SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - A new mobile trailer is bringing Holocaust education to San Diego students in a way that has never been done before.
Spark Interactive is a 600-square-foot classroom on 18 wheels, packed with touchscreens, tablets, and state-of-the-art technology designed to give students an immersive, interactive, and inspiring experience learning about the Holocaust and their role in confronting hate today.
"We are looking to spark conversations. We are looking to spark action. So it's not just the learning of the material, but it's the 'so what' of it all. What will students take with them when they leave?" said Darren Schwartz, Founding Director of the Legacy of Light Goldberg Institute for Holocaust Education.
More than 6 million Jews were killed during the Holocaust in World War II. It was part of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany's plan to seize world power and create a "Master Race."
The trailer puts students in an active role during the lesson, creating a deeper connection with the material. It focuses on the rise of Nazi Germany and the techniques Hitler used to dehumanize Jews and other minority groups.
After each session, teachers receive a personalized report, allowing them to continue the lesson back in the classroom.
"Holocaust education, I think, hasn't been more relevant than it is today, Schwartz said. "If we're not learning the lessons of the past and informing the future, we're doomed to repeat them."
Spark Interactive already has partnerships with the San Diego Unified School District, San Dieguito Union High School District, Poway Unified School District, Carlsbad Unified School District, and Sweetwater Union High School District — reaching half of the middle and high school students in San Diego County.
Beyond schools, organizers plan to eventually offer the trailer to community groups and other organizations like first responders and the YMCA.
"We think for students, for them to apply the lessons of the Holocaust, they can look at those conditions and then look at our society today to make informed decisions about how they want to step in and make a difference," Schwartz said. "The Holocaust teaches us a lot about our own civic responsibility. The importance of standing up for others, the importance of confronting hate and countering indifference."
The multi-million dollar trailer arrives at a critical moment. Data from a state study shows just 1 in 4 California school districts teaches about genocide and the Holocaust, despite a state law requiring it.
For survivor Lou Pechi, it's a new way to ensure his legacy, as well as other stories of survivors and the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust live on.
"In a year or two, we won't be able to talk to Holocaust survivors. Only through the technology they're putting together," Pechi said.
Pechi estimates he's spoken to more than 10,000 people as a survivor. But he knows Holocaust education has to evolve to reach a new generation more comfortable with technology than with books or traditional lessons.
"It's been millions of years, and we kept history alive by carving stuff in stone. Now we carve it in pixels," Pechi said.
Spark Interactive isn't the only San Diego program pushing the envelope in Holocaust education. Several other local efforts are working to keep the history alive.
Grossmont College currently has an exhibit in its library titled "Americans and the Holocaust." The exhibit uses video, audio, and interactive QR codes to show how people in the U.S. learned about and experienced the Holocaust. Grossmont was one of just 50 libraries across the country selected to host the exhibit. It runs through May 21 and is open to the public.
The Butterfly Project, which started in San Diego in 2006, uses hands-on arts and crafts to teach kids about the Holocaust and injustice. Based on the poem "I Never Saw Another Butterfly," written by a child in a concentration camp, the project aims to create 1.5 million ceramic butterflies to spread awareness.
RUTH — Remember Us the Holocaust — is a museum-style exhibit featuring artifacts and first-person accounts from San Diego survivors. The exhibit has grown significantly since launching in 2020 and has moved to multiple locations across the county. The people behind it hope to eventually create a permanent Holocaust museum in San Diego.
Over the past year, the Academy of Critical Thinkers, or ACT program, put a cohort of 20 San Diego teachers through intensive training, giving them new tools and strategies to engage today's students in Holocaust education. The program included a trip to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.
Schwartz believes the addition of the Spark Interactive trailer to all of that puts San Diego at the forefront of Holocaust education for the next generation.
"As our survivors are no longer with us, we have to have a new chapter," he says. "And I think we are piloting and perfecting this new chapter of Holocaust Education."
A major donation from San Diego philanthropist Lee Goldberg helped fund the trailer. Other support came from the Prebys Foundation and several other Jewish institutions across the County.
To learn more about Spark Interactive, click here.
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