Despite being filled to the brim with upper school students and faculty, the Zeller Student Center was silent during the assembly Monday, Jan. 27. All attention was on Eva Perlman, a 92-year-old Holocaust survivor, who told her story with a hint of a French accent and the occasional lighthearted joke.
Perlman was born in Berlin; however, as Hitler rose to power, eventually becoming Germany’s chancellor, her family became wary of rising antisemitism and moved to Paris. Perlman and her family stayed in France for the rest of the war, frequently moving houses, and relying on French citizens to house them. Perlman was 13 when World War II ended.
Holocaust Remembrance Day was Jan. 27, which is internationally recognized as a day of memorial and commemoration for the six million victims of the Holocaust. It marks the anniversary of the 1945 liberation of the largest concentration and death camp used by the Nazis: Auschwitz Birkenau by the Red Army.
The Jewish Student Union chose to commemorate this day by organizing an assembly with a presenter to educate the student body. Junior Layla Negrin used her connections to the Museum of Tolerance and Stand With Us, an Israel education organization, to arrange for Perlman to speak.
Students also learn about the Holocaust as a part of the 10th grade history curriculum and yearly presentations, which are given by JSU. JSU faculty advisor Talia Geffen recognized the importance of knowing the historical context behind the Holocaust.
“Monday’s speaker maybe was as powerful and impactful as it was because we did the education the year before, and history classes are also educating,” Geffen said. “Because we have laid that foundation, students are able to connect more and get more out of the speaker.”
Many people find that witnessing and learning the stories of Holocaust survivors is important, due to the dwindling number of living Holocaust survivors. Perlman herself recognized this fact during the assembly.
“You’re all witnesses to my story,” Perlman said.
Every Holocaust survivor’s unique story inspires gratitude and reflection, Negrin said.
“Archer students can learn from [Perlman’s] resilience and her compassion and ability, even after knowing what happened to the rest of her family, what happened to her fellow neighbors, to laugh,” Negrin said “she’s able to still feel compassion for other people. And I think that’s really amazing.”
An element of the presentation that stood out to Negrin was Perlman’s humor. As she recalled memories of nearly avoiding capture by Nazis, Perlman managed to bring light to her story by pointing out humorous elements of family photos.
“The humor they have really helps get their story across to a lot of different demographics [and] people who’ve never heard of the Holocaust before,” Negrin said.
Both Negrin and Geffen said that they received positive reactions from those who attended the assembly, and they look forward to continuing to provide students with the experience in the future.
“I heard so much positive feedback.” Negrin said, ”I know we have to do it again.”
Following the assembly, JSU announced that there will be a copy of Perlman’s memoir, “Eva’s Uncommon Life: Guided by Miracles,“ in Archer’s library. Geffen said Perlman’s book will allow students to access her story for many years to come.
“We want the learning not to ever just stop with an assembly. We had 30 minutes with her, but we want students to be curious and to want to learn more, and so we always encourage them to read,” Geffen said. “The book will enable us to learn much more, and also for future Archer students who aren’t here this year. This is part of our collective history and contribution to the community.”
