Shawnigan’s Holocaust Symposium

25 May 2014Toby CH, Privett ‘15

The abomination that was the Holocaust of the Jews in Nazi Germany is too horrendous to be described by words, and this blog will fall short of any sufficient explanation of the pain and suffering that occurred during those horrific times. To help educate on some of these terrors, Shawnigan Lake School held a Holocaust symposium to help young people learn about how they can make a change and not let some of history’s most terrible events repeat themselves. With solemn respect, more than 200 people attended and countless others via livestream on the internet watched many inspirational and educational speakers enlighten them on various topics about the Holocaust in the 1940s and other acts of genocide. One of the main speakers was Doctor James Waller, professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Keene State College. To have a man such as this with such an illustrious and expansive career in the aforementioned topics was a privilege and helped provide insight into many things that we students had not thought of before. Accompanying his statistical yet touching PowerPoint was the truly moving speech of Holocaust survivor Janos Benisz. At the age of six, he and his widowed mother were unceremoniously sent off to Strasshauf concentration camp. His tribulations experienced there, simply because of the fact that he was Jewish, are truly reprehensible and hopefully will never be repeated again. Brentwood would like to thank Shawinigan and their Headmaster, Mr. David Robertson, for having this informational and poignant symposium which moved every Brentwood student who attended in one way or another. Let the Holocaust be a reminder that much change is still needed in our troubled world. Toby CH, Privett ‘15

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