Mids Participate in American Service Academies Program

Four Naval Academy midshipmen are among thirteen students from military academies throughout the country chosen by the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation to participate in the center’s American Service Academies Program.

Through participating in the program, Midshipmen 1st Class Ian Cameron, Jordan Foley, Mollie Hebda and Paris Scott will learn how to examine history, become ambassadors of ethical behavior, and take responsibility for upholding these values as future military leaders.

Cadets and midshipmen began orientation in Washington, D.C., which included a visit to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. The students will also travel to New York City to attend additional training at the Museum of Jewish Heritage—A Living Memorial to the Holocaust before going on to Poland for two weeks. During this intensive preparation, participants will learn about the Holocaust and contemporary moral and ethical matters, meet with historians and staff members from the two museums, take part in workshops on military leadership, hear survivor testimony, and tour the institutions.

While in Poland, the participants will learn first-hand about the rich, vibrant life of Jews in pre-war Poland, especially the town of Oswiecim (Auschwitz). Each student will meet with Polish and American leaders, visit historic Jewish sites, attend workshops with Holocaust survivors and historians, and visit and attend seminars at the Auschwitz-Birkenau camps, among other activities.

The intensive program in Oswiecim will help future military leaders understand what can happen in the absence of open and democratic governance, the ongoing relevance of the Holocaust to their work, and inspire and empower them to share their insights and understanding with others.

“It is incumbent upon every member of the U.S. Armed Forces to accept the moral responsibility of their actions to prevent tragedy,” said Cameron. “By understanding the most egregious historical example of this lack of introspection, we can prevent ourselves from making the same mistakes.”

Cameron, president of the Class of 2012, is an Arabic major who hopes to continue studying Middle Eastern culture, history and politics.

The Auschwitz Jewish Center is operated by the Museum of Jewish Heritage–A Living Memorial to the Holocaust from the museum’s New York City campus. The center opened its doors in 2000 and joined with the museum in 2006. Located just three kilometers from the Auschwitz–Birkenau death camps, the center provides a place for individuals and groups from around the world to pray, study and learn about the vibrancy of Jewish culture before the war, and memorialize victims of the Holocaust. The only Jewish presence in the vicinity of Auschwitz, the center’s facilities include O_wi_cim’s only surviving synagogue.