LMK Students Welcome Ann Arnold and Mark Schonwetter

Eighth grade Louis M. Klein Middle School students were honored to spend time with author Ann Arnold and her father, Holocaust survivor Mark Schonwetter, preceding Holocaust Remembrance Day.

As part of the 8th grade English curriculum, students have been reading a variety of Holocaust-related books including Elie Wiesel’s Night. The visit by Mrs. Arnold and Mr. Schonwetter was arranged by the 8th grade Social Studies department. Mrs. Arnold’s book entitled, Together: A Journey for Survival, tells the harrowing tale of a Polish woman, Sala Schonwetter, a happily married mother of two whose life changed in a heartbreaking instant in 1939.

LMK students had the privilege of hearing a first person account of Mrs. Arnold’s father Mark Schonwetter, who was a young boy at the time and the son of Sala Schonwetter. The LMK students in the assembly listened attentively as Mr. Schonwetter retold his account of a six-year-old living in Poland who was forced to live in the countryside and deep woods for years in order to escape the religious persecution that was affecting his homeland and much of Europe. He spoke of the amazing will of his mother Sala and how she was able to keep his sister and him alive with the help of kind strangers who were putting their own lives at risk in order to preserve theirs.

Students had the opportunity to ask Mr. Schonwetter about his experiences, how he and his family were able to survive, and how they came to America.

The internationally recognized date for Holocaust Remembrance Day corresponds to the 27th day of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar (this year was April 24th). It marks the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. In Hebrew, Holocaust Remembrance Day is called Yom Hashoah.