Seventh graders visited the Holocaust Museum & Learning Center at the Jewish Federation of St. Louis as part of their Global Perspectives learning unit on power and equality. The field trip included a guided tour of the museum and incredible and inspiring presentations from the daughter and son of Holocaust survivors.
Middle School History Teacher Mike Fitzgerald shared, “The 7th graders have been immersed in studying human rights and the Holocaust for the past few weeks. In the coming weeks, students will conduct research into other case studies since the events in Europe during WWII. This museum visit was a great complement to the curriculum – and also a very moving experience overall.”
Several students shared reflections on their experience for this story. Yash Malhotra ’25 said, “I thought it was a very valuable learning experience, especially having a second-generation Holocaust survivor talk to us about his parents’ experiences and learning what really happened to Jewish families in this horrific time. It is also amazing how he and his family were able to regrow after many of his family members were killed in the Holocaust.”
Charlie Glass ’25 said, “There were various powerful and moving images, and these images helped me understand that this is not something we should ignore in our history but something we should learn from. From my perspective, it is so important to understand the potential of what could have come from the generations of Jews who died in this terrible tragedy. If those people were still alive, who knows what could have come from them? One of them, for example, could have solved the cure for cancer. These Jews that could still be alive if it weren’t for the war could be helping make the world a better place.”
Amisha Poojari ’25 reflected, “The visit to the Holocaust Museum was a memorable experience. I will surely treasure the stories shared by our docent and speaker. Through this, I was able to learn about the struggles faced by many Jewish and non-Jewish people. Seeing and hearing how people really felt facing hard times during the Holocaust made a big difference in how I viewed things. Our speaker was also fabulous. She was great at depicting the life her mother went through, filling it with emotion and expression.”
It’s clear that our students gained a lot from their experience at the Holocaust Museum. Nina Schuerer ’25 said, “If we don’t learn about these atrocities and really understand them, nothing is stoping it from happening again. We are the future, and we can’t have this happen to anyone anywhere. We are one race. The human race.”
