Introduction

When I was first read about this class I was a little reluctant to sign up for it. I was really hesitant to take a class about the holocaust because I thought it would just be depressing. My family has a personal connection to the holocaust because my grandfather is a holocaust survivor. He grew up in Nazi occupied Austria and was able to escape because his parents sent him on something called the Kinder Transport. This was an attempt by the Nazis to appear less evil to the rest of the world. They let out kids who were exactly one particular age. My grandfather and his cousin just happened to fall under this age and they were able to get out of the country before they were murdered too.

As soon as I found out that about my family’s connection to the holocaust I started researching the subject and found out all I could on the holocaust. So, when it came time to sign up for classes I felt like this class would be unnecessarily depressing for me because I had already learned everything I needed to know about the holocaust. However, Facing History did an excellent job of teaching all about the holocaust and many other valuable lessons about the danger of standing by and watching when you need to act. I think the overall message of this course was very impressive and helpful to anyone who wants to better themselves as a person. The course taught all about the benefits of standing up and making a difference and preventing horrible things from happening ever again.