Tyrrell County Schools on November 29 hosted a Holocaust Workshop at Tyrrell Hall, sponsored by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

Twenty-six teachers from 10 neighboring counties came to learn best practices for teaching the Holocaust and provide a wide array of resources from web tools, primary sources, to films.

Teachers also participated in a session that discussed what anti-Semitism is today and how to facilitate safe discussions around the sensitive topic.

Near the end of the workshop, teachers and 36 high school students heard from the daughter of a Holocaust survivor. She spoke about her mother’s struggle to survive over a year in Auschwitz and her mother’s journey on the “Death March” from Auschwitz.

“There are only 10 Holocaust workshops held across the state throughout the year,” explained Dr. Will Hoffman, Tyrrell Schools superintendent.”We were fortunate to be selected. Our participating teachers were: Wes Gaddy, Taylor Elliott, Toni Cole, Joe Ludolph, Dana DeGraff, Casey Council, and Terry Donoghue. A special thanks to Bill Ziegler for spearheading the event.”

The Auschwitz concentration camp complex was the largest of its kind established by the Nazi regime, according to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. It included three main camps. All three camps used prisoners for forced labor. One of them also functioned for an extended period as a killing center. The camps were located approximately 37 miles west of Krakow, Poland.