By: Fionna Tejada '22
At the podium of A.J. Villalobos Hall, standing before a group of Whittier College students, Jacob Eisenbach recalled his own experience of surviving the Holocaust and the residual effects that came from it.
Eisenbach’s visit to campus was made possible by Julia Davis ’17, an education coordinator at the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust (LAMOTH). In her role, she plans, coordinates, and leads museum programs relating to Jewish history.
“A direct consequence of hatred was the Holocaust where 6 million Jews were killed,” said Eisenbach. “So it’s very important for young people to know what happened so they can see the tremendous injustice that took place and don’t accept ideas of hatemongers. I’ve spoken at many colleges, universities, and high schools and I’ll continue to do that as long as my health continues to allow me to.”
Davis understands the importance of hearing personal stories versus reading them in textbooks.
“I hope that by hearing Jacob speak, the students are better able to understand how things happened during the Holocaust, at an individual level, rather than in the abstract, unapproachable way it is often taught in high school and middle school,” she said.
Double-majoring in religious studies and political science at Whittier, Davis was always interested in career opportunities that would combine her two interests. As an education coordinator at LAMOTH, she has the opportunity to do that. The program she is currently most involved in is L’Dough V’Dough, in which middle and high school-aged students get to braid and bake challah bread with Holocaust survivors.
“The real goal of the program, in my eyes, is to create an intimate and approachable environment for intergenerational dialogue, where students are really able to enjoy themselves and get to know the survivor as more than just someone who lived through a terrible time in history,” said Davis.
