This week, Calabasas High School honored Holocaust Remembrance Week by welcoming three speakers over three days at the Performing Arts Education Center. The event aimed to educate students about the Holocaust through personal stories and firsthand accounts, emphasizing the importance of remembering history and learning from it.
On January 20, students heard from Dr. Keren Perlmutter, who spoke about her father, Holocaust survivor Dr. Avraham Perlmutter. The following day, Holocaust survivor Gabriella Karin shared her experiences. On the final day, January 22, students listened to Mrs. Susanne Reyto, another Holocaust survivor, who discussed her early life during World War II and the lasting lessons of the Holocaust.
During World War II, Jewish people faced strict laws that controlled every part of their lives, such as being required to wear a yellow star labeled “Jood,” which made them easy targets for persecution. According to Hollandsche Schouwburg, the building was once a theater that was seized by the Nazis in the Second World War, beginning in July 1942. From there, thousands of Jews were sent to concentration camps. In total, six million European Jews were murdered during the Holocaust by Nazi Germany and its allies.
The CHS history department chose to offer extra credit to students who attended at least one presentation, depending on the teacher and course. Classes such as AP Government, AP Human Geography, AP European History, and AP U.S. History all participated in the incentive.
Social studies teacher Brian Edelman explained the educational importance of the event.
“I think from a social science standpoint, whether it be the Holocaust or 9/11 or any difficult times in history, we need to be able to educate students,” Edelman said. “Hearing someone speak from that experience is the most powerful lesson we have in front of them.”
Not all teachers wanted the extra credit incentive, and Mr. Edelman added that he was initially hesitant to offer it.
“I didn’t want to do an extra credit opportunity,” he said. “I do think it’s really important, but I don’t want it to be about the points.”
The first speaker, Dr. Keren Perlmutter, shared the story of her father’s survival during the Holocaust. As a child, Avraham Perlmutter escaped from Austria to the Netherlands through the United Kingdom’s child transport visa program. While in the Netherlands, he connected with the Westerweel Group, an underground resistance organization that helped Jews hide and escape from the Nazis.
Many Dutch citizens risked their lives to protect Jewish families. Dr. Avraham Perlmutter famously asked people he encountered, “I’m Jewish. The Germans are after me. Can you help me?” Every person he asked agreed to hide him, even though doing so put themselves and their families in danger.
Dr. Keren Perlmutter explained why she continues to share her father’s Holocaust story with students and audiences.
“Education is key to making the world a better place,” she said. “I share my father’s story because I hope that when people listen, they will want to be kind to others, help people, and make a positive difference in their own lives and in the world.”
She also spoke about how her father’s values influenced her perspective on life and antisemitism today.
“Helping people was very important to my father because he was grateful to those who helped him,” Perlmutter said. “That value drives me the most, and it shapes how I see antisemitism and the importance of educating people so history does not repeat itself.”
The second speaker, Gabriella Karin, shared her experience surviving the Holocaust as a young girl in Europe. Her story demonstrated how hatred, discrimination, and strict Nazi control led to the suffering and deaths of millions of innocent people.
According to Gabriella Karin’s website, she was a Jewish teenager living in Bratislava when her family was forced into hiding during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia. At just 14 years old, she and her family spent nine months hiding in a small apartment across the street from the Nazi-Slovak Gestapo.
Karin reflected on her childhood during the Holocaust and the fear she experienced at a young age.
“I was a very happy child, always smiling,” Karin said. “But I was only six years old when my life changed, and I had to hide just to survive.”
Karin also shared lessons she learned from surviving the Holocaust, including the importance of respect. She emphasized that people do not need to love everyone, but they must respect everyone, and warned that the world becomes dangerous not only because of evil people, but because of those who do nothing to stop injustice.
Karin emphasized the importance of learning from history and standing against hatred.
“Let’s be strong and not hate each other,” she said. “We have to live in peace, and what happened during the Holocaust should never, never happen again.”
The last speaker, Susanne Reyto, spoke about surviving the Holocaust as an infant in Hungary. According to the Holocaust Museum LA, she was born just six days before the Nazi occupation of Hungary in March 1944. She survived her first year of life living in “protected houses” with her mother, using protective papers known as Schutzpass issued by the Swedish and Swiss legations.
According to March of the Living, Reyto and her mother were saved by Swiss diplomat Carl Lutz, who issued them protective papers identifying them as Swiss citizens.
Despite surviving, Reyto expressed deep concern about the rise of Holocaust denial and antisemitism, especially after October 7.
“October 7 proved that the world has not learned the lessons of the Holocaust,” she said. “Learn everything about the past, because history is the foundation for the future.”
Holocaust Remembrance Week left many students reflecting on the genocide. Through these stories, CHS students were reminded that remembering history is not just about the past, but about shaping a more informed and compassionate future.
