The Times of Israel Publishes Article
German students research fates of their school’s Jews to bring Nazi-era horrors home
Against backdrop of October 7 massacres and surge in global antisemitism, US consultant Terry Mandel visits Germany to expand award-winning Holocaust memory project based in Cologne
While standing in Auschwitz on a school field trip, history teacher Dirk Erkelenz envisioned a project in which students at his high school in Cologne, Germany, would research the fate of its Jewish students, the last of whom were expelled by the school during National Socialist rule.
Since 2015, more than 150 students at the Königin-Luise-Schule have taken Erkelenz’s yearlong Special History elective. The acclaimed project includes students reaching out to relatives of the Jewish girls they researched.
“What students are doing is meaningful — they have the feeling that they can do something themselves,” Erkelenz told The Times of Israel.