Author Judy Rakowski spoke to LHS students about the Holocaust and history on Thursday morning.
Cade Higgins | The Lima News
LIMA — Lima Senior students listened to emotional stories and were taught the importance of history, facts and education by a Holocaust author on Thursday.
Judy Rakowsky, a Lima native and author of “Jews in the Garden,” shared stories of her Holocaust-surviving cousin, Sam, and emphasized accepting history for what it is in the Lima Senior High School’s Joe Henderson Auditorium on Thursday.
“We can’t clean up history and give someone a version they want. Facts are facts. You have to deal with them and move on,” she said.
Her cousin, Sam, survived the Holocaust. Rakowsky shared emotional and gripping stories from concentration camps, many of which were from Sam’s account.
A former reporter and journalist, Rakowsky found out about the history by asking questions. She shared with students why this is important.
“You have to ask questions. You’ll never know the answer if you don’t ask,” she said.
Having traveled to Poland 12 times, Rakowsky has a strong connection with where her family lived for hundreds of years. She has gained more knowledge by visiting various museums and monuments.
Rakowsky said she was thankful to Lima Senior for providing its Holocaust course to students, not forgetting to mention the appropriate age at which a student would be able to fully comprehend the facts.
“I heard somewhere that the age of 14 is when people can start to wrap their heads around it. I still can’t wrap my head around it. It’s not too young, and I think it’s important to start before college,” she said.
Having the opportunity to speak to younger people was important to Rakowsky.
“If you don’t learn history at a young age, how are you going to learn from it when you’re older?” she asked.
The title of her book was inspired by accepting history.
“Poland was a garden for Jews for hundreds of years,” she said.
By listening to Rakowsky, students were given the chance to listen to someone directly impacted by the events of the Holocaust.
Rakowsky mentioned she would love to speak more in the future.
Reach Cade Higgins at 567-242-0351
