Presenting a grim, disturbing account of her life in Nazi-occupied Poland, holocaust survivor Charlene Schiff visited on May 4 to discuss her experiences during the Holocaust and to speak out on recent issues such as the Darfur genocide.
According to history teacher Wanlance Yates, history teacher Gayle Weiss initially organized the event because her classes missed opportunity to visit the Holocaust Museum.
?Because of the missed snow days, the Pre-IB World History 2 students didn?t get to take their trip to the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC, so this was [a way] to make up for it,? Yates said.
Weiss also asked Schiff to speak to individual English classes because teachers ?felt it[would] be more personal,? Weiss said.
During her discussion, Schiff described her own experiences and life during of the Nazi regime.
?I feel imprisoned from my memories and my past,? she said.
Schiff described changes that took place in Poland over the 1930s and 40s, as the Nazi regime gained power. Prior to the war, Schiff?s father was a professor at a Polish university, while her mother was a housewife.
?The door [of our house] was always open and everyone was welcome to come,? she said. ?My mother and father were like civic leaders. Everyone in our town looked up to them.?
Under the Soviet-German pact, Poland was divided. Eastern Poland, where Schiff lived, was placed under Soviet control and western Poland was given to the Germans.
?We really didn?t mind [the Soviets],? Schiff said. ?The only major thing that happened was that the official language was changed from Polish to Russian. Most people in my town were bi-lingual or tri-lingual, so in terms of cultural changes, Soviet presence really had no effect on us.?
Schiff went on to describe Hitler?s invasion of eastern Poland and the Soviet Union in the summer of 1941 and the prosecution Jews faced at the hands of the Nazis.
?The Germans invaded our town so quickly. Some citizens were cheering for them and showering with gifts,? Schiff said. ?Everyday the Nazis would issue new decrees to give up our property and possessions and to make it impossible for us to find work.?
Eventually, Schiff was displaced to a ghetto close to her hometown where ?100 people had to share one primitive bathroom and one primitive kitchen. The ghetto was reinforced with barbed wire and guards, so escape was a suicidal thought,? she said.
According to Weiss, Schiff?s goal was to provide audience members with a vivid image of the realities and horrors of the Holocaust and teach lessons about current genocides.
?[Schiff] wanted to make sure history isn?t repeated,? Weiss said. ?A lot of Jewish people have been involved with Darfur to make sure something like the Holocaust never occurs again.?
Students felt they were benefitted by attending Schiffs visit.
?Her courage in life was inspirational,? sophomore Peter Bryan said.