Welcome back to Pull Up A Chair, our monthly podcast where we explore different themes and what it means to build and be a part of a strong Jewish community.

For this episode, Lessons of the Shoah, we commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day, Yom HaShoah, through a unique lens.

We sat down with two students and a faculty member at The John Carroll High School, a Catholic Preparatory school in Bel Air, MD. Decades ago, a program was started to immerse students in the study of the Holocaust. The program also included a trip to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. The John Carroll Holocaust program is funded by The Ralph and Shirley Klein Foundation.

In 2008, Louise Geczy, a senior project coordinator at the school, reached out to The Baltimore Jewish Council (BJC), an agency of The Associated, to connect Holocaust survivors for a new program at the school called Lessons of the Shoah.

Since then, thousands of students from private, public and independent schools, as well as John Carroll, have participated and have learned about tolerance and respect for diversity.

Today, the BJC helps secure Holocaust speakers and keynote presenters, and works with the school to plan workshops.

Gary Scholl, a faculty member, says, “The impact I see on our students is they know they have to become upstanders. They can’t allow people to be discriminated against, disrespected, humiliated in any situation where they are present.”

Kishan Patel, who was a student in the program years ago, recalls his time in the program and meeting Holocaust survivors.

“I don’t think it’s possible to go through that program without just becoming a better human and a better advocate… it makes you a better person willing to go out there and put yourself out there for other people.”

View the episode’s transcript.

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Pull Up A Chair is a monthly Associated Podcast where, each month, we sit down and talk with members of the Baltimore community. Hear the personal stories of Jewish Baltimore – from CEO’s to The Myerberg’s Bagel Boys to Summer Camp Sweethearts. We’ll laugh, reminisce and learn a thing or two about what it means to build a strong community. Pull Up A Chair – You’ll feel like you’re sitting in the room with us.