Twenty years ago, Rita Blank and I chose to plant a seed that has grown into a remarkable and established organization with the mission to educate the community regarding the Holocaust.  Over much of the past two decades, new plans were developed to spread the message of our mission: to Never Forget.  Due to these efforts, the number of teachers and students learning more about the Holocaust keeps increasing every year. As children of survivors, Rita and I know first-hand the experiences and trauma that have been passed down from generation to generation

On January 27th, the world remembered the atrocities of the Holocaust 80 years ago, and in one Chiles High School classroom, students have experienced it through the eyes of second-generation survivors.

This semester, the school debuted a new semester-long class: Holocaust History, the first Holocaust-focused class in Leon County Schools. In order to teach this topic accurately and with as much detail as possible, teacher Maggie Crutchfield and vice principal Grace Bigelow enlisted the help of the Holocaust Education Resource Council (HERC), a local nonprofit that provides teachers and administrators with free resources and training for teaching about the Holocaust.

Bigelow said the class has been a long time coming, with the initial idea for the class having been brought up three years ago, but that it was something she was happy to push hard for.

“We hope by adding the course, we will open up dialogue with other schools, parents and supporters to spread the importance of Holocaust education and create an environment where other schools may follow,” Bigelow said.

She said the Chiles High School administration is proud to have made Holocaust education a priority.

“In 2012, we started to do events throughout Holocaust Education Week across all curriculum,” she said.

“There is so much we are trying to accomplish from teaching Holocaust education. We are charged with teaching our students to be good people.”

On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, January 27th, HERC’s co-founders Rita Blank and Executive Director Barbara Goldstein visited Crutchfield’s class and told the stories of their families’ survival. From siblings giving each other strength to survive to a whole family forced to leave their German citizenship behind and seek refuge in a foreign country, the presentation gave students a glimpse into the realities of the Holocaust. Primary documents, photos and maps were used to demonstrate the hardships both families faced.

Goldstein, who has been telling her story alongside Blank for nearly 20 years, said she was grateful to engage directly with the high school students.

“We must never forget history in order to learn from the past,” Goldstein said. “Education is our only hope for future generations.”

The semester-long class will continue through the end of the Spring semester, and HERC plans to maintain its working relationship with the educators at Chiles to ensure all of their curriculum needs are met.

Looking toward the future, many more school visits have been scheduled at locations such as Florida State University School and Swift Creek Middle School so please keep an eye out for all the classroom visits because of the impact on so many students.

Also, make sure you don’t miss programs planned such as the Liberation 80 Film Series – Window Into the Truth. On April 24th, Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, will be held at Congregation Shomrei Torah at 7pm. Please join us to remember the six million Jews killed during the Holocaust.

To get involved, you can donate today to support all the important programs and books given to schools. Every dollar makes a difference to bring more support the learning environment.

If you desire to volunteer, we always need community support to join our team. Come visit the HERC building and get a new book as our book club is planning to re-launch in the fall with our partnership with Midtown Reader. The first book planned will be “People Love Dead Jews” by Dara Horn. Anyone interested to meet, please let us know. A date will be announced.