Learning about the Holocaust is so important, and this semester, I was fortunate enough to be able to take a class about the subject that not only allowed my classmates and I to advance our knowledge through class reading and survivor speeches, but also took us to the most influential places of the time: Germany and Poland.  Before the trip, we heard many Holocaust survivors talk about their own individual experiences, which was extremely moving.  For example, for one of the female survivors, Rachel Roth, we read her memoir and then attended her talk.  Having these two levels of learning made her personal experience that much more memorable for me, and I’m sure for the rest of my class as well.  Between the start of the semester and the beginning of March, we heard many more talks from other survivors as well as read more texts on the Holocaust, and then, during Spring Break, we...

  Introduction For as long as I can remember, I have always been interested in the Holocaust.  In fact, I can hardly remember a time when I wasn’t trying to learn more about it.  Of course, like many young children, I read Anne Frank’s Diary of a Young Girl.  At the time, I don’t think anything I had read before that resonated with me quite like the words of Anne Frank, a girl who was not much older than I was when I read her diary for the first time.  I still remember what it was like to read these words: “Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart.”  After everything she had endured, I wondered how Anne could maintain such a positive outlook on life.  Reading her diary filled me a desire to read more.  I wanted to know everything I could about the Holocaust and the people who were forever impacted by it, particularly the survivors and the victims.  I pored...

          I have a broader knowledge of the Holocaust than I ever did before. The main experiences that broadened and impacted my understanding of the Holocaust was working with Auschwitz survivor Rachel Roth, visiting the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) in Washington D.C., and visiting the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City.                          Rachel Roth was born in Poland and was placed in the Warsaw ghetto in the fall of 1940. Rachel suffered through the loss of her mother, two sisters, brother, grandparents, and uncles during her time in the ghetto and her subsequent shipment to the camps of Majdanek, Auschwitz, and Bergen-Belsen. Rachel’s story is one of determination and survival and is an inspiration to all who read her autobiography, Here There is No Why. When reading Rachel’s story, you can imagine the struggles that she went...

“In despair, I try to suppress the tears welling up within me. Panic and fear possess me completely. The curfew hour is drawing near, in a few minutes I will be forbidden to be seen on the street. People are deeply troubled and scattered in all directions. The street is deserted. My spirit is completely broken.” – Ruchama Rachel Rothstein, author of Here There is No Why, Holocaust survivor        Rachel Roth experienced first-hand the persecution of the Jews of Poland. On October 16, 1940, one month after the Nazis invaded Poland, the city of Warsaw was divided into three zones. One of these zones was made into the ghetto and all Jewish citizens were forced to live in it, including Rachel and her family. Life in the ghetto for Rachel and others was harsh, there were diseases and starvation that caused many to die. While in the ghetto, Rachel lost many of her...