Holocaust Lessons Come To Life For Clark High Schoolers During Washington Trip

CLARK, NJ - Students from Arthur L. Johnson High School's Holocaust and Genocide Studies class traveled to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., on May 4 for a fully sponsored trip that included stops at the Lincoln Memorial and the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.

The trip was paid for in full by the Jewish Federation of Greater Metrowest NJ, covering transportation, meals and museum admission.

During the journey, Jonathan Ramsfelder, a second-generation Holocaust survivor, shared his family's experience fleeing Nazi Germany. His parents were each the only members of their families to survive.

"My Oma (grandmother) Hannah had 12 siblings," Ramsfelder said. "11 of the 13 were murdered in the Holocaust. Two young uncles were separated from the family and were only reunited with the survivors in their teens."

Though not a survivor himself, Ramsfelder said the Holocaust shaped his life entirely. It was his first time attending one of the museum trips. "After witnessing the impact this trip has had on the students, I can see how important this work is," he said.

The museum left a deep impression on students. "I knew it was a terrible moment in history, but until you see this museum, you don't realize how bad it really was," said Odin Dubberke, a senior at ALJ.

Fellow senior Connor Stoll called it "a very difficult experience that I think everyone should have at some point in their lives. It really was gut-wrenching."

Phoebe Ellman, an organizer with Metrowest, said Lincoln was included in the itinerary because of his opposition to slavery. The MLK Memorial was added to reflect the Jewish community's support of the Civil Rights Movement following the Holocaust — a connection that organizers said Holocaust survivors felt strongly about.

The Niemöller poem inscribed in the museum's lobby — warning of the consequences of silence in the face of injustice — serves as the overriding theme of the ALJ course.

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