Inuvik students plan trip to tour Holocaust sites studied in class

Gene Jenks has taught about the Holocaust in his language arts class many times, but this year was different.

After a few years in charge of the Beaufort Delta's distance learning program and a stint as the principal of Inuvik's East Three Secondary School, Jenks was back in the classroom for the first time in a while.

Even so, the reaction of his students surprised him.

"I knew that they were … affected by the unit, more so than I think any other class that I've taught it to in the past," Jenks said.

Jenks told his students about a long-held ambition to see the sites of the Holocaust himself.

"When I just happened to say, 'this is what I've wanted to do for many, many years,' a couple of students just said, 'let's make it happen. We are all on the same page. Let's make this a reality.'"

Jenks said at first he wasn't sure anything would become of it, but then he found out from a colleague that an educational tour group offered a trip tailored-made to the subject they were learning about, called "Central Europe and the Holocaust."

As part of their studies, the class read books inluding Night by Elie Wiesel, which describes the experience of living in Nazi concentration camps, and watched films like 1993's Schindler's List.

Now, the class is excited to be able to travel to the sights and see the history that they learned about this fall.

For each person going, the trip run by EF Educational Tours will cost about $5,100. About 12 students are planning on going along with a couple of chaperones, which means the trip will cost nearly $70,000 altogether.

Students have organized a GoFundMe page, held bake sales and garage sales, and organized bottle drives. They plan to keep coming up with unique ideas to raise funds.

"The students now are really being proactive in coming up with their own fundraising initiatives," said Genks.

"We don't want just handouts. We want to work and we're willing to do that."

Lessons strike 'close to home'

Sixteen-year-old Alexis McDonald said the content they read and watched really struck a chord with her.

"Sometimes it's hard to compare because it's very different what each nation has experienced, but it's all genocide and colonization," said McDonald.

McDonald is Dene and Inuvialuit. She spoke about how "pretty well all my grandparents" have been a part of the Sixties Scoop or attended residential school.

"Being able to see a film or read a book that has the similarities — going through genocide, simply because of your religion or the colour of your skin — it just really struck close to home," said McDonald.

McDonald and her classmates said it's emotional for them when they think of the strength of the Jewish people and how they "had to recollect themselves and recollect the humanity in them somehow … in order to survive again."

When talking about the trip, McDonald and her classmates talk about how it's going to be something they'll always remember.

During the 10-day tour, they'll go to three countries: Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic.

Seventeen-year-old Anibe Abba said she's is most interested in visiting Auschwitz and the Kraków Ghetto, one of 10 major Jewish ghettos created by Nazi Germany.

"It's one thing reading about it and then watching movies, and it's another thing being there," said Abba, "going to this land and remembering history, being there to pay our respects."

She said that she thinks the trip is going to be an appropriate ending to her time in high school.

"We're about to go into the world, and then going to such a huge place, it's kind of preparing us for going into the world," Abba said.

The teens plan to leave Inuvik on June 27, and return July 7.