McCort students share experience studying Holocaust with community
Apr. 26—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Bishop McCort Catholic High School senior Charlize Amper said traveling across Europe in July, studying the Holocaust changed her and her classmates' lives.
On Thursday, the five students — Amper, Lou Conrad, Lauren Crocco, Emma Newcomer and Ashley Koontz — shared their experiences from that trip with the community at the Cambria County Library in downtown Johnstown.
The group spent 13 days visiting Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic and Austria through the Blanche Beerman Fund at the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies.
"If I had to sum it up in three words," Amper said, "gift of gratitude."
That was her biggest takeaway, she said, being given perspective on how grateful she is to have the life she does.
Amper described the trip as long days in difficult locations reliving history.
She said being in the concentration camps and other spaces, reflecting on the people who were there before her was eye-opening.
Newcomer said visiting Europe made her realize how lucky she is to be given the opportunity, and how important her mission is now to educate others about what happened leading up to and during World War II.
The weight of contemplating what terrible acts people were subject to and what living in horrific conditions must have been like was sobering to her, she said.
That experience was amplified when she saw the belongings the prisoners never got to claim.
Following the trip, the senior students compiled an in-depth slideshow, that includes pictures and video, to educate others on the Holocaust as well as their takeaways after the journey.
"You'll be blown away," McCort French teacher and trip chaperon Mary Claire Piatak told the audience.
She added that even though the subject is incredibly sad, what the students share inspires hope.
Each student took turns providing commentary on their slideshow — speaking slowly and punctuating the seriousness of the subject.
They started by providing statistics about the Holocaust — 6 million Jewish people died; more than 44,000 camps, ghettos and other sites were operated by the Nazis — and detailed Adolf Hitler's rise to power and the atrocities that followed, including the "horrendous conditions" at the concentration camps.
Conrad said it was "really, really important" for people to continue learning about this subject and was honored to share it.
"We get to be their eyes and ears, and that's a privilege," Crocco said.
Amper noted that being in the historic places was a lot different than flipping through pages in a book and added that it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Joanna Kraft attended the event because she's a history buff who has an interest in World War II.
She said the girls did a wonderful job explaining such a difficult subject.
"I think it's extremely good these young people have an opportunity to see what happened," Kraft said.
Durenda Reaman, retired McCort teacher and chaperone, said the trip is a good life lesson "not just about history, but the way people think and how they express themselves."
This was the former English and social studies teacher's fifth trip to Europe.
Reaman said she was extremely proud of the students' presentation, adding that they worked hard on it.
"They've really done a great job assimilating their ideas," she said.
In addition to the presentation, which has been provided to all McCort grades and at a senior center, the students will observe Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, May 5 at Temple Beth Israel in Altoona.
