West Virginia reflects on the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz
The West Virginia Commission on Holocaust Education helped arrange for Auschwitz survivor Howard Chandler to speak at Wheeling Park High School. 12 News spoke with Commission member Laurent Levy, who is currently working towards a PhD at Gratz College in the Holocaust and Genocide Studies program.
Levy said that a major lesson from the Holocaust that West Virginia needs to be vigilant of is 'other-ism'. Levy explained 'other-ism' as 'anybody that is an 'other', anybody that is not like us, anybody that is different can therefore be discounted.' Levy said. 'That is sort of a 'watch guard'.'
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Levy added that something that often gets forgotten about the Holocaust is the people who risked their lives trying to save others.
'They put their own lives and the lives of their families on the line to hide Jews to shelter them, to protect them, to feed them. My mother is the direct beneficiary of one of those people,' Levy said.
Levy's mother, Dr. Edith Levy, was a Holocaust survivor and helped found the Commission. Levy said he was influenced by his mother at a young age as he heard her speak about her experiences. Levy said interest in the Commission was renewed in 2019 amidst public outcry against a photo of West Virginia correction trainees doing Nazi salutes.
During the last West Virginia legislative session, the commission pushed to mandate teaching the Holocaust in West Virginia schools but was ultimately unsuccessful. Levy said that the commission does not plan on pushing for the legislation this session, saying that it's a quick session and the change in governor will make the session too crowded with other potential legislation.
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