This week, on February 23 and 24, seniors at the John Carroll School culminated their unit of Holocaust studies with the annual class trip to Arlington National Cemetery and the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., followed by our annual Holocaust Remembrance Day. Representing the class of 2015, seniors Ashley Hunter and Julian Meares led fellow classmates Joe Dotterweich, Ola Ekundayo, Jake Kahoe, and Chad Skokowski in a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Following a very chilly tour of the cemetery, seniors along with parent, staff, and faculty chaperones lunched at Union Station, then toured the Holocaust Museum.
On Remembrance Day, seniors were privileged to hear from sixteen survivors, including Halina Silber, who was number sixteen on Oskar Schindler’s list of 1200 Jews that he rescued from the Auschwitz gas chambers. Survivor presentations were organized by Jeanette Parmigiani, Director of Holocaust Programs for the Baltimore Jewish Council. Over sixty senior greeter/guides were privileged to share lunch with individual survivors. The entire class viewed a variety of short films on Auschwitz, the liberation of a death camp, a Polish family’s rescue effort, and why we remember the Holocaust. They heard survivor presentations in small group sessions, and also participated in a tribute program for the survivors.
The John Carroll School is honored to work with the Baltimore Jewish Council to ensure that young people are aware of the Holocaust and recognize the struggle and sacrifice required to keep these memories alive. We are proud to offer such a comprehensive Holocaust studies program for our students and humbled by the generosity and dignity of the survivors who share their stories with us.
