On May 16, Indian Mills Memorial School’s seventh grade language arts classes under Michele Montrose welcomed Charles Middleburg to speak about the Holocaust for the fourth straight year. Middleburg, now 84 years old, was just nine years old living in Paris, France with his parents and younger brother when the Nazis arrived in 1940. He was accompanied to IMMS by Lynne Shapiro of the Goodwin Holocaust Museum & Education Center of Cherry Hill.
Middleburg’s story was a moving tribute to his family, friends and all those who were brutalized by Hitler’s demonic plan to eliminate the Jewish race and religion from the face of the earth. His father was interned in Auschwitz, Poland in 1942. His mother died in Birkenau concentration camp, but his father miraculously survived the ordeal due to his talents as a watchmaker. It was only three years ago when Middleburg finally learned the fate of his mother.
Middleburg’s presentation left the students of Indian Mills Memorial School spellbound for over an hour. Then, he graciously answered their probing questions for an additional 45 minutes. His story of survival and the reunion with his father is forever etched in their minds. He gave them something that can never be taken away: an eyewitness account of one of the darkest periods in the history of our world. It is a story that they had read about and heard in lecture, but never from a true primary source. After he finished answering questions, a wave of students gathered around him, offering hugs and sharing tears. It was as moving a sight as one could imagine. When one of the teachers offered that his father’s unit had liberated Paris, Mr. Middleburg’s eyes grew wide and asked, “He was one of those boys?” The smile on his face brought the emotional connection you cannot get from a book. Afterwards, the students returned to their classrooms and wrote thank you cards. It was and will always be a significant day in their lives.
In appreciation of the commitment to education and teaching the Holocaust to our students, the Indian Mills Home and School Association presented a donation to the Goodwin Holocaust Museum & Education Center.
