On Thursday September 28, Rachael Miller, a Holocaust survivor, came to talk to Mrs. Berry’s Holocaust Literature senior English class. Rachael’s family was originally from Warsaw, Poland and they moved to Paris, France after the Germans invaded Poland.

Rachael was a hidden child in France and evaded the Nazi’s grasp by constantly moving and living under an alias. She eventually moved to the United States after the war and had a plethora of other hardships, but she continued to live her life and tell her story. She had three kids and is now a proud grandmother. She spends her days telling her story to make sure no one forgets this tragic event.

Mrs. Kelly Berry, English teacher, believes the benefits of having a holocaust survivor share her story at St. Joe are “endless.”

“Students are able to make a connection with the survivor and bear witness to the survivor’s experience to others.  In a few short years, the survivors will no longer be living,” Mrs. Berry said. “I wanted the girls to have the opportunity for connection, so the Holocaust does not become an elusive historical term.

Senior Paige Beste reflected on the experience.

“It was eye opening, and it gave me a whole new perspective on what we are learning about,” Beste said.

The class of seniors took away a new understanding of the extensive struggles millions of people had to go through, and the constant and persistent fear they lived in for the entirety of the war.

“It is a human experience which calls for  understanding and emphasizes the importance of protecting the dignity of all human beings,” Mrs. Berry said.