Holocaust historian visits Sussex Academy students

Holocaust history educator Steve Gonzer visited Sussex Academy April 29 to speak with eighth-graders following their March field trip to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Gonzer, the co-chair of the Halina Wind Preston Holocaust Education Committee, an affiliate of the Jewish Federation of Delaware, was instrumental in providing grant funding to cover the cost of buses for the trip to Washington, D.C., as well as lunch, books and associated project costs for all students.

After learning the fate of many of his own family members during the Holocaust, Gonzer sought to raise awareness about the consequences of hatred, discrimination and indifference. He got involved with a project to record the stories of Delaware Holocaust survivors and eyewitnesses, and produced an eight-hour video documenting their accounts, excerpts of which he showed to students.

Students expressed their gratitude for the visit and grant funding by handwriting thank-you notes they presented to Gonzer, and student Kendall Rhodes read her letter aloud to all.