Morris Rubell Holocaust Remembrance Journeys
Among the programs the Holocaust Council helps plan and facilitate are The Morris Rubell Holocaust Remembrance Journeys and the follow-up “From Learning to Action” annual seminars.
These are one-day journeys to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. followed by a visit to the Lincoln Memorial and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. These trips are supported by the Morris Rubell Holocaust Foundation and are offered to public and private schools at no cost to the school or to the students. Breakfast and dinner are served on the bus, lunch is eaten at the museum’s café. The day is fun but also highly educational and inspiring. The bus serves as a moving classroom and includes both Michael Rubell, the founder and president of Teamworks, Inc., and one or two survivors.
This program was conceived by Rubell in memory of his father, Morris, who was nine years old when his world was ripped apart by the Nazi occupation of Poland. Morris was separated from his family and endured the horrors of Plaszow, Matthausen, Melk and Ebensee concentration camps before being liberated at the age of 15. His parents were both murdered in the Holocaust, but miraculously, all five siblings survived and were reunited. After immigrating to the United States, he proudly served in the Special Intelligence unit of the U.S. army in gratitude for the role played by America during the war. In the latter years of his life, he became ever committed to instilling in American youth a greater awareness of the lessons of the Holocaust. He spoke in schools, to youth groups and at community events.
The Holocaust Council works toward peace, hope, and tolerance through education and dialogue. Bringing students to the Holocaust Museum is our way of helping today’s youth learns lessons from the tragic events of World War II in the hope that this tragedy is never repeated to anyone, anywhere. The day is a transforming experience.