s the K-12 Holocaust Studies program planner for the West Palm Beach-based School District of Palm Beach County, Maureen Carter is constantly looking for ways to learn how to teach about the Holocaust.
As such, Carter was one of 19 middle and high school teachers (and Holocaust Center personnel) from 11 U.S. states who participated this summer in the European Study Program organized by the New York City-based Jewish Foundation for the Righteous.
The program included lectures and visits to authentic Holocaust sites in Lithuania and Poland — with the purpose of giving these educators a deeper understanding of the complex and tragic history of the Holocaust.
The program was a high-level, intensive educational experience that included visits to concentration camps (such as Treblinka and Majdanek), ghetto sites and Holocaust memorials — as well as meetings with local historians and educators.
Noted historians Sam Kassow and Peter Hayes, two of the world’s leading experts on the Holocaust, served as the accompanying scholars for the trip.
The Lithuanian visit began with touring the medieval Jewish quarter of Vilnius, the city once flourishing with Jewish inhabitants before World War II. While there, the educators met with the remnants of Lithuanian Jewry — and righteous rescuers supported by the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous (JFR).
On the last day of the trip, participants had an opportunity to review and reflect on what they learned during the two weeks and how to bring those lessons into their classrooms this fall.
Teachers selected for the program must be English or Social Studies teachers at the middle or high school level; have taught for at least five years; are at least four years from retirement; and currently teach the Holocaust in their classrooms.
They also must have completed the JFR’s Summer Institute for Teachers at Columbia University in New York City.
“As we continue to move further away from the Holocaust, it is more important to teach this period in history to the next generation,” said JFR Executive Vice President Stanlee Stahl. “By focusing our efforts on helping teachers actually see and experience the places where these complex events occurred, we believe it enhances their understanding and enables them to be more effective instructors in their classrooms.
“Visiting and studying at authentic Holocaust sites helps teachers to better understand the enormity of the Holocaust and aids in making them more effective educators.”
Carter said this was a great instructional trip on which she learned a whole lot.
“I learned a lot about what happened in Lithuania during the Holocaust,” Carter said. “I didn’t realize how much the Lithuanians took over the work of the Nazis. That’s something I now have to figure out how to include in our curriculum.”
Carter explained that those kind of details about the Holocaust get shared in high school instruction in Palm Beach County.
“In grades K through 5, we introduce the Holocaust by teaching about acceptance,” Carter said. “In grades 6 through 8, the students start reading related literature like ‘The Diary of Anne Frank.’ Then, in grades 9 through 12, we teach details about the Holocaust in both American History and World History.
“In addition, 18 of our 24 high schools teach either half-year or full-year electives about the Holocaust.”
On Sunday Aug. 6, Carter spoke about her trip at the monthly meeting of the Child Survivors/Hidden Children of the Holocaust – Palm Beach County in Boca Raton.
Norman Frajman, of Boynton Beach, president of the Child Survivors group, said it was very important that Carter continues to do this type of learning.
“Maureen Carter is a person of stature,” Frajman said. “It is extremely important that she visits the places where the Holocaust happened so she can best understand how to teach it to the students. It is of essential importance that we live a legacy for the younger generation.
“As survivors, our days are numbered before nature takes it toll. We need the younger generation to know what happened so they can stand up to the Holocaust deniers and know that it did happen. More importantly, the younger generation needs to learn the lessons of the Holocaust to try to make sure that it never happens again.”
As it moves forward, the JFR continues its work of providing monthly financial assistance to some 400 aged and needy Righteous Gentiles (who helped Jews during the Holocaust) living in 20 countries. Since its founding, the JFR has provided more than $38 million to Righteous Gentiles.
For more information about the JFR, visit www.jfr.org or call 212-727-9955.
To contact Carter, email maureen.carter@palmbeachschools.org or call 561-434-8933.