Professor lost 41 family members to Holocaust, shares story
NEW LONDON – The freshmen and sophomores at New London High School are all studying world history and are currently learning about World War II and the Holocaust.
They had an opportunity Feb. 12 at the New London school to hear a talk by someone who gave them a unique perspective on the Holocaust.
Sarah Levy is a professor in the Overseas Training and Education Department at the International School for Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, Israel.
Levy, who is herself
Jewish, lost 41 family members, who were gassed in Auschwitz concentration camp during the war. She has devoted her life to keeping the memories of this time alive, despite Holocaust deniers. In all, 6 million Jews were killed.
Levy met New London teacher Misty Ebinger two summers ago when Ebinger was studying in Jerusalem. She teaches history courses, including the Holocaust and Genocide Studies class for juniors and seniors.
When she learned Ashland University was bringing Levy to the area for two weeks, she made arrangements for her own class to spend a day with Levy in Ashland
Submitted photo and for Levy to speak to the world history students.
Levy started by talking and showing slides about Jewish life in a Lithuanian town before the Germans invaded June 22, 1941.
The Jews were rounded up and forced to live in a ghetto, leaving behind their homes, jobs and former lives. From here many ended up in “camps” and few survived.
The heart of the talk was about how even such horrors and the deaths of six million Jews did not extinguish the life force of the religion and many of the victims.
She said even in the ghettos and camps, “People maintained standards, religious and otherwise. They helped one another and chose to become ‘families.’ They chose to maintain their lives, find purpose in life and held on to their own humanity as best as they could.”
She discussed several people, who despite their terrible experiences, studied their religion, used their art or music skills, or did whatever it took to, “find purpose in life.”
Thanks to Levy’s words, the students were left with the idea that although the Holocaust was unbelievably terrible, it did not extinguish hope or spirituality among many of its victims. A message included the responsibility to remember the past and make sure it never happens again.