Mr. Berny Engel, the grandfather of Harrison Engel ’24, grew up in Heidelberg, Germany, during World War II. He visited MICDS this week to speak with the 8th grade class about his experiences growing up under the Nazi dictatorship of the 1930s and 1940s.
In English class, the Class of 2024 is reading Night by Elie Wiesel. Mr. Engel was able to provide an alternative perspective on what was happening in Germany at the time of the Holocaust. He shared his childhood memories, the various roles his family members had during the war, his reaction to what happened under the leadership of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party, as well as his own journey to the United States as an exchange student. Mr. Darrett Thompson, Middle School English Teacher, said, “We think he helped provide perspective for our students on how propaganda and indoctrination can convince an entire nation to blindly follow a version of nationalistic fervor that ultimately murdered millions of innocent lives.”