Six cadets and midshipmen from the United States Military, Naval and Air Force Academies are in Poland from June 11-24 to study the Holocaust and the events leading up to it. While in Poland, they will also meet with representatives from the Polish Ministries of Defense, Foreign Affairs, and Education. They will be in Auschwitz and Birkenau from June 16-18.
This program is sponsored and coordinated by the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation (AJCF), a New York-based organization, which was established to support its Jewish Center in Oswiecim.
“This in situ Holocaust education program will display . . . what can happen in the absence of free, open, and democratic governing institutions,” said David Goldman, Chairman of the AJCF Board. “Armed with this knowledge, it is our intent that these future U.S. military leaders become ambassadors of responsibility and ethical behavior who will teach the lessons of the Holocaust to their peers and to their communities.”
Under the direction of AJCF educators, scholars from the Jagellonian University in Krakow, and staff from the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, the Academy Scholars will take a thematic journey that will begin with a study of the vibrant Jewish culture that thrived in pre-War Poland, continue with a study of the rise of Nazism and the Third Reich, and conclude with a week-long focus on the Final Solution at Auschwitz/Birkenau.
The Academy Scholars are required to conduct research in Poland and write a paper about the Holocaust. They must also recount their experiences and impressions to their classmates at their respective schools, and to four other venues in their communities.
Conatct: Pat Snyder (914) 672-1861 (USA)
Tomek Kuncewicz, (48) 502-514-811 or (48) 33 844 7002 (Polska)
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