JCC takes 17 area high school students to U.S Holocaust Museum

[by Michael Steklof]

On Sunday, March 17, 17 high school students from 10 area high schools went on a trip to the United States Memorial Holocaust Museum funded by the Ida and Bernhard Behr Holocaust Memorial Education Second Century Fund.

The trip was led by local Holocaust educator Fred Whittaker, who teaches Holocaust education at St. Francis of Assisi, and was chaperoned by Matt Goldberg, director of Jewish Community Relations of the Jewish Community of Louisville, and Olga Itkin, a member of the Louisville Jewish community.

Participants attended an education session with Whittaker before the trip to prepare them for what they would see at the museum. Many participants, however, did not expect the emotional reaction they had to displays.

One participant reported that the trip was meaningful for her because it showed “how quickly your life can be flipped upside down.” She further stated, “the trip changed me for the best.”

After the trip, the participants again met with Whittaker to discuss how best to share with their friends in their classes at school what they experienced, so the lessons learned on this trip will resonate beyond the 17 students selected.

The trip was funded by the Ida and Bernhard Behr Holocaust Memorial Education Second Century Fund.