In 2007, second-generation Holocaust survivor Sam Devinki co-established the Together We Remember organization, providing Jewish sophomores in the Kansas City area with an in-depth opportunity to learn about the Holocaust.
Every year, the Together We Remember organization takes a group of selected students from various synagogues and Jewish organizations to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.
Devinki was born in a displaced persons camp succeeding World War II, during which he lost close to 100 members of his family. While his parents survived, their life-altering experience impacted Devinki and his two sisters. “We grew up understanding the types of things that happened during the war, and types of things that can happen,” Devinki said.
The connection Devinki has to the Holocaust gave him a deeply personal outlook on the events occurring in the world today, increasing his passion to teach people about the Holocaust. Some students Devinki has talked to have no prior knowledge of the Holocaust, “That’s what scares me,” Devinki said, “If you don’t know history, history is bound to repeat itself.”
The lack of Holocaust education in schools was disenchanting to Devinki as many young people have an incomplete understanding of the Holocaust. “I had a general picture,” said Caroline Simpson, an attendee of the Together We Remember trip, “But I didn’t know any of the specifics or in-depths that we learned on the trip.”
Across the span of the two-day trip, the group traveled to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, where students had the opportunity to explore the exhibits individually, as well as an in-depth walkthrough with a museum tour guide.
Attendees of the trip expressed how enriching the opportunity was. Eliezer Rich, a sophomore at HBHA said, “I feel like I knew a good amount because I … go to a Jewish school, but I think that the trip taught me so much more … because it was specifically focused on the Holocaust.”
Rich shares how the trip proved to be a positive experience for him, as it was able to build a bridge between the darkness of the Holocaust, and the enjoyable experience of attending a trip.
Students obtained a deeper understanding of the Holocaust as a whole, including details commonly overlooked by schools. The museum’s rich quantity of texts and infographics provided students with the ability to further inquire about their interests. “I see education as the primary goal for what we do,” Devinki said.
HBHA sophomore Norah Pabst, who also attended this year’s trip, says, “I felt sad for a lot of it, but I also felt really interested in it because it’s my personal history. It feels like it’s essential to learn; you have to know as much as you can.”
Having the visual impact of viewing artifacts from the Holocaust helps put into perspective the immense number of lives taken. While walking around the museum, physical items taken from the ghettos and concentration camps are available to see. “We could see the stuff that people took off or put in piles that they expected to get back,” Rich explained, “Seeing that physically, not just pictures or text about it … really made it real.”
Among the many artifacts displayed at the museum, an extremely poignant one is the pile of shoes taken from prisoners in concentration camps. “There’s so much personality that was just tossed away,” said Pabst.
People often do not have a close enough grasp on how recently the Holocaust occurred. An abundance of the images in the museum are in color. Pabst shares how shocking it was to see a colored photo of Hitler. “When you actually see it in color, it makes you think how recent it really was. Sometimes seeing it in black and white can make it feel like it’s so far away,” she said.
As those who survived the Holocaust begin to pass, hearing stories from survivors is becoming more difficult. The responsibility of keeping these stories alive is falling into the hands of younger generations. The Together We Remember trip helps provide students with the knowledge and experience that is essential to pass on to future generations.
During the museum tour on the second day of the trip, Devinki accompanied the group. “Walking through the museum with Sam Devinki, him being born in the DP camp and being so connected to the Holocaust, … learning things from him was really cool,” said Pabst.
Learning about the Holocaust in such a capacity is bound to evoke many emotions. Even so, having a proper education about the Holocaust is essential to one’s knowledge of history. “We preach to our children that they should never forget, but if they don’t know what they’re supposed to remember, that saying, ‘never forget,’ doesn’t mean anything,” said Devinki.
Hearing stories of personal experiences, like Devinki’s, help the next generations learn about the past to prevent the repetition of history in the future. “What I like to say is, what their [Devinki’s parents] three kids and all our grandchildren represent, is the fact that Hitler did not succeed,” Devinki said.
