In November, I was named the United States Honorary Consul of Memory for the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation in Poland. I received this award due to dedication to Auschwitz Holocaust education and efforts to bring live online tours of the Auschwitz Birkenau to schools and organizations across the United States. This honor recognizes my organizational efforts to connect Auschwitz with schools, universities, and professional education organizations.

This advocacy has earned me a special invitation to the 80th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz Birkenau.
Yet it was many friends, family, community supporters, and the special support of Temple Emanu-El of Haverhill that made the trip financially possible. Without them believing in my unproven work, I would not be here today.

It is truly special that I am able to share with you, maybe for the last time. This actual authentic place and their spirited voices together unlike so many real testimonies or pieces of evidence we experience. This blend of the truth that exists that can been seen or touched and the meaning expressed to us by those at the very place they live during the horror. What a truly humbling moment this will be.

The number of Holocaust survivors continues to decline, this may be
the last event of its magnitude to feature those who experienced Auschwitz firsthand. To my knowledge I am the only teacher from the United State who was invited to attend this event by the Auschwitz Memorial in my capacity as a teacher. In my classes my students and I grappled with the question of how could bad things happen to such good
people. The Holocaust is the greatest example of this and allows for complexity of analysis. Yet no clear definitive answers to how to stop hate and acts of evil. Other than the issue of choice rests with the individual. Ultimately the best goal is to teach them the cognitive skills necessary to decide what is best for them and their community.

“Auschwitz. In Front of Your Eyes.” Live guided tour is the greatest tool for students to make a connection with the place of Auschwitz, the evidence and all of its authenticity, combined with survivors testimony students connect with this historical event like none they have before. So many student create a personal relationship to these issues/events as they try to make sense of them.
Kempinski has advocated for the program to be included in history curriculums across the United States.

It is my honor to be the honorary Consul of Memory. For me this means I assist students and peers to connect to memories of the past. Then I ask “What do you think? Wait, Sit, listen, … then say “What do you do now with what you just learned?” Then we go from there.