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U-M Dearborn students offered unique trip to learn about the Holocaust.
Judy Greenwald
I Special to the Jewish News
nlightenment through educa-
tion is key to making the world
a better place. It is this ideal that
has propelled the University of Michigan-
Dearborn (UMD) to offer a month-long
undergraduate study trip to Poland, where
students will explore Polish history and
learn about one of the darkest periods in
human history.
UMD history department faculty mem-
bers Dr. Jamie Wraight and Dr. Anna
Muller developed the program, which
began May 27 and runs through June 24.
Twelve UMD students from across Metro
Detroit are participating in the program.
"I developed this overseas program in
conjunction with Anna Muller, assistant
professor of Eastern European history:'
Wraight said.
Wraight of Ypsilanti has been with UMD
for 15 years. He was originally hired as
the curator of the Voice/Vision Holocaust
Survivor Oral History Archive in 2000,
working under the late Sidney Bolkosky,
creator of the archive. Wraight now directs
the archive, and teaches courses on the
Holocaust and modern and ancient history.
"I traveled to Poland with other
Holocaust scholars and remembered the
impact of those trips:' he said. "I realized
how transformative such an opportunity
would be for students enrolled in our
Polish history and Holocaust courses:'
Muller of Dearborn, who was born and
raised in Gdansk, Poland, said traveling to
her home country with a group of students
from the University of Florida in 2011
helped lead her to create this unique study
opportunity.
"I think this trip will give students a
chance to learn about the rich and mul-
tilayered Polish history, and to reflect on
how societies remember and how they deal
with a difficult past:' she said. "I'm very
proud of how Poland is changing, especial-
ly how it's dealing with its turbulent history
— facets to be proud of, but also those of
difficulty, such as anti-Semitism:'
The trip will begin in Krakow and
continue to Zakopane, Lodz, Warsaw and
Gdansk. While overseas, the group will
explore various and oftentimes conflicting
aspects of Polish and Polish-Jewish history.
Visits to historic sites, including essential
locations such as Auschwitz and Belzec,
will be accompanied by appropriate source
readings and documents.
Wraight and Muller also designed a
E
14 June 11 • 2015
Dr. Jamie Wraight, Dr. Anna Muller and Dr. Martin Hershock
companion course, "Memory and Oblivion:
Polish and Polish-Jewish History in the
Polish Modern Landscape that students
can take for credit during the overseas
experience.
"Students will be expected to partici-
pate in 10 scheduled seminars as well as
numerous lectures and workshops with
local historians:' Wraight said. "We'll also
have the opportunity to experience Polish
culture: using local transportation, staying
in hostels and hotels, and dining in local
eateries:'
Students will also visit the Museum of
Polish Jewry and the European Center of
Solidarity.
Along with Wraight and Muller, Dr.
Martin Hershock, dean of UMD's College
of Arts, Sciences and Letters and profes-
sor of history, is accompanying the group.
Hershock, a Canton resident, is of Polish
heritage and explained his personal interest
in the trip.
"The Holocaust is one of the most pro-
foundly evil chapters in the world's history:'
he said. "I think it's incumbent upon us to
teach about the Holocaust to ensure the
memory of this horror never disappears.
The college has focused attention on the
issue of genocide and Holocaust history.
"Beyond the work done by Dr. Bolkosky
and Dr. Wraight through the archive
and classes, the college is home to the
Armenian Research Center, one of the
largest repositories of materials about
the Armenian genocide. These strengths
position the college well to advance under-
standing of genocide and Holocaust stud-
ies:"
Lori and Steve Weisberg of West Bloomfield
generously supported students on the trip.
Importance Of Remembering
Students are able to participate in this
trip in part through generous donations
from people throughout Metro Detroit,
including Steve and Lori Weisberg of West
Bloomfield. Both of their families have
Polish Holocaust connections, and Lori
explained their strong feelings about the
need for this type of education.
"Steve's mother is a survivor who was
born in Warsaw:' she said. "Her parents and
brothers were killed in the camps, and one
sister survived with her. My father was also
born in Poland. His parents, his eight broth-
ers and one sister were murdered during
the Holocaust as well.
"We recognize there are students at U-M
Dearborn who wouldn't be able to study in
Europe without scholarship funds. This is
meaningful to us because education is the
foundation for the future. If people don't
have knowledge and understanding of what
occurred during that period, there is too great
a risk the same thing can happen again:'
The importance of Santayanis well-known
phrase "Those who do not remember the
past are condemned to repeat it" is appar-
ent to the students who are participating
in the trip. Three members of the group,
Tayloranne Lenze, Josh Scarbrough and
Katrina Stack, all expressed their excitement
about being able to travel and study overseas.
"Learning about the Holocaust is very
important because it had such an impact
on Europe and the world' said Lenze, 21,
an English major from Livonia. "Through
Professor Muller, I've fallen in love with the
idea of Poland and want to experience it
myself. I'm excited to learn more about the
Holocaust but honestly am afraid to go to the
concentration camps and afraid of what new
horrors I'll learn. But I think this trip will force
me to confront what happened more than I
would in the safety of a classroom:'
Like Lenze, history major Scarbrough,
20, of Southgate has been overseas before,
but is also excited and grateful to be taking
part in this program.
"Holocaust education has meant a lot
to me over the years:' he said. "Seeing the
actual locations where these crimes against
the Jews were committed will make this
experience incredibly overwhelming:'
This will be 20-year-old Garden City resi-
dent Stack's first time studying abroad, and
the history major who wishes to become
a teacher also has roots in Poland and was
eagerly anticipating the opportunity to visit
her family's country.
"I'm so excited about this program:'
she said, "and I feel learning about the
Holocaust is something I have to do. The
stories of the Jews and other victims contain
lessons important to me not only as a histo-
rian, but also a person: lessons of strength
and hope. I know this will be a once-in-a-
lifetime experience and will shape how I'll
teach about the Holocaust someday:'
Wraight stressed the importance of
Holocaust education at UMD, or indeed,
any university.
"What happened during the Holocaust
continues to happen all over the world.
Cambodia, Rwanda, Sudan: All have shown
that genocidal behavior didn't end with the
Holocaust," he said. "Education, and the
awareness that comes with it, is vital to pre-
vention:'
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