

Also available during the day:
Holocaust Center resources of interest to continuing generations.
Be a Part of the Butterfly Project! Make butterflies in memory of the children of the Holocaust. The butterflies will be sent to the Theresienstadt Museum in the Czech Republic.

Free and open to the public. NO RSVP required. Please call the Holocaust Center at 206-774-2201 or email info@wsherc.org for more information.

Holocaust Center offers programs in the Tri-Cities

On March 18 and 19 the Holocaust Center offered two programs in the Tri-Cities area.

"Stories from a Holocaust Survivor - Frieda S." and "Creating Change: Teaching about the Holocaust and Genocide."

Almost 300 individuals from the community came out on a Thursday evening to hear Frieda share her experiences.

The following day, 35 teachers from around the region attended the intensive all-day teacher seminar. Sessions included: an overview of the Holocaust, rescue and resistance, camps and ghettos, and a special presenation by Dr. John Roth "Situating the Holocaust in a Genocidal World."

The Holocaust Center sincerely thanks the Red Lion Hotel for their sponsorship. Thank you also to the Shemanksi Foundations, the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous, and the Claims Conference for generous funding to make these programs possible. And of course, a big thank you to Jennifer Gilliland and Kiona Benton-City High School for hosting these programs and presenters Brad Veile, Stephen Pagaard, and Dr. John Roth.

See more photos on our Facebook page!

Giving Lessons in Social Justice

Literature teacher Linda McGowen wants students to see what they read is often more than a story - she invited Holocaust survivor Tom L to her classroom.

Read complete article

Debbie Cafazzo / News Tribute

Published 03/11/10 8:19 am

Talking about the Holocaust is hard, emotional work, says teacher Lisa McGowan. But she believes it’s important work.

That’s why she devotes about a month of every school year to exploring the historic tragedy through literature with her sophomore English students at Tacoma Baptist High School. She also helps students understand how what happened during the 1940s relates to their world today.

“These kids are the last generation who will be able to hear the (survivor) stories firsthand,” McGowan said.

In time, all the survivors of the Nazi concentration camps will die. Then, only the young people who have heard or read their stories will be left to remember.

McGowan’s sophomores read “Night,” the haunting memoir by Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel. They learn about propaganda and stereotyping, how the Nazis employed the techniques, and how the techniques appear in modern media. They produce art projects that relate to themes from the Holocaust. They write essays and submit them to a scholarship contest.

McGowan said growing up as a white girl on the Colville reservation in Eastern Washington helped shape her views on the importance of teaching teens literature that focuses on social justice.

Although she spends a lot of time on the Holocaust, she also has her students read other works that explore inequities throughout world history. Read article...

Thomas Blatt, Holocaust Survivor, Speaks to Students in Coeur d'Alene

Holocaust Survivor Shares His Story
By David Cole/Coeur d'Alene Press


COEUR d'ALENE -An 82-year-old Holocaust survivor who escaped the grip of a Nazi German extermination camp in 1943 told students Friday at Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy he speaks out about his experiences to tell the world what happened.

"When you come face to face with a survivor, history comes alive," Thomas "Toivi" Blatt told students. The school has 550 students in grades six through 12.

"Having been born into the wrong religion was a deadly sin," Blatt said.

Blatt participated in the revolt at the extermination camp Sobibor, which was located near the present-day eastern border of Poland. The camp had gas chambers and was sited near a railway line in a wooded, and thinly populated area, he said.

He broke out of Sobibor during the prisoner revolt in October 1943, when there were about 600 prisoners in the camp. Approximately 300 prisoners escaped during the revolt, as they killed guards, cut through barbed wire, and ran through the minefield surrounding the camp, he said.

Many were killed by guards, gunmen perched in towers on the compound, and land mines.
Blatt, as he sought freedom, was betrayed by a farmer who had hid him for a time, shooting the boy in the face. The bullet remains lodged in Blatt's jaw to this day, he said.

Blatt was 15 years old when he arrived at the camp, and was there for six months, he said. Today, Blatt lives in Santa Barbara, Calif.

