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Guest Speaker Discusses Holocaust with 20th Century History Students

Mar 4, 2022

Jackie Scully’s 20th Century World History class is currently studying the Holocaust. Renee Rieder Siegel, who presented to Ms. Scully’s classes in person in 2020 and via Zoom in 2021 joined the class again this year via Zoom on February 24. Renee spoke about her mother’s journey as a Holocaust survivor. Her mother, Helen, grew up in Czechoslovakia as a young girl and by her teenage years she was put into a ghetto and then multiple concentration camps including Auschwitz. She grew up in a large family, and only one other sibling survived. Helen ended up emigrating to America after she met her husband in Israel years after the camp was liberated. She had two children, one being Renee, who continues to share her mother’s story. She named her daughter Renee, French for reborn. Renee ended her presentation to focus on the themes of her mother’s life of resilience and rebirth. She also noted that through everything her mother went through with surviving the Holocaust she always remembers those that were kind to her. “Remember the kindness of others even in times of great horror,” Renee said. The day of her presentation was the same day Russia invaded Ukraine and right before class, the Auschwitz Memorial put out a statement on Twitter, and Renee shared that message with the class before her presentation. 

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