Education
“There were really only four ways a Jew could hope to survive the Holocaust. You could hope to survive in the concentration camps. You could escape the country or escape the ghetto and live in the forest. You could be hidden out of sight by a christian person or family. And the fourth way, change your identity, obtain false papers, pretend to be catholic, and try to blend into society. And that is how we survived.” Those words come from Holocaust survivor, Irene Skolnick. This past fall, Irene visited our school, PA Distance Learning Charter School, to speak to our students about her life in hiding during the Holocaust. As our school's History of the Holocaust teacher, I see it as my responsibility to bring their learning experiences to life the best I can. Many of our PA Distance students and families traveled across the state to be there for the event, showing just how important learning about the Holocaust from a true survivor was for them. Irene and her family were forced to lie about their identities and purchase forged passports, just to narrowly avoid being captured or identified countless times throughout the war. Her words sounded like the script of a spy film. Countless times, she and her family, evaded capture, either through the wit and charisma of her father, the quick thinking of her mother, or just plain luck. Irene states that for decades, she never wanted to share her story. But there came a day that she changed her mind, for two reasons. The first, because of the growth of deniers. The living record of the Holocaust is dying as survivors pass away, and she sees it as her responsibility to speak the truth of what the Nazis did to her. The second, due to the truth behind the words of the well known pastor, Martin Niemöller, transcribed into the poem called First They Came... and her summary of the poem - “bad things happen, when good people are silent”. Irene Skolnick is the author of In the Shadow of Majdanek: Hiding in Plain Sight. This autobiography details her experiences during the Holocaust even further and you can download her story for free on Kindle! I was able to connect with Irene thanks to the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh. If you are looking to incorporate Holocaust education into your classroom, or if you would just like to learn more about his event, please visit their website! Be sure to subscribe to Humans of Teaching on your preferred podcasting platform so you don’t miss a single episode, and check out our website to learn more! Are you a teacher with a unique story and perspective to share? Email us at humansofteaching@gmail.com for a chance to be on the show! Follow us on Twitter Like our Page on Facebook Sign up for our mailing list We post teasers of every upcoming interview for the month on Twitter for our “Listener Questions” segment. If you have a question for any of our interviewees, make sure to comment you question to our post on Twitter to have it asked live on the show! We are always looking to make Humans of Teaching better and better with each new episode. Please make sure to leave a rating and a comment on what aspects you really enjoy about the podcast and some things that you would change to make the show even better. This podcast was made for you! Thank you all for your continued support. Theme Music: "Say Good Night" and “Dreams“ by Joakim Karud - find his music here!