New York City in May. Welcoming, fresh and green, still free from the oppressive heat waiting around summer’s corner. For a group of Lyndon Institute juniors and seniors, many visiting the city for the first time, the third week in May offered a chance to experience New York at its best, while also getting a glimpse at a place of both tragedy and hope made famous decades ago through the pages of a young girl’s diary.

The students, members of social studies teacher Nikki Berry’s Genocide and Human Rights class, experienced many of New York’s cultural offerings, but their primary purpose for the journey was a visit to a popular new offering at the Center for Jewish History—Anne Frank: The Exhibition.

Berry’s class, created in 2009, has long been a staple of the Social Studies Department. “I discovered a passion for Holocaust education in college and wanted to carry that over when I came back home to teach,” the 2003 LI alumna said. “I noticed a lot of students weren’t tuned into human rights, not really understanding what they were or how they could be violated. This course started as an effort to change that.”

First semester focuses on human rights. “We begin with an examination of the United Nations’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. What follows is a series of case studies, mostly drawn from contemporary history. They tend to be grouped around topics—modern slavery, child marriage, maternal mortality, honor killings.”

After digging into several examples, students are given a choice of different topics to explore, explained Berry. “I update the selections every year. We look at how these case studies play out not only internationally but domestically, as well.”

Second semester, the focus shifts to genocide. “We look at its origins, its history. We study the ten steps that lead to genocide, starting with agendas like classification and discrimination, leading to dehumanization and organization, and going all the way to extermination and denial. We look at the ‘Pyramid of Hate’ and how these factors have played out in the past.”

The primary focus is a deep dive into The Holocaust—Nazi Germany’s genocide during World War 2 that led to the murder of six million Jews and millions of other minorities—and the long history of Antisemitism. But Berry leaves time to study other cases of ethnic cleansing, such as the Armenian genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Turks and the more recent persecution of the Uighars in Asia. 

The trip to New York was an opportunity for Berry to put a more personal emphasis on the impact of the Holocaust.

“I’ve brought two student groups to visit the concentration camps in Europe and plenty of classes to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. over the years, so the trip to New York City felt like a nice change of pace, especially with the new exhibit.”

Housed in the Center for Jewish History in Manhattan’s Union Square neighborhood, the exhibit features a complete reproduction of the secret annex in Amsterdam’s Anne Frank House. 

“The exhibit opened in January. When I first found out about it, the tickets were completely sold out through the exhibition’s run, but it ended up being so popular, they extended the run twice.”

Before reaching the annex, visitors pass through a long room with background information and artifacts. A documentary projected around the room presents an eight minute video telling the story of the Franks’ life in the hidden apartment. From there, visitors pass through a “secret” bookcase door into the annex.

The exhibit didn’t disappoint. “Two of my students, along with our chaperone [Dean of Students] Paul Hansen, had been to the actual Anne Frank House in Amsterdam and were shocked at how detailed and faithful the reproduction was. The artifacts are mostly sourced, but there are some original pieces on display, including a cloak, a Spanish textbook, and some of Anne’s sister’sLatin homework.”

Berry said the students were in awe despite having to navigate the busy crowds. 

But the class’s trip wasn’t restricted to the Center for Jewish History. They took advantage of being in New York to take in several iconic sites. 

“In addition to the Anne Frank Exhibit, we visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Students also got a chance to take a tour of the United Nations, have pizza in the park, and end the trip with a visit to Broadway where we got tickets to see the musical production of The Great Gatsby.”

For seniors Arica Kidder and Wyatt Mason, the Anne Frank exhibit hit home.

“I never really knew much about the annex itself,” said Kidder. “I mean, I knew about its existence, but I didn’t realize how sprawling it actually was. I thought it was just a single attic space, but it actually was a whole apartment spread out over several rooms and housed three families.  

“It was very moving learning about Anne’s first kiss, seeing the photos on the walls, realizing she was a normal girl, just a child.”

Kidder’s favorite part was actually the first exhibit room. “They had a projector illuminating three different walls showing the family’s life throughout the years. Then when you first enter, it’s completely dark to reenact the idea of walking into another time and place. Then there’s the bookcase that takes you in.”

Mason had a similar reaction. “It was such a cool opportunity. We studied the backstory earlier this year, but there were lots of details and interesting bits of history we hadn’t learned about in class. I also didn’t realize how small the rooms were until we got in there and how many people had to share that space.”

As for the rest of the trip?

“The Met was my favorite,” Kidder said. “It was absolutely amazing. It had everything! You could get lost so easily there. I got to see some Picassos and [Leutze’s] ‘Crossing the Delaware.’ My favorite was the Classical section. All the statues and stone work. It was beautiful.”

For Mason, it was his first trip to New York. “I really just liked walking around and feeling excited for what we were going to be doing. It was cool to actually see all the places you’ve heard about.”

A big revelation for the senior was seeing The Great Gatsby. “I’ve never seen a Broadway show or thought I had any real interest in theater, so that was kind of amazing.”

Both are grateful for the chance to have taken Berry’s course.

“I got to learn a lot more about the Holocaust than I had known before,” said Mason. “I knew the Nazis had committed genocide against the Jewish population, but I never realized that it was much broader than that—they went after many different types of people.”

“It’s a really important class,” Kidder added. “It’s very open to discussion, and Mrs. Berry makes it very student led. It makes you realize what people have had to go through in the past. It’s very intense and not for everyone, but in the end you need to be open-eyed to the reality of what happened.”