On January 8, 2016, Judson’s student leadership and IB students visited the Holocaust Memorial Museum of San Antonio. This museum commemorates and shows San Antonians of all ages the travesty and the consequences of what prejudice, hatred and apathy had on the world.

“I am lucky for what I have because people have been through worse things than I [have],” freshman Jayleen Garcia said.

The Holocaust was a catastrophic genocide, one of the largest in history, that persecuted and maliciously murdered millions of innocent people. The Nazis, under Hitler’s influence, believed that the Germans were the “superior race” and that anyone else including the Jews, Christians or anyone who were politically different, were deemed as “inferior” and were exterminated to “cleanse” the world.

The Nazis were taken down by the Allies which concluded World War II.

“It’s an eye opener,” freshman Jeselle Aguilar said.

Hungarian holocaust survivor Anna Weisz Rado was at the museum to share her story of the horrifying hardships she faced. She was also able to give insight as to how there was more Jewish people killed than the six million that have been recorded in some textbooks.

After being separated at the camps, Rado was never able to see her parents again, which was very heartbreaking for a young girl. After being told that her parents were most likely dead, Rado and her sister didn’t believe it. She never gave up on God and kept believing that her family would be safe.

After the war was over, she walked many miles to go home and was eventually reunited with her brother. Thirteen years later, she was reunited with her older sister in San Antonio.

Rado gave the message to not give up because if she could overcome her challenges, then teenagers can help overcome a disease of prejudice and bullying.

“I learned that the Holocaust was a lot scarier than I thought it was,” senior Mycah Wallace said. “I never knew how bad it was until the pain of the survivor hit me.”

Similar to today’s injustice, there are the victims, perpetrators and the bystanders.

Bullies are not like in the movies, where they stick your head down the toilet, shove you into lockers or even throw spit balls at you. These bullies cower behind their electronic devices, constantly berating and sending messages that hit harder than any punch could do. They tear down your spirit and sometimes even destroy a life.

Similar it to the Holocaust, many citizens stood by and watched millions of people deal with injustice and death. If those citizens stood up to Hitler, perhaps there would have been a whole different outcome of the Holocaust.

Acts of injustice and prejudice are being overlooked. We watch people get bullied every day and do nothing, not thinking of the consequences that bullying has on the victim’s life. Silence only helps the bully, never the bullied.

“Dont hate because hatred destroys, and maybe there could be a better world than it was a long time ago,” Rado said.