Trunk Filled with Warnings Arrives at FCMS

A trunk filled with warnings about what happens when a country tries to wage war against an entire religion, believes all non-whites are deplorable and thinks homosexuals and people with disabilities should be eliminated arrived at Fannin County Middle School today.  Inside the trunk are cards and books describing the lives of middle school-aged children who are caught up in the madness.  The country is Germany.  Its leader at that time is Adolf Hitler who rose to power with only 43.9% of the vote in 1933.  The information and experience that the trunk brings to Fannin County Middle School students who are half a world and 83 years away from understanding how a country can turn on its own citizens.

The trunk was donated by Georgia Commission of the Holocaust through its Holocaust Learning Trunk Project.  Georgia Commission on the Holocaust was established under Gov. Joe Frank Harris in 1980 and made permanent in 1998.  It purpose is preserve the memory of the Holocaust and, through this event, encourage reflection on the moral responsibilities of citizens in a democracy.

Emma Ellingson, Public Education Manager for Georgia Commission on the Holocaust, describes the Holocaust Learning Trunk Project as, “Instead of looking at the Holocaust as something that happened  70 years ago, the resources in the trunk look at everything that contributed to the Holocaust:  choices government, organizations and individuals made, all the things that led to carrying out the Holocaust so it doesn’t happen again.” She continues that the lessons ask what is the role of citizens in a democracy which is one of the essential mandates of US education and important to us as American citizens.  The Commission chose to concentrate on individual stories because these help make history relevant.  The Commission concentrated this project on middle school students because this is when students read Diary of Anne Frank  and Night  by Elie Wiesel.

Holocaust survivor Ben Walker accompanied the trunk to FCMS.  Walker was born in Romania.  In 1941 he and his family were sent to concentration camps in Transnistria, an area in Romania.  Only he and his mother survived.  Walker told his personal story to around 90 students at the school.  It was an unexpected visit.  He and Commission staff were on the way to a presentation at Young Harris.  FCMS Principal Keith Nuckolls is grateful that students were able to hear from a Holocaust survivor who was not much different in age than them when he experienced the deep hatred and violence that people can commit against their neighbors and countrymen.

The trunk actually binds Fannin students to other students in Georgia studying about what happens when hate goes unchecked by citizens.  High school students at G.I.V.E. East, an alternative high school in Gwinnett County, decorated the trunk with representations of what they learned about  hatred in a democratic society.

The trunk is on indefinite loan to Fannin County School System and will be housed at the middle school library.  FCMS Media Specialist Keisha Dover said that whenever we share what happened to these people then it means their lives were not in vain.

If parents want more information about the purpose of the Holocaust Learning Trunk Project, they can look at guidelines on the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust website. The Commission also operates the free Anne Frank Exhibit in Sandy Springs, GA.

 

The Holocaust Learning Trunk is not the only item in Fannin County to remind students that children were victims of hatred in the Holocaust.  The Daffodil Garden at City Park serves to bind long-forgotten children of the Holocaust with the sounds of children at play.

The plaque reads: “Resilient bright and filled with hope, these daffodils are part of the world-wide living Holocaust Memorial that aspires to plant 1.5 million daffodils in memory of the 1.5 million children who perished in the Holocaust and for the children who suffer in humanitarian crisis around the world today.  “How can a person… not be moved by compassion and above all how can anyone who remembers remain silent -Elie Wiesel.  Dedicated on this 10th day of Nov. 2013 by the citizens of Blue Ridge, Fannin Co.”