From November 13 through November 16, 2011, 110 high school juniors from 11 ADL regions were selected based on their demonstrated leadership and maturity to participate in the 14th annual ADL’s Grosfeld Family National Youth Leadership Mission in Washington D.C. These student delegates from across the country had the opportunity to visit the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM), listen to prominent national leaders and activists, attend the 17th annual ADL In Concert Against Hate at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, and partake several group sessions to discuss personal experiences and how to promote pluralism and equality in their own communities.
The centerpiece of the Mission was to visit the USHMM in order to learn about the events of the period, and to explore and examine contemporary issues of prejudice, bigotry, and extremism in America. Not only does this program address modern and historic examples of these issues ranging from bias to genocide, this Mission strives to motivate students to become the affirmative ambassadors who would return to their communities with the mindset, attitude, and knowledge for positive change.
Abraham Foxman, the ADL National Director and a Holocaust survivor, emphasized the power of words and how everyone has the ability to use this power for change. “For me, the lesson of the Holocaust is not the ugliness but the beauty. The fact that good people stood up to say ‘No.’ Look how many victims have fallen to cyber bullying-it shows the power of words. Each one of you has the power to make a difference in your world.”
Nesse Godin, a Holocaust survivor, presented in her firsthand testimony, “I am here with you for one reason only. It’s to share memories so you would learn, understand, and know the truth and you would never ever allow atrocities like the Holocaust in humanity again.”
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has been known to be “the nation’s premier civil rights and human relations organization fighting anti-Semitism and bigotry of all kinds” for nearly 10 decades. With the motive to create a community free from hate and bigotry, the ADL also reaches out to young students through educational programs and services.
