Lessons of the Shoah (LOTS) is a John Carroll event focusing on remembering Holocaust survivors and recalling the horrors of the past. It was a full-day experience that took place on Tuesday, November 12, beginning promptly at 9:00 a.m.

LOTS Coordinator Louise Geczy said, “I believe we need to confront hard issues and not hide from them. This means emotion is going to be involved. Having time and opportunity to interact and reflect on hard information is important, so we try to provide that and encourage schools to provide follow-up processing time.”

The keynote speaker was Dr. Lauren Granite. Her message was to put a backstory and life to Jewish children and to show that they too led normal lives before the Holocaust. She also shed light on how the ideas of Hitler and antisemitism were not new things as they had existed before the Holocaust.

Mrs. Geczy, as an educator in

Human Rights, teaches others about the Holocaust and its harsh effects.

The LOTS event was open to schools outside of JC, including Mercy, Bel Air, Maryvale, Parkville, and Bethtfiloh.

All of the students who attended got to hear stories of horror and survivor from second and third generation relatives of those who experienced the Holocaust.

Junior Gabriel Olzyk said “Hearing the second and third-generation stories was impactful because we heard how the trauma from the Holocaust trickled down through generations.”

Junior Colleen Bauer said, “Hearing the survivors’ stories told in the first person by their descendants made the moment feel so real and brought us back to the reality of the event.”

Mrs. Geczy said, “As this year’s theme was ‘How Children Experienced the Holocaust and Inherited Trauma,’ having second and third generation speakers was a perfect fit as their testimony fit both the theme and what we hoped participant take away would be.”

After hearing a variety of genuine and vulnerable stories, students were served lunch. This lunch consisted of water, a wrap of the person’s choice, chips, and a chocolate chip cookie.

After lunch, the crowd was brought back to the auditorium where they viewed a movie about a remarkable man story during this difficult time. The 2023 movie was One Life and was directed by James Hawes.

Mrs. Geczy said, “After watching the Winton film and hearing the other stories, my hope was that students would see that one person can make a difference and that each of us can step up and do things to make positive differences, no matter how small they are.”