Each year, The John Carroll School hosts Holocaust Remembrance Day — an opportunity for the school community to honor Holocaust victims, hear from survivors and gain an understanding of the continued impact from their families. The John Carroll School’s Holocaust education program promotes tolerance, understanding and respect among high school students of diverse backgrounds and motivates participants to make a personal commitment to combat prejudice and hatred.

The day-long program included in-person accounts from 14 speakers, video testimonials from other survivors and children of survivors, student presentations, a reader’s theater performance and lunch for the speakers with their student guides. Event organizer Louise Géczy brought multiple survivors and second-generation speakers to share their stories with the Senior class, allowing students to learn about the variety of ways that individuals experienced the Holocaust.

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The following day, the Class of 2024 took the annual Senior trip to Washington, D.C. to the Holocaust Museum. This two-prong program provides students with the opportunity to understand the impact of the Holocaust, explore the concept of genocide on a broad scale, and humanize history. John Carroll’s Holocaust programming is generously funded by the Klein Family Foundation.

According to Mrs. Géczy, “In a world where divisiveness and othering has become common, I think the more information we provide our young people about the lessons of the Holocaust, the greater chance that they will commit to make positive change throughout their lifetimes. John Carroll is committed to providing our students with multiple opportunities, both in the classroom and with special programs, to explore human rights issues.”

Among the speakers sharing testimonies were Holocaust survivors Esther Kaidanow and Vera Kestenberg. Keynote Speaker, Holocaust survivor, successful entrepreneur and author Dr. Charles Ota Heller was also in attendance again this year. Dr. Heller shared his Jewish and Catholic roots and struggle to reconcile his history. You can read more about our speakers here.>>

Thank you to the Aegis for their coverage of this important event. You can read the article here.>>