Beyond the Classroom: Reflecting on 奥斯维辛集中营

学生 enrolled in the Religious Studies course 面对历史 & 我们自己 recently traveled to Boston to experience: 奥斯维辛集中营. 不久前. 不远.

This powerful exhibit recalls the horrors of the Holocaust through over 700 artifacts.

“The way [the exhibit] is set up chronologically makes you feel like you're living it in real time..”萨曼塔, 2025届毕业生

"I know the purpose of the exhibit is to educate as many people as possible,萨曼莎说。, "to try to prevent history from repeating itself. But I think it was also to humanize the victims. It was to give them back the dignity that was stripped from them during the Holocaust."

Through 面对历史 & 我们自己 course and 面对历史 & 我们自己 initiative, Central Catholic students explore the history, causes, and aftermath of the Holocaust.

Over 25 students enrolled in the course visited the exhibition with Ms. Anne Martino, Religious Studies Teacher; Mrs. Aliali Silverio Belkus '97, Assistant Principal of Community & Belonging; and Mr. Christopher Merrill '89, Director of Strategic Communications.

奥斯维辛集中营. 不久前. 不远.

关于 the Exhibition

Excerpts from BU Today

"This exhibition includes more than 700 artifacts from what was the largest concentration camp established by the Nazis during World War II under German Chancellor Adolf Hitler. More than one million people died there between 1940 and 1945."

"The traveling exhibition represents an extraordinary collaboration among more than 20 museums across the globe, including the 奥斯维辛集中营-Birkenau Memorial and Museum, the Anne Frank House, 还有犹太大屠杀, and it is described as the first traveling exhibition on 奥斯维辛集中营."

"The show is arranged chronologically. Among the hundreds of objects included are suitcases that were packed by Jews deported to 奥斯维辛集中营, portions of an original prison barrack, concrete posts that served as part of the fence that surrounded the camp, a single woman’s red shoe set against a photo of hundreds of shoes confiscated from 奥斯维辛集中营 detainees on their way to the gas chambers, 儿童玩偶, hundreds of buttons removed from detainees’ clothing, 还有更多. The vast collection of personal objects is meant to humanize the lives lost at 奥斯维辛集中营 and to serve as a remembrance and as a reminder of the need to combat hate and evil wherever it exists."

关于 面对历史 & 我们自己

学生 explore the history, causes and aftermath of the Holocaust in this one-semester senior elective course. Themes are explored through a series of reading, videos, activities, and reflections. 学生 reflect on racism and social justice, as well as the importance of global awareness and their own potential for making a difference. Based on the curriculum developed and sponsored by 面对历史 and 我们自己 in Brookline, MA, connections are made to Catholic social teaching, St. Paul’s image that we are all one body in Christ, and our Marist call to reach out to the least favored.