Jewish community promotes Holocaust, genocide awareness

 

By Mary Stamp

As Hershel Zellman and Mary Noble began meeting in October with the committee planning the spring 2025 Community Observance of the Holocaust at Temple Beth Shalom, they are reminded of the critical need for education about the Holocaust and genocide.

Mary's parents were Holocaust survivors and told her stories of their experiences. In a 2006 Fig Tree article she said those stories became part of "the fabric of my life."

In 1994, Mary suggested expanding Temple Beth Shalom's observance of Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, to be more than an event attended by a dozen temple members. She felt it would be appropriate to begin the following year, which would be the 50th anniversary of the liberation of concentration camps near the end of World War II.

In April 1995, Temple Beth Shalom hosted the first Spokane Community Observance of the Holocaust. Participants and attendees included many who were not Jewish. The Community Observance has continued for 30 years, except during COVID.

It takes place each year in late April or early May, coinciding with the "Day of the Holocaust," observed by Jews around the world. Up to 400 from around the Inland Northwest have attended.

"Our mission initially was to honor the memory of victims and to celebrate survivors of the Holocaust, supporting the effort to NEVER FORGET the Holocaust and to say NEVER AGAIN to genocide like the Jews experienced under the Nazis," said Hershel.

"Over time, we realized remembering is not enough. We wanted to engage a new generation to learn the lessons of the Holocaust and apply those lessons to their lives. We hoped this would engender respect for those considered different, help mitigate hateful inclinations and have an impact on the occurrence of genocides," he added.

In 2007, they created a writing contest for students in Inland Northwest secondary schools. In 2015, they added an art contest. They see those contests, using different themes each year, as ways to invite students to learn about what happened then and in other genocides.

The committee of 19 people is comprised of some Jewish community members as well as educators—two middle school, two high school and two retired high school teachers, plus two college professors and one retired college professor.

Reading The Diary of Anne Frank has been a staple for Holocaust education since Mary was a teenager, but she and Hershel wonder if it is enough, given the prevalence of Holocaust denial and distortion.

"Genocide and targeting Jews has been part of the history of the Jewish people," she said.

Given that Anne Frank's diary was written before Anne was captured and experienced the horror of concentration camps, Mary wondered, "What would she have written about that experience?"

Hershel also said that, while The Diary of Anne Frank introduces many people to the Holocaust with a message of hope and a call to see humanity in people, there is need to dig deeper.

He suggests reading "Night" by Elie Wiesel, which graphically describes the author's experience in the concentration camps and death camps, degradation and other "awful stuff." Along with that, Hershel believes it's important to share historical background such as on the pogroms, the Crusades and European exclusion.

"Students need to study that to address genocide," he said. "Holocaust remembrance is about more than reminding people that 6 million European Jews died. It is also to honor the 3 million European Jews who survived, to say genocide is evil and to commit to the work necessary to prevent it."

"We want kids to learn a lesson from the Holocaust so they feel empowered to speak up, challenge bullies, respect other people, realize ordinary people can do horrific things and realize ordinary people can do extraordinary things," Mary said.

They are disappointed that few teachers invite students to participate in the contests or do Holocaust education.

In April 2019, a bipartisan Holocaust Education Bill unanimously passed the Washington State Senate and the House. The bill "strongly encouraged" public schools to teach the Holocaust from grade 6 up.

In February 2024, a Senate bill to make education on the Holocaust and genocide mandatory in Washington failed to move out of committee.

"I realize it is a hard subject for teachers to teach," said Mary. "Teachers on our planning committee acknowledge that, even though it is challenging and may upset students, it is important."

Last spring, the first place high school art contest winner, Mackenzie Winchell, presented to the Carla Peperzak Middle School her stained-glass piece, "Ometz"—Hebrew for "courage." Her piece was inspired by Carla's efforts as a teen to protect 40 Jewish people.

At that event, Hershel and Mary spoke with Spokane Public Schools (SPS) Superintendent Adam Swinyard who expressed concern about the rise of antisemitic incidents occurring in SPS secondary schools.

"We talked with him about meeting with leaders of the Spokane Jewish community to address the problem," Hershel said.

Now representatives of the Jewish community are meeting with the SPS to introduce curricula in eighth grade English classes that addresses antisemitism and the Holocaust. Another opportunity to expose students to these subjects occurs when studying World War II in 10th grade world history.

Most of the art and writing entries to the Spokane Community Observance of the Holocaust contests come from those classes.

"Currently it is optional for teachers in those classes to talk about the Holocaust and genocide. The goal is to make it an integral part of the curriculum," Hershel said.

Aware many teachers feel uncomfortable teaching this because they lack background, Mary and Hershel offered some resources.

• There are videos of survivors' stories available from the Seattle Holocaust Center for Humanity. It also sends teaching trunks and speakers around the state.

• KSPS Spokane Public Television has created a video, "Spokane Voices of the Holocaust," available on its website. It features stories of local Holocaust survivors Eva Lassman, Carla Peperzak and Cora der Koorkanian.

• At Gonzaga University, Kristine Hoover and Clement Lye are co-producing a documentary, "Carla the Rescuer," sharing Carla's life and Holocaust education presentations she has given at area schools, to allow her story to be shared for years to come. It has been submitted to several film festivals and will be presented in Spokane soon.

"The bottom line for me is to introduce children to lessons of the Holocaust in a way that reaches more students than those who write essays and submit art projects each year," said Hershel.

Hershel and Mary know those contests and the Spokane Observance have an impact.

Mary asked a student member of the Spokane Student Advisory Board with the Seattle Holocaust Center why she became involved in Holocaust learning and found out that the previous year she had played in the Lewis and Clark orchestra at the Holocaust Remembrance and was very moved.

"Parents thank us for doing the contest because they feel it is important for their children to learn about the Holocaust," said Hershel.

"There are little sparks of light here and there. We hope those sparks will have a ripple effect," said Mary.

Hershel and Mary, who are retired physicians, are committed to continue their efforts.

"As the world changes, we may need to change how we do the observance," said Mary.

Hershel said survivors speaking out about their Holocaust experiences has the most impact with student groups. Some in the second generation are stepping up to teach in classrooms as their parents did.

"We continue to hope that reaching out to teachers and students will make a difference," said Mary "We find optimism and hope in Anne Frank's words: "How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world."

For information, email neveragain-spokane@comcast.net.