‘Definitely not going to forget.’ Holocaust survivors tell their stories to Miami students
Hundreds of students from across Miami-Dade County met with Holocaust survivors Thursday for an all-day event aimed at highlighting the dangers of bullying, racism, hatred and bigotry.
They watched a documentary, Children Remember the Holocaust, and in small groups, students heard personal accounts from a dozen survivors. For Eryn Brazlavsky, a senior at Alonzo and Tracy Mourning Senior High in North Miami, it was an opportunity to connect to her Jewish heritage and the people in her life who’ve passed away.
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“To me, Judaism isn’t about praying or being super religious, but about being involved in your community and doing good things,” she said. Listening to the survivors’ accounts, she learned that despite hardships, “if we persist long enough, good things will happen.”
The gathering, held at Florida International University’s Roz and Cal Kovens Conference Center in North Miami, was the first time since the pandemic’s onset that Student Awareness Day, an anti-bullying and prejudice reduction program organized by the Holocaust Documentation and Education Center in Dania Beach, welcomed students and survivors in person. The program has been held annually for 39 years.
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Stella Sonnenschein, 86, was among those who participated. The event, which she’s participated in before, reminds young people to stand up against hatred, racism and prejudice, she told the Herald after the event. Moreover, she said, it teaches lessons about survival and perseverance.
The pairing of the Holocaust survivors with the students was the first time many students met someone like Sonnenschein, said Rositta E. Kenigsberg, HDEC’s president. So, it’s not only an educational opportunity, she said, but a chance to understand the experiences of someone else and the hatred they faced. For many, it’s an experience they will keep long after the event is over, she said.
That sentiment rang true for Max Sultz, a sophomore at iPrep Academy in downtown Miami. After the event, he said he’s “definitely not going to forget.”
Despite being paired with a survivor he’d already met, Max said he learned something new about their experience: “whether it’s a detail about the food they ate, the tight quarters they lived in or the games they played.”
Isabela Cristino, also a sophomore at iPrep Academy, was grateful to have sat with and listened to the stories. Future generations, she said, won’t be able to talk with someone who lived through the Holocaust.
Perhaps more importantly, though, she said the day for her, meant “making sure their stories can be passed down and not forgotten.”
This story was originally published March 31, 2022 at 6:05 PM.
