The dark age of Nazi genocide and other historic periods of horror triggered tears of compassion among 800 at the Flames of the Holocaust symposium on the Brainerd campus of Central Lakes College.
The daylong, free event Friday featured first-hand accounts from Holocaust survivors such as Anita Dittman, the 74-year-old Jewish woman from Crosby. As she described her childhood robbed of innocence by Adolph Hitler's quest for ethnic cleansing, Dittman moved many in the silenced Chalberg Theatre.
Most of Dittman's listeners were high school students from communities such as Pequot Lakes, which brought six busloads. "About 250 students, even our principal," said Ann Toumi, adjunct German instructor at CLC and a teacher at Pequot Lakes School. She and Vicky Knickerbocker, CLC sociology instructor, organized the symposium.
Aitkin School brought 117 students and Pillager brought 63 students. Other school groups included Onamia, Mille Lacs Academy, Nay Ah Shing, Staples-Motley Middle School, Wadena-Deer Creek, and area alternative schools in Brainerd and Staples.
Dozens of older adults and several CLC students were able to squeeze into presentations by Dittman, David Hurlbut and Roger Rudolph. "All our presenters captivated their audience," said Knickerbocker.
Hurlbut, a volunteer tour leader at the former Dachau, Germany, concentration camp, addressed sociology and psychology students in lectures for two days before the symposium. He was the first speaker booked for the event, which was conceived by Toumi following several visits to Dachau with student groups from Pequot Lakes and CLC.
"We designed this to provoke thoughtful reflection regarding the roots of intolerance and how violence erupts within society," said Knickerbocker.
Hurlbut said he was pleased to be able to help educate young minds with information on how regimes conquer the uninformed and apathetic. He cited doctrines and edicts from dictators, philosophers and even theologians who promoted intolerance. The timing was good, he said, to coincide with Diversity Month.
Rudolph, a mass communications professor from St. Cloud State University's Center for Holocaust Studies, examined today's signs of racism and as a Jew provided personal perspective on contemporary injustice.
Another guest, Polish Stan Domoradzki of Akeley, signed and sold copies of his book, "The Bridge Over the Main," and shared stories of his teen years under Nazi rule.
"We are all responsible for keeping the torch of peace and justice alive," he said.
Funding for the event came from International Education Subcommittee at CLC, Student Services at CLC, administration at CLC, the German program at CLC, and the Dachauer Forum in Dachau, Germany.
A second symposium is planned for the first week of October 2001, which will include an evening program for community and day activity for area schools, CLC students and staff. A CLC tour to Germany and Austria is scheduled for June 2001, to include the former concentration camp at Dachau. Toumi has led previous trips to Germany for Pequot Lakes High School and CLC.
