Stephen Shooster
Why We Tell These Stories Danny Lieberman
Past Vice President Fine and Performing Arts Meritas Family of Schools
I have always struggled to wrap myself around the number 6 million, when it comes to how many Jews were exterminated in Europe during the Nazi regime. Nor can I completely grasp the number 25 million, when it comes to the estimated loss of civil- ian and combatant lives during World War II. That these figures seem unfathomable doesn’t make them untrue. But, because they seem unfathomable, those unfamiliar with the evidence and history are easy prey for the industry of holocaust deniers. We have only to look to Iran. Truth requires an army of ardent defenders with a comprehensive arsenal. Big numbers can make a big impression; but we also need to immerse in the stories and intersect with the biographies of those who lived in that world. Such experiences help to humanize for us an otherwise dehumanized and, therefore, seemingly improbable time. Stephen Shooster is one of these ardent defenders. He has managed to capture a most powerful story filled with great sadness, perseverance, and triumph. In the first person, he artfully reveals the story of Leon Schagrin, a Holocaust survivor, who nav- igated treacherous ghetto life as a horse-pulled carriage driver and who then survived three concentration camps. I have read hundreds of books about the Holocaust, and one might think that this would desensitize me emotionally to yet another one. But, I was moved to tears nonetheless, profoundly connecting to Shooster’s mission. As an educator, musician, and past president of the International Make-A-Wish Foundation, I know how essential experiential learning is to the education of young people. Each year my wife Sandy and I lead 82 people on a charity band tour to Eu- rope, in my role as Vice President of Fine Arts for the Meritas International Family of Schools. Students, ages 11-18, learn that it’s “not just about the music.”
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