He told the students to "accept, understand other groups," regardless of their religion, race or other differences.

In difficult times, he said, "Don't look on someone else to blame." ...Read complete article



From the Ashes of Sobibor - Thomas Blatt's Memoir
(available to borrow from the Holocaust Center's library and included in the High School Teaching Trunks)

Roma/Sinti (Gypsies) during the Holocaust and in Today's World

Morgan Ahern, Founder of Lolo Diklo/Red Bandanna: Roma Against Racism – an organization with a mission to make people aware of the real lives and history of the Roma/Sinti people - spoke to a group of educators last week at the Holocaust Center. The presentation was offered for the Holocaust Center's Education Advisory Committee and as a followup for participants of the Holocaust Center's recent teacher seminar in January.

Morgan Ahern’s grandmother, Jenneroze, and her extended family lived in Europe when the Nazi party came to power. As Nazi domination spread, Jenneroze began to plan a safety route for her family. But no countries were accepting “Gypsy” refugees...

The Roma/Sinti people, “Gypsies” as they are commonly called, left their native India circa 1000. Since their arrival in Europe in the 1300s, they have faced discrimination and prejudice. In Romanes (the language spoken by Roma) the Holocaust is called Porrajmos, which means “The Great Devouring.” Approximately 60% of Europe’s Roma/Sinti were murdered under the Third Reich. Morgan will speak about her family’s experience as Roma/Sinti during the Holocaust and the continued persecution of the Roma/Sinti people both in the United States and in Europe today.

In 2008, Morgan Ahern contributed to the Holocaust Center’s series “Stories Among Us: Personal Accounts of Genocide” which was published in the Seattle Times in partnership with the Newspapers In Education (NIE) Program. Read "Morgan's Story" from the "Stories Among Us" NIE series.

For more information about the Romani people, or for a list of movies and websites please visit
The Lolo Diklo blog at http://lolodiklo.blogspot.com/.

Morgan is a member of the Holocaust Center's Speakers Bureau.

One of the newest members of the Holocaust Center's Speakers Bureau - George B.

Holocaust survivor living in Snohomish County ready to tell his story
Everett Herald
By Julie Muhlstein

George Beykovsky came to Snohomish County by way of Ecuador, but his story is neither of here nor there.

The 78-year-old Everett man is a Holocaust survivor.He never spent time in a concentration camp, but his family's flight from Slovakia in 1939 is one example of how the diaspora of Jews during World War II affected countless people.

While researching his family's history, he has tracked down and contacted relatives in Canada, in Great Britain, and many in Israel.

“They all scattered,” he said.

It's a story Beykovsky has only been telling since the 2006 shootings at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle. After gunman Naveed Afzal Haq's rampage injured several people and killed one woman, Beykovsky decided to make a donation to the Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center....Read complete article

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20100221/NEWS01/702219933

Thank you Red Lion Hotels!

A giant thank you to Red Lion Hotels for their incredible support of Holocaust and genocide education and teacher training in the state of Washington!

Special thanks to:
Todd Thoreson, Regional Vice President of Hotel Operations, Red Lion Hotels Corporation
Jan Simon Aridj, President and CEO, Washington State Hotel & Lodging Association
Ian Napier, General Manager, Red Lion Hotels, Kennewick and Richland

Hester K., Holocaust Survivor, Speaks to Students at Lake Washington Girls Middle School

My girlfriend was my first rescuer. She was all of 15 years old. I will always remember her courage.

- Hester K. was 13 years old when her hometown in Holland was occupied by the Nazis in 1942.

(Photo: Hester, back row in the middle in a blue sweater, at Lake Washington Girls Middle School)

Yesterday Hester spoke to Lindsey Mutschler's students at Lake Washington Girls Middle School in Seattle.

Ms. Mutschler arranges for a survivor from the Holocaust Center's Speakers Bureau to come and speak to her students each year. This year they also used a Holocaust teaching trunk and plan to (again) participate in the Holocaust Center's Writing and Art Contest. (Each year LWGMS has seen an overwhelming number of winning entries.)

