Teacher tells how Holocaust story inspired students to overcome adversity

In the early 1990s, Erin Gruwell was faced with the challenge of teaching students who lived through the Los Angeles riots and thought they would be pregnant, incarcerated or dead before they turned 18.

To her students, she was just an "annoying, perky cheerleader from hell" who wouldn't understand them; someone they could never relate to or learn from.

The teens — hardened by their experiences with gang violence, neglect, abuse and self-segregation in the classroom — were just trying to make it to the next day, month and year.

"These kids were used to using their fists. They were used to solving problems with violence. They were used to going to funerals. They weren't reading books," Gruwell said at "Triumph 2017," an event that raises money for programs of the Holocaust Museum and Education Center of Southwest Florida.

Something clicked when the students started learning about the Holocaust and the lives of people who had overcome adversity of their own.

"I used the Holocaust as a lesson to teach my students to be humane, noble and just," Gruwell said.

About 150 people listened to Gruwell's story and the stories of her students, who called themselves the Freedom Writers. They were the subjects of the 2007 film of the same name.

"For our 'Triumph' event, we like to highlight someone who's overcome adversity, whether it's related to the Holocaust or not," said Amy Snyder, the museum's executive director.

"The story of what Erin was able to accomplish with her students connects to what we do at the museum," Snyder said. "She inspired her students to change their lives and then change the world."

Gruwell talked about the importance of making history relevant to younger generations, helping students connect with the past and be inspired to act.

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Her nonprofit organization, the Freedom Writers Foundation, is dedicated to student empowerment and providing resources for teachers.

With increased incidents of hate crimes and bullying in schools and bomb threats at Jewish community centers, teachers have opportunities to teach their students about empathy, tolerance and the importance of people's stories.

"You can't make someone your enemy when you know their name and their story," Gruwell said.

Gruwell took some of her students to see Auschwitz and other concentration camps in Poland. The students walked along the railroad tracks leading to the camps. Gruwell talked to them about how people who lived near concentration camps often heard the screams of those dying and did nothing to stop it.

"It's often easier to stand idly by, but educators can teach their students to act, make their voices heard and defend others when they see injustice," Gruwell said.

Also during the event, local artist Juan Diaz introduced his "Memorial Garden" paintings honoring Holocaust survivors and liberators who worked with the museum's education programs.

Diaz created cut-out flowers that were painted and customized by museum patrons, Holocaust survivors and their families and incorporated in the garden.

"This project became about union, coming together and recognizing one another as humans," Diaz said. "We're all rooted in the same Earth."