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People On The Move: Jill McCracken
10/24/2008 - By by Leigh Dana Scheps
STANDING UP FOR HUMANITY
Holmdel history teacher, Jill McCracken, was given the opportunity of a lifetime…an opportunity to see Europe. But Jills journey didn't include a visit to the Eiffel Tower, the Tower of Pisa, or the Coliseum. Instead, she traveled throughout Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic as part of a two-week program for teachers to trace the history of the Holocaust.
Jill has been teaching students about the Holocaust at Holmdel High School for 25 years, but she discovered that teaching from a text book couldnt compare to being in those places where the atrocities occurred. She went there expecting validation of her years of teaching, studying, and researching, but came back feeling like she didnt know enough. “It was chilling,” she said.
Chilling was the adjective Jill used most to describe the sites where millions of people were murdered and cremated. It was a complete shock to her to look out, see the land, and walk upon the hallowed ground that once encompassed the death camps. What was more surprising and surreal to her was how life continued during the war and since it ended. Next to Majdanek, in Poland, a church still stands as active as it was 60 years ago. “Picture yourself in this camp, hearing church bells chiming and people worshipping.” Her point was that while people were praying, they knew others were being tortured and killed yards away, but no one did anything…no one said anything; they were bystanders. “I think about the people Ive heard speak, or the books that I have read or videos… This is where they were. Its not a videotape anymore. Youre standing outside, even studying it all these years. You say to yourself, “How really did we let that happen? How did it get so far away from us?”
These questions hint at what Mrs. McCrackens social science curriculum will reflect, with some variations each year. She hasnt spoken about her trip yet. She says its not something you discuss on the first day of school; but she has every intention of telling her students about her first-hand experience. She wants them to understand the reason she travels all over the world – to get involved and make a difference in peoples lives. Then she will try to transfer that to her students, encouraging them to try and make the world a better place. “It gives me credibility. You may look up information on the internet and come across a deniers site. You may hear the President of Iran say the Holocaust didnt happen. But I can tell you, I know it happened. I stood there…Ive spoken with Holocaust survivors… Unless you go there and see this too, you can never know what it was like.”
By the end of the school year Jills students will have a good idea of what it was like. After all, she has thousands of pictures to show and stories to share. So how will her history classes be different from now on? McCracken explains, “The lessons learned in Holocaust education are universal. Its not only about Jews or only for Jewish children to learn about. There were other groups targeted…gypsies, Jehovahs Witnesses, the handicapped, homosexuals, resisters… Its a lesson for humanity. We saw what happened in Bosnia, Rwanda, and Darfur, whats happening right now.”
Jill says people tend to be bystanders and not get themselves involved. “But the lesson to be learned is that if no one does anything…be the person to do something. Its as simple as helping a person with groceries, speaking out if you see something is wrong. Our tendency is to not want to do that.” That is the lesson Jill McCracken will bring to her classroom. Its not only a first-hand lesson on the Holocaust; its a life lesson on doing the humane thing, and knowing when stand up.
STATS
FAVORITE RESTAURANT
La Cipollina in Freehold
FAVORITE MUSICIAN
Rob Zombie
FAVORITE MOVIE
The Lion in Winter
PET PEEVE
dishonesty
THREE PEOPLE YOUD LIKE TO HAVE DINNER WITH
Elizabeth I, Harry Truman, and Vasclav Havel
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