Every Monday and Wednesday, our students gather for a morning assembly before classes begin. On January 27th, ASYV students and educators gathered together to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day for the first time. 

When history teacher David Ndagijimana returned from a training on Holocaust and Genocide Studies, he shared the importance of teaching about genocide in order to prevent future genocides and mass atrocities. His students saw a connection between their country’s history and the history of the Jewish people and felt an obligation to educate their peers. Student leaders from David’s classes organized a meaningful and educational program, including performances and speeches. Two ASYV Fellows, descendants of Holocaust survivors, shared their own families' stories and Isano Isangiwe, ASYV’s theater club, depicted the story of Jews in the ghettos, concentration camps, and death camps. The assembly helped students gain a deeper understanding of the horrors that the Jewish people faced under the Nazi regime. 

Deborah, Student Government President and one of David’s history students explained, “The way I commemorate the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi is also the way I should commemorate the Holocaust, because I know the heaviness and the sadness that it brings out to the country and to the people...and to those that lost their families during the genocide.”

In classes and evening Family Time discussions following the program, students asked questions about the events that precipitated the Holocaust, seeking out parallels between their own history and the history of the Jewish people.

The students organizing the Holocaust remembrance programs hope the day showed their peers how to learn from history in order to prevent past mistakes from recurring. Students committed to honor the Holocaust's victims, and to be leaders in building a stronger and brighter future for their country and for the global community today.