Inspiring Day at the Illinois Holocaust Museum

Today, seven students involved in A.C.T. and other leadership opportunities had the chance to visit the Illinois Holocaust Museum for their Student Leadership Day.  This was an amazing day with so many inspirational moments.  The day began with a discussion of identity and universe of obligation.  Students talked about who was in their universe.  One student talked about how we are all one big community, and therefore we are all obligated to one another.

Following that discussion, students and teachers had a chance to explore the museum keeping in mind the theme of the day, "Learning from the Past; Transform the Future".  Though many of us had been there before, there were new exhibits and artifacts to discover and rediscover.

At lunch, each table had the chance to meet with a survivor of the Holocaust, hear their story, and ask as many questions as we wanted.  Some were survivors of the camps, some survived through hiding, while others passed themselves as Christians.  Each of us realized how lucky we were to have this experience, as this will be the last generation to have the chance to speak to a survivor.  One of the survivors was Ruth Gilbert.  Her message was that each student should be an upstander for those that do not have a voice.  She said that "the way violence and injustice continues is for good men to do nothing."

Jennifer Ciok and Ruth Gilbert

After the survivors spoke, we then had the chance to hear Nadja Halibegovich speak.  Her story was an amazing story of courage and hope during a very dark time in Sarajevo in the 1990s.  She talked about her childhood during war, and how children are the most innocent victims of war.  Nadja talked about helping to give the children of Bosnia a voice during that time through a radio show, singing, and her own published diary.  The amazing part was that she accomplished all of this at the age of 12!  Her message concluded with the idea that "no war is worth a tear of a child," and that war was and continues to be a senseless act.  She charged the students to be upstanders for what they believe in and to "remember your dreams, and keep walking", as her mother told her on their long walk through a tunnel to escape.  As Nadja said, the opposite of war is peace, and each of us has the obligation to work towards that peace.

"Remember your dreams, and keep walking"

A.C.T. students with Nadja

Once Nadja finished her talk, the many schools there were charged with coming up with an action plan to bring back to the school.  The students pictured above came up with great ideas that will be put into action in the coming weeks.  I'm so lucky to work with such wonderful students, and I do believe that together we can make a better life for all kids around the world.