Baltimore-area students learn about history of Holocaust, standing up against prejudice

BALTIMORE -- The John Carroll School in Harford County hosted Lessons of the Shoah Tuesday. 

High school students from Baltimore City, Baltimore County and Harford County attended the annual event to promote tolerance, understanding and respect.

'Courage in the face of adversity' was the theme for the 2023 Lessons of the Shoah event at the John Carroll School – where hundreds of students learned about the Holocaust and how to stand up against prejudice and hatred.

"At the core of our Catholic beliefs, really is the idea of the dignity of the human person and that's what the Lessons of the Shoah is really about," Deacon Ken Goedeke, Director of Mission and Ministry at John Carroll, said

It's done in collaboration between the Catholic John Carroll School, the Baltimore Jewish Council and the Klein Family Foundation.

"We are excited that we are exposing so many Christian students to learn about the Holocaust because I don't think they'd be exposed in any other way," said Jayne Klein, from the Klein Family Foundation.

Emily Goodman, Director of Holocaust and Countering Antisemitism programs at the Baltimore Jewish Council, said it's especially important for young people to learn about the Holocaust today as the ongoing Israel-Hamas war brought an alarming level of antisemitism to the surface.

"We are seeing the highest numbers of antisemitism in this country since back in the 30s and the 40s back when the Holocaust took place," Goodman said. "Denying that it ever happened in the first place, people saying that the Jews caused the Holocaust or that the numbers are inflated."

"It can be scary," said Mia Snellenburg, a senior at John Carroll. "I think people just need to step up in the world and be upstanders, which is what we're learning to do today."

Students read first-hand accounts from people who lived through the Holocaust and participated in small group workshops to discuss the causes of hatred and genocide.

"This is truly happening," John Carroll senior Alison Coyne said. "This isn't something in a faraway land, this is something that's happening to us, to people we know, to people like us and I think that is a really important aspect of why we need to keep talking about it."

Senior Andrew Kelly said they also discussed how even small acts of kindness and courage can make a difference.

"It's one thing that here we're learning the knowledge, but you have to act on it. It does nothing if you don't act on it," said Kelly.

This was the 11th year the John Carroll School hosted Lessons of the Shoah. 

Students from 17 different schools throughout the area attended.