HOLOCAUST
Students will meet two survivors
By SCOTT POWELL Ledger Staff Writer spowell@gaffneyledger.com

Eric Rosenfeld waved to his mother for the last time in August 1941 while she waited on a train platform for her son to leave Germany.

He was placed on one of the "Children's Transports" by his mother in a last-ditch effort to save his life during Nazi persecution of the Jews in World War II. Later that year, his mother was sent to the concentration camp in Auschwitz where she died.

Eric, 16, left Germany alone without his parents and emigrated to the United States.

Grateful to seek refuge in America, Eric joined the U.S. Army and risked his life on a daring journey back across the sea using secret documents and serving in military intelligence.

Granard Middle School students will hear Eric's story in one of two video conferences in March.

The programs will be presented March 12 and March 27 at 9 a.m. to English classes taught by teacher Pam Elliott.

"Witnesses and Voices of the Holocaust" are video conferences presented by Holocaust survivors through the Vanderbilt Virtual School.

There will be a 15-minute question and-answer session following the programs.

Elliott has been leading her students through a book study of "Diary of Anne Frank."

She has made it a point to make sure her students are aware of the Holocaust and never forget the hardships faced by survivors.

"It has been a passion for me to let my students know about World War II," Elliott said. "I want them to learn not to be a victim, a perpetrator or bystander."

Frances Cutler will speak about her experiences at the March 12 video conference. She was 3 years old when her parents sent her to a Catholic farm in a tiny village in France. Risking their own lives to save Jewish children, this family agreed to care for the Jewish children and soon they developed an elaborate system of forged documents, fake identities and bogus ration coupons that allowed the children to survive in the midst of the Holocaust.

Rosenfeld will tell his story to students at the March 27 video conference.

"I am so excited my students will be able to participate in the video conferences," Elliott said. "It will allow students to hear the personal stories from survivors of the Holocaust."