Smithtown East Students learn the powerful message of tolerance and courage from Holocaust survivor, Werner Reich and Rwandan genocide survivor, Joseph Sebarenzi
Smithtown High School East Social Studies students devoted an entire day to peace, hope and tolerance in honor of Holocaust Remembrance and Genocide Awareness Day.
On Wednesday, April 5the, the entire social studies student body met with Smithtown resident and Holocaust survivor, Werner Reich during the first part of the days activities. Reich educated students about his life in concentration camps, using his oppressive experience to teach the students how to take action in a situation. Werner Reich is one of 17,000 survivors out of 141,000 imprisoned in the Terezin concentration camp. He now teaches students throughout Long Island, the importance of standing up to cruel acts, through his testimony.
During the afternoon session, the former President of Parliament, author and Rwandan genocide survivor, Joseph Sebarenzi spoke with students about his survival through civil wars and genocide in Rwanda. Sebarenzi’s parents, seven siblings and countless other family members were among the 800,000 Tutsi murdered over the course of 90 days in 1994 in Rwanda. Sebarenzi’s book “God Sleeps in Rwanda” recalls his survival but also provides insight about conflict prevention and reconciliation.
The Students then watched films such as “The Killing Fields” on Cambodian genocide, “Hotel Rwanda” on the Rwandan genocide and “Devil Came on Horseback” about the genocide in Darfur during the classroom activities portion. They were then asked to write a reaction essay on how they could choose an escape route if they were in Syria during its conflict.