Eastchester Middle School welcomed a very special visitor, as Holocaust survivor Hanne Holsten sat down with eighth graders to speak about her family’s harrowing escape from Nazi Germany in the wake of Kristallnacht (The Night of Broken Glass).
Along with her family, Holsten fled through the Netherlands to Belgium, then sought refuge in both England and Wales before ultimately settling in the United States when Hanne was just 10 years old.
Holsten’s story still resonates today, she explained, as it speaks not only to the unimaginable cruelty that people can be capable of, but also to the bravery of those who act with compassion and kindness in difficult times.
“In spite of the darkness, in spite of the brutality, there are always going to be people that are going to help the helpless and will be there to try and save them,” Holsten told the students. “But it’s your job, when you’re at school, clubs, wherever you are, when you see someone treating someone else without dignity, to stand up for them.”