PRESS RELEASE
May 8, 2012
Holocaust survivor reaches out to students, urges activism
CAMPBELL COUNTY SCHOOLS – In a crowd of thousands, ten students from Campbell County Day Treatment heard a life-changing message.
The students were among the many who attended the lecture of Elie Wiesel at Xavier University on May 6. A Holocaust survivor and inspirational author and speaker, Wiesel urged those in attendance to fight racism, poverty and violence in today’s world. He encouraged them to create hope for others.
His message resonated for at least one of the students who included the following in a journal entry about the presentation.
“For a long time the biggest positive in my life was ‘well, at least it’s not me.’ I know now, thanks to Professor Wiesel’s speech, that that way of thinking is not good for me or my community. If oppression is not dealt with immediately, it will spread like wildfire, to all corners of our world. I think now that, in order to save oneself from oppression, one must work to save others. It WILL come to you eventually. But, by then, who will (be there to) save you?’”
“We do not always realize the impact we have on students but this quote from a student’s journal entry gives us some insight of the impact the speaker had on the Campbell County students,” said John Schmidt, principal of the alternative school.
Wiesel was just 15 when he and his family were deported by the Nazi regime to the concentration camp at Auschwitz. His mother and sister were among the 6 million Jews killed by the Nazis. He published a book about the experience, Night, in 1956. Now a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Boston University professor, he has spent decades advocating for oppressed people across the globe.
“We hoped that by going to this presentation, students would learn and realize several things. The first is that connections can be made between what they read in class and in real life,” said Ira Gansler, a teacher and intervention specialist at CCDT.“We had read Night by Professor Wiesel, and for the students to actually hear him speak about his experiences and his humanitarian message was a connection that would have been very difficult to get across with the same impact as this experience provided. Another goal of going to the presentation was for students to hear first-hand a connection between real life today and what they have read in their history text books. Professor Wiesel has spent much of his life not only advocating for education and remembrance of the Holocaust, but also for people to use the memory of that part of history to avoid future ones and try to get people to see the parallels between the Holocaust and current genocide that occurs. I think the journal entry speaks volumes for the impact the event had.”
The ten students who attended did so voluntary. Tickets were provided to the students by The Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education in Cincinnati. Students were required to provide their own transportation.
For more information, contact Campbell County Day Treatment Principal John Schmidt at 859-635-9113 or Director of Communications Juli Hale at 859-635-2173.
Campbell County School District provides the highest quality public education and extracurricular activities for nearly 5,000 students in preschool through grade 12. The district has earnedthe prestigious AdvancEd International accreditation and is among the top ranking districts in Kentucky on state and national assessments. More information is available at