Elie Wiesel powerfully and chillingly states, “To forget a Holocaust is to kill twice.”

Think about the world as we know it, and then imagine the extermination of the entire population of New York City and Los Angeles, combined.  That image represents the 11 million people killed during the Holocaust.  Pine Crest recognizes that atrocities of this magnitude are too significant to merely read about in a text book.  As a result, the Freshman class participates in an annual multi-faceted, two-day Holocaust symposium.

To begin, the Class of 2015 watched the seven-time Academy Award winning movie Schindler’s List, which is credited as one of the first major films to accurately portray the enormity of the Holocaust.  It still serves as one of the most brilliant and realistic historical movies ever made.  The following day, students participated in round square discussions with Holocaust survivors. Each individual told a unique tale of strength, loss, perseverance, and survival. Freshman Evin Rothchild recapped,  “It is incredible that after all these survivors suffered through, they still take the time out of their day to retell their story to us so that we can prevent a monstrosity like this from ever happening again.”

In the final part of the program, students attended a presentation given by Ivan Backer, who at the age of ten escaped from Czechoslovakia before the outbreak of World War II.  He recounted his miraculous getaway, his experience in England during the War, his relocation to America that ultimately secured his life, and his undeniable passion for social justice.  Students were given the powerful message when Mr. Backer remarked, “Why was I saved? The question gnaws at me all the time. I have a responsibility.  A responsibility to stand up for what is right so that a thing like the Holocaust never happens again.”

Unfortunately, with the passing of 110 year old Alice Herz-Somer last week, the world lost its oldest known Holocaust survivor.  Her passing creates an even greater sense of urgency, as the number of Holocaust survivors is tragically diminishing.  It is our moral and intellectual obligation to meet with as many survivors as possible, in order to learn first-hand as much about the Holocaust as we can, so that the atrocities of history will never repeat themselves.