HOST: JENNIFER (00:02):
Hello, welcome to this podcast called Finding Inspiration. It's a 20-or-so-minute bi-monthly podcast where we interview someone with an amazing story. After the show, I know you'll feel energized, invigorated, and inspired. I'm Jennifer Weissmann. Welcome to the Finding inspiration Show.
HOST: JENNIFER (00:27):
Today's episode (#25) is part of a series with the same theme of Holocaust Education. Why? Because in 2022, November 9th is the 84th anniversary of Kristallnacht. As you might know, it was also called The Night of Broken Glass. This night was the beginning of the violent rage against the Jews. That happened in the late hours of November 9th. Nazi mobs torched and vandalized synagogues and homes and destroyed thousands of buildings that Jews owned. And they murdered close to 100 Jews. In the aftermath of Kristallnacht ("Crystal Night" or the "Night of Broken Glass"), some 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and sent to Nazi concentration camps. German Jews had been subjected to repressive policies since 1933 when Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany. However, before Kristallnacht, these Nazi policies had been primarily nonviolent. After Kristallnacht, conditions for German Jews grew increasingly worse. Today's episode is an interview with a co-founder of 3G Miami. Their mission was as 3rd generation descendants of Holocaust survivors (their grandparents were in the camps and survived). 3G Miami is teaching high school students about Holocaust education and trying to be the living link and keep the awareness of the Holocaust alive in the next generation. Hello, Julie Paresky, co-founder of 3G Miami. Please tell me exactly what you do at 3G Miami.
GUEST: JULIE (01:34):
Hi Jennifer. Thanks so much for having me today. The 3G stands for the third generation, so we're third-generation descendants of Holocaust survivors. So our organization is formed around pulling together third-generation or the grandchildren of survivors. And our fundamental mission is to reach students with the important stories of the survivors and all of the lessons they bring to educate them today about standing up to hatred and hopefully making the world a better place.
HOST: JENNIFER (02:09):
The 3G philosophy is to create a living link between survivors and their stories and share them with the rest of the world. But 3G Miami's focus, , mainly, is on storytelling to students.
GUEST: JULIE (02:20):
So 3G Miami is one of the organizations pulling together the third generation or the descendants of the survivors. And our focus is primarily reaching students, but we are running community members and other organizations. Out of the gate, when we started two years ago, we focused on educating 6th through 12th-grade students.
HOST: JENNIFER (02:41):
You are a granddaughter of a survivor. Was it a sense of responsibility you felt to do something?
GUEST: JULIE (02:50):
A sense of responsibility is an excellent way to say it and an opportunity to continue the legacy. I am the granddaughter of two Holocaust survivors. My grandfather was always a vocal advocate and such an optimist about creating change in the future and continuing to educate with the stories of what he endured. When he passed just a few years ago, it struck me with the question all people grappled with -- "now that he's gone, who is going to continue to tell these stories?" So, I just saw an opportunity, a sense of responsibility, to continue to share the stories and those lessons. And we know learning from the past is the best way to think about who we are and what we want for the future.
HOST: JENNIFER (03:32):
What do you hear from the 6th to 12th-grade students in Florida? Are they familiar with the Holocaust? Or is this a new term for them?
GUEST: JULIE (03:40):
I think it's a combination of audiences and experiences for the students, but essentially all very positive. We've gotten excellent feedback from teachers and students asking thoughtful questions. Yes, many of them – have never heard of the Holocaust. It was the first time learning what the Holocaust meant and what the Jews went through. And again, we want to share the reality of what happened. Most stories are horrific and terrible. So we focus on the lessons through storytelling. We hope to provoke and engage with the students so they can think about what this means today with all these acts of hatred and other things, unfortunately, happening around us.
HOST: JENNIFER (04:21):
It's shocking to me whenever I hear that young people have never heard of the Holocaust. What percentage of the 6th to 12th graders in the Florida area have never heard of the Holocaust?
GUEST: JULIE (04:35):
We are lucky that the State of Florida mandates Holocaust education, so that's been a fantastic platform to build on. Many of the students have heard of it, but of course, some haven't. And it depends again on which communities and which groups of people. But, even if they have heard of the Holocaust, maybe they've never listened to a personal story shared in this way. We are hitting a variety of learners.
HOST: JENNIFER (04:59):
So do the teachers invite 3G Miami into the schools to do an in-service, or how does that work?
GUEST: JULIE (05:05):
We focus on building relationships with teachers in Miami-Dade public and independent schools. We've been fortunate to partner with the invitation of Dr. Miriam Klein Kassenoff, the director of the Holocaust Institutes. Still, she also is the liaison to the public schools and does all things related to Holocaust education. So as a compliment to the instruction that the students may be getting in class, we've been able to connect with the teachers and be invited into the classrooms to make these presentations.
HOST: JENNIFER (05:36):
You're the granddaughter of two survivors. Did you grow up hearing stories of their survival?
GUEST: JULIE (05:42):
I did. And my grandfather was one of those people that just had this spirit about him and this sense of optimism, and he never wanted to burden others with sharing the stories, but he would share and be open to discussing. My grandmother had a lot more trouble being open and sharing. It was a very emotional, obviously traumatic, experience, but it was just part of who they were. And I didn't know any different.
HOST: JENNIFER (06:07):
Two years ago, you decided to start the 3G Miami. How many students have you impacted?
GUEST: JULIE (06:13):
We have had the opportunity to reach 3,500 students in Miami in two years. We have loftier goals beyond that, and we're working hard to get there. We're excited by some of the opportunities on the horizon. We've connected with 50 grandchildren of survivors and not just joined, but they've participated in a training program. We offer training so they can learn the stories, share them, build that confidence effectively, and go into the classrooms and do the work and speak.
HOST: JENNIFER (06:42):
So it's peer-to-peer, it's student-to-student education in those classrooms?
GUEST: JULIE (06:46):
Through the discussion does become that. But we are adult grandchildren of survivors, so older than the students. But again, it's the sharing of the personal story that's that unique piece. I want to say we were fortunate to have 3G New York, another organization doing this work. They have an excellent training program that we've been able to leverage and collaborate with them in Miami to move things quickly. We have a fabulous facilitator, and it's essentially a class in storytelling using these personal stories and these histories and how to put that information together and share it in compelling ways for kids to listen and learn.
HOST: JENNIFER (07:28):
Everybody's interested in hearing a story, and that probably helps them stay focused and engaged. If we were sitting here in five years, what does 3G Miami look like to you, Julie?
GUEST: JULIE (07:40):
When we started, we tried to set a goal and say what would be a success. And to me, I already feel like we've achieved success. Just so proud of the energy within the group of our speakers. We hope to reach 10,000 students annually in Miami-Dade, but there's no reason to limit it to that. So I think just as many kids as we can get this message to and hopefully change their thoughts about actions and behaviors and help these students be upstanders in the face of hatred, I think that would be a success. So individually in reaching just one student, but collectively as we can, get as many with these essential stories,
HOST: JENNIFER (08:19):
It's incredible. Julie, thank you so much for spending your morning with me. I wish you every success. The 3G mission is so important now with the rising level of antisemitism, particularly in the US on college campuses and in many places, and just general intolerance. It's amazing. You are truly inspiring, Julie. Thank you.
GUEST: JULIE (08:39):
Thank you so much.
HOST: JENNIFER (08:43):
I'm Jennifer Weissmann. Thank you for joining us this week at the Finding Inspiration Show. Hey, I would appreciate it if you would click on that subscribe button and share this podcast with a friend. See you next week.
