Students gathered at BLCI on the evening of June 4 th to attend a much-anticipated presentation by Fanny Lebovitz who survived the Holocaust. Mrs. Lebovitz spoke about her experiences at concentration camps where she and her sister were assigned. She told the students that she lost 82 family members during the Holocaust, including both of her parents and her youngest sister. She and her remaining sister endured five concentration camps, typhoid, death marches and finally liberation. Her powerful words moved many students to tears, others stayed after the presentation to give Mrs. Lebovitz a hug or ask additional questions.
In preparation for the presentation, students reviewed the history of the Holocaust through videos, discussion and lessons. During the presentation students expressed great sadness and inspiration from Mrs. Lebovitz’s remarks. She emphasized the importance of sharing her story and spreading the message of peace, not hate, to everybody. Mrs. Lebovitz also encouraged students to follow her motto of “Miracles happen, but you must go find them.”
In a debriefing writing exercise after the speech, students wrote:
“…I will not be able to fully comprehend [so much pain] but this experience has touched and changed my view of many things in life.” -9 th grader
“…[The presentation] made me feel like I should live life to the fullest because you never know what could happen and also always believe in miracles because they do happen.” -8 th grader
“…This made me think of what in life I’m taking for granted.” -11 th grader
“Another day of sorrowAnother day of troture [sic],but all I think about is I will survive” -poem by anonymous student
“I would really like to thank [Mrs. Lebovitz] for picking at the scars [she] has in order to help us better comprehend how the Holocaust was. I know it was hard bringing back painful memories.” -9 th grader
“I thank you for being strong and sharing your hurtful story. I know it was hard for you to share about your hard life.” -7 th grader
“…I [wished] that the Holocaust never happened and everybody can be peaceful and there won’t be no more wars [sic].” -6 th grader
Thank you Ms. Lebovitz, for sharing your emotional, and inspirational story with our students!