On February 18th, The Holocaust Education Resource Council (HERC) visited Swift Creek Middle School and presented to 300 students a program telling the story of one family’s experience of fleeing from Nazi Germany and escaping to the Shanghai Ghetto during the Holocaust.  Lauren Crampton, HERC’s education coordinator, led the students through a visual and audible journey, in an effort to emphasize and illuminate the wide-reaching effects of the devastation that took place during the Holocaust. This overview of the historical background provided the context for Barbara Goldstein, Executive Director of HERC, to tell the story of her mother’s family, the Baruchs, who survived the Holocaust by spending ten years in the Shanghai Ghetto from 1939-1949, before going to Israel and eventually settling in New York in 1955.

The students were captivated all day by the materials Lauren covered.  Difficult questions were asked and discussed, the participants became engaged, and overall, HERC’s presentation reached into the hearts and minds of the students – and the teachers – and provided concise information about subject matter that is often diluted in an attempt to soften a difficult topic.

HERC would like to thank the Swift Creek Middle School students, teachers Ms. Tracy Osborne and Kiley Thompson for giving us the opportunity to share history and stories from a second-generation Holocaust survivor. Being educated on the past helps to steer us toward a future that will fight to ensure history doesn’t repeat itself.