The Holocaust Center thanks Ms. Lindsey Mutschler and the LWGMS for their incredible work and commitment to Holocaust and genocide education.

300 students listen to Robert H. share his story of survival

300 4th and 5th grade students crowded into the Seattle Public Library's Microsoft Auditorium to hear speakers bureau member and Holocaust survivor Robert H. share his story.

All of the students are participating in the Seatle Public Library's Global Reading Challenge. The Global Reading Challenge this year includes the book Vive La Paris, a story about a young African American girl and her witty piano teacher, who is also a Holocaust survivor.

Students came from across Seattle - Orca Elementary, Roxhill Elementary, and Beacon Hill Elementary schools.

Special thanks to Mary Palmer, Children's Librarian and head of the Global Reading Challenge at the Seattle Public Library for her dedication and organization of this great event.

Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

The United Nations General Assembly Designated January 27th an annual international day of commemoration to honor Holocaust victims. January 27th is the day associated with the liberation of Auschwitz.

To the thousands of survivors who were on the death march out of Auschwitz, this is a controversial day.

Israel and the United States continue to observe Holocaust Remembrance Day on the date assigned on the Hebrew calendar, the 27th of Nissan. (This year, that is April 11, 2010.) Nonetheless, the UN's move is momentous as it urges Member States to develop educational programs to instill the memory of the tragedy in future generations to prevent genocide from occurring again...read UN document.

What about Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom Hashoah) in April?

After the horrors of the Holocaust, Jews wanted a day to memorialize this tragedy. But what day? For two years, the date was debated. Finally, in 1950, compromises and bargaining began. The 27th of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar,* was chosen. This date falls beyond Passover but within the time span of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising.

On April 12, 1951, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) proclaimed Yom Hashoah U'Mered HaGetaot (Holocaust and Ghetto Revolt Remembrance Day) to be the 27th of Nisan. The name was later simplified to Yom Hashoah. This year Holocaust Remembrance Day is on April 11, 2010.

Each year the Holocaust Center organizes the Yom Hashoah: Holocaust Remembrance Day Community Program. This year the program will be on April 11, 2010 at the Stroum Jewish Community Center, Mercer Island. This year's program will include: musical and theatrical performances, a display of student artwork, a memorial service, and a panel of children of Holocaust survivors sharing thoughts and experiences. More information available soon at www.wsherc.org/programs. Free and open to the public.

*The Hebrew calendar is based on the lunar cycle. The months are shorter than those on the solar calendar (the calendar we commonly use), so a date on the Hebrew calendar does not consistently match up with a day on the solar calendar. For example, the 27th of Nisan is not always April 11. In 2011, Yom Hashoah (the 27th of Nisan) fall on May 1.

What does the word Holocaust mean?

The term Holocaust originally meant a sacrifice that was totally burned by fire. The Hebrew word Shoah, which means "catastrophe" or "destruction," is also used to refer to the Holocaust.

More information and teaching materials for Holocaust Remembrance: http://www.wsherc.org/teaching/commemoration/intro.aspx


Stories of local Holocaust survivors:
http://www.wsherc.org/center/survivorstories/survivorstories.aspx


Holocaust Writing and Art Contest:
http://www.wsherc.org/writingcontest/contest.aspx

Photo by Nicole Kahn. Holocaust Memorial on Mercer Island.

Clothier Made Nazi Uniforms

An interesting piece of information, courtesy of our Holocaust-guru, Bob H...

Hugo Boss Acknowledges Link to Nazi Regime
Published: August 15, 1997

FRANKFURT, Aug. 14— Before Hugo Boss A.G. became known for classic men's suits and flashy ties, the clothing manufacturer made uniforms for the Nazis, a company spokeswoman acknowledged today.

The company said it had become aware of the dealings with the Nazis after the name of its founder, Hugo Boss, who died in 1948, appeared on a list of dormant accounts released by Swiss bankers last month.

''Right now we are trying to get a handle on the situation,'' ...read more