Arnold, Jennifer                          (630) 617-2493          Social Studies Department

                                                                                             Secretary, Core Academics

                                                                                             jarnold@elmhurst205.org

On Friday, April 5^th, our United States History students participated in our annual Holocaust program.  During periods 1-3, students had an increasingly rare opportunity to listen to testimony from one eyewitness of World War II, Marguerite Mishkin, who was brought to safety, along with her sister, by the Belgian Resistance and was cared for by a Belgian Catholic family during WWII.  Both of Marguerite’s parents perished in Auschwitz.  Students also watched a documentary, "The Last Days", on the Holocaust during this time.

The study of genocide is one of very few topics that are mandated specifically for instruction by the State of Illinois.  In the context of history and social science education, learning about the Holocaust is important for understanding both the worst and the best of mankind.  We feel strongly that our Holocaust program provides students with a significant and poignant experience that contextualizes what they have learned throughout the year about history and human rights.

This film and our speaker bring to life a vital period of American and world history.  It is our hope that students are inspired by the great courage that was demonstrated by the victims, survivors, resisters, and liberators who were in one way or another witnesses to the Holocaust.

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