Holocaust survivors tell students gruesome story
A group of Warren County High School students got a sobering look at a particularly dark time in world history when Holocaust survivors Eric and Eva Rosenfeld visited the school Monday and talked about their experiences and how important it is not to forget those days.
Having been born Jewish in Germany during the bleak years of the Holocaust, both Eva and Eric had their families and their very lives torn apart by the government sanctioned racial hatred and the genocidal policies imposed on their country by Adolph Hitler’s Third Reich. Eric and Eva, through sheer providence, somehow managed to avoid the concentration camps, though both lost family members to those abominable deathtraps where literally millions of lives were forfeit. Eric’s mother was one of those who perished in Auschwitz, one of the most notorious death camps.
Some have let those lives pass from memory over the intervening years. It seems so long ago.
But Eric and Eva have not forgotten. They haven’t forgotten their loved ones. They haven’t forgotten their Jewish brethren who fell prey to those evil days. And both of these Holocaust survivors feel it is important that no one forget what happened in Germany all those years ago.
That’s why these two articulate and caring individuals took time out from their lives to come to Warren County High School Monday to talk about their experiences and why is important to remember.
Eva talked about why she shared her life with the students.
“Young people nowadays have to know not to discriminate,” she said, “toward anybody, because that will start the ball rolling. You still have some groups in this country, like the skinheads, who will teach hate and prejudice.”
Eric agreed the past must be kept alive to secure the future.
“Now the children are aware that something like that has happened,” Eric said, “so hopefully in the future they can act upon it and make sure that there’s no discrimination, that people respect each other, don’t look down on each other.”
The visit actually came about as part of a National History Day competition, according to WCHS teacher Monti Hillis. Five WCHS freshmen, Jessica Adcock, Matthew Hibdon, Judith Rivera, Dustin Hirzel and Cody Fults, put together a play based on the Holocaust, along with a paper and bibliography, and presented their work at the competition at Middle Tennessee State University recently, placing second in the region. The group will move on to the state competition at the University of Memphis on April 9.
The students were inspired by a variety of sources.
“There was a special about the 60th anniversary of Auschwitz on TV that we all watched,” said Hibdon. “It was how they came through this and how Hitler treated them. It was just awful and we were all deeply moved by it.”
Rivera had seen a friend’s presentation on the subject and found the subject compelling.
“The stories she told,” Rivera said, “and the pictures, it was just so emotional and I really wanted to study more about it and do something on it.”
Hillis said she has always been interested in the Holocaust and felt it was a good way to show the horrific effect of racial prejudice.
“I think this is one of the most important subjects we teach,” said Hillis, “because it teaches tolerance.”
Fellow teacher Julie Wood felt the Rosenfelds put a personal face on the Holocaust for the students.
“You read it in the history book and it just seems to be so impersonal,” Wood said. “Like it happened to someone else, but when you actually can talk to people who lived through it, it takes on a whole lot more meaning. Plus, it can happen again. It’s happening in other places around the world. People are being killed because of their religious convictions, so we have to be aware, always. That’s why I think it’s important.”