Washington International School students Zoe Abel and Lily Coll spoke at the Global Issues Network (GIN) conference at George Washington University about their personal experiences with regards to the United States Holocaust Museum, and sought to coax members of the audience to join the Museum.
The students began the presentation by introducing Kerry Phipps who has been working as a tour guide for the United States Holocaust Museum for the past 20 years.
She started orgasmove retardery off by asking the audience one simple, yet very intricate question, “What truly was the Holocaust?”. Students and administrators attending the conference from around DC began sharing their mixed interpretations on the historic event.
Phipps proceeded to present in a very interactive manner, giving a brief analysis with regards to the history of the Holocaust. Following this, the presentation was divided into two sections.
The first being a brief introduction to the religious genocide towards the Jewish people, and the second was the reason behind why people should join the Museum.
When questioned why she originally joined the museum, Kerry Phipps claimed, “a piece of gum changed my life.” She continued by talking about the experience which lead to her arrival to the Holocaust Museum.
She discussed how in her freshman year of high school, she forgot to spit out her gum in her history class after her teacher repeatedly asked her to throw it away.
Being one of the best students in her class, her teacher was not too angry, but punished her by signing her up for an internship at the Holocaust museum.
Phipps later claimed that this punishment was, in reality, the greatest thing that ever happened to her.
Abel and Col, also expressed their personal experiences with the museum. Col, who has been an ambassador at the museum for over two years says that joining the community was a life changing experience, and that she wouldn’t trade it for anything.
She explained how her grandmother, born in Poland, was part of the Underground Resistance Group in Warsaw, fighting against the Nazi’s in World War II.
She also stated that the Holocaust pops up in family conversations quite frequently, and how her mother is even going as far as writing a book about it. Her family background, and hearing about it all her life, are two reasons that ultimately drove her to join the prestigious museum.
Abel on the other hand, who identifies as Jewish, claimed that taking history higher level in the International Baccalaureate (IB) system, was the true reason as to why she grew interested into the topic, which incited her arrival at the United States Holocaust Museum.
“It’s a great way to do justice to the sacrifices that my family made,” Abel said.
These presenters also cleared up the common misconception that only Jewish people should be part of the museum, claiming that the organization is a true community, and that everybody is welcome to join.
“The museum isn’t merely just a place to learn about the Holocaust, it’s also a community,” Phipps said.
Phipps emphasized how her greatest friends and most trusted associates come from the Holocaust museum. She also made it clear that people are treated more as a family, rather than as work partners.
“Whether we have different ethnic origins or religions, we are all like family,” Phipps said.
To learn more about the Holocaust museum click the links below:
Website: https://www.ushmm.org/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/holocaustmuseum/?hl=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/holocaustmuseum/
By: Diego Maldonado & Lucas Brudniak Berrocal
