It Should Never be Forgotten



Photo provided by Julie Graul

Above: Florissant Valley Sociology and Psychology students attended a field trip to the Holocaust museum in Creve Coeur in October 2012. Also included in the photo is LaRhonda Wilson, Sociology faculty , and tour guide at the Holocaust museum, Sarah Jane Friemann.

By  Linda Henning

FV-psychology student who attended the field trip

       I am grateful for the experience of visiting the Holocaust Museum with my fellow students from Flo Valley. Hearing first hand of the trials and losses from holocaust survivor Rachel Miller stirred our hearts. After this moving presentation, Sarah Jane Friemann guided us through the museum. They gave us knowledge that caused our insides to scream injustice for the many slain during this horrific tragedy. This personal interaction made our experience far more impacting than if we had gone through the museum individually, or read about it in a history book.

    Rachel Miller made her presentation very personal, sharing details of how her life was before, during, and after the holocaust. She showed us pictures of her family as she walked us through the events that transpired, how their happy lives were taken from them, never to be the same. Putting names and faces, along with feelings, to the sickening treatment they faced, etched this sad story into our memory banks, as a truth that should never be forgotten.

   Then we received one interesting history lesson after another on our tour with Sarah Jane Friemann; starting with one Jewish boy whose life was spared, that grew up to save many lives with his discovery of a cholesterol lowering drug. We also learned of how the charismatic speeches of one man deceived an educated nation into believing they were a superior race, who could rule the world. One thing that stuck out to me were the four categories, or groups of people found during that time; those who were persecuted, the persecutors, those who did nothing, and the righteous, the ones who risked their lives and the lives of their families to help the victims. My desire is to stand with the righteous when faced with situations that are too cruel to imagine.