SCRANTON, Pa. — Straight from a survivor is how these students from all over northeastern and central Pennsylvania are learning about the Holocaust.
The 36th Annual Teen Symposium on the Holocaust is put on by the Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania at the Hilton Downtown Scranton.
"Once they hear the story, they bear witness to what happened and they can then share the story later on with their children and grandchildren," said Susan Blum Connors with the Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania.
Holocaust survivor Mark Schonwetter travels around the country to speak with students and tell them about his family's story of survival.
"It is important to me for them to know what happened during this period of time because I strongly believe that, as the future generation, they should be aware of what happened during those periods of time during the war," said Schonwetter.
Yukito Daniels is a student at East Stroudsburg North High School. He has been to five high schools throughout his education due to his Father's role in the military. He says this is the first time he's ever learned about the Holocaust in this way.
"What the people experienced, when they talked on the topics at the other schools, it's very brief; this happened. So they talked about the showers and some of the things that Jewish people experienced, but they never really went in depth about it and showed us, you know, the horrors that did happen and showed us what people went through. Even people who weren't in the camps what they went through," said Daniels.
There are many reasons why Holocaust survivor Schonwetter continues to travel the country sharing his story of survival.
"If you don't do the proper things to prevent this from happening, who knows?" said Schonwetter.
Schonwetter told students from 32 school districts about what his family had to do to escape persecution from the Nazis.
"We were hiding in farmers' houses in all kinds of locations during the wintertime, but in the summertime, we were hiding in the forest," explained Schonwetter.
Both organizers of the symposium and students attending say it's critical that stories like Schonwetter's are shared across the country.
"Oh, absolutely, more so than ever. I mean the rise of anti-Semitism is up 400 percent since October 7, and so it's very important," said Blum Connors.
"I can't describe how important I think it is that people continue to learn about it," added Daniels.
Students will continue to hear stories of survival from Schonwetter and other survivors on Wednesday in Scranton.
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