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Holocaust survivor Irene Miller tells board her wartime story and urges educators to teach vigilance against totalitarianism
Summary
Irene Miller, a Holocaust survivor, recounted her experiences from wartime Poland, Siberia and Uzbekistan to postwar life and new country resettlement; she urged educators to teach the signs of totalitarianism and defended broad Holocaust education in schools.
Irene Miller, introduced as a Holocaust survivor, delivered an extended first‑person account of childhood in Warsaw during the Nazi invasion, forced displacements, survival in no‑man's‑land and labor camps, and eventual migration through Europe, Israel and the United States.
Miller described vivid wartime scenes — bomb shelters, separation from family, long journeys, starvation, forced labor in Siberia, and time in orphanages — and recalled later life efforts to build a public mission around Holocaust education. She said she now travels widely in schools to teach students the history, to warn about misinformation and book‑burning, and to encourage civic responsibility: "When I speak to students... I tell them that they are the future leaders of this nation... it will be their responsibility to choose someone who reflects your values," she said.
Board members thanked Miller and noted the educational impact of live testimony; the board highlighted planned educator training on Holocaust education in August and encouraged schools to invite survivor speakers and use survivor testimony to inform curriculum.
