Hamilton MS honors children of the Holocaust

May 16, 2007 —Hamilton Middle School eighth-grade students and parents were treated to a special evening of remembrance on Tuesday, May 8, when Holocaust survivor Walter Kase visited the school as keynote speaker during an event called “Voices of the Holocaust.”

The Hamilton students recently completed a unit project on the Holocaust that culminated with the May 8 event, in which language arts students paid tribute to the 1.5 million children who died in the Holocaust. The students honored their memory through art, poetry, music and drama.

Kase, a Houston resident who bears the namesake of the commons area at Hamilton, later inspired students and parents with the passionate story of his journey through five different Nazi concentration camps as a young boy in the 1940s.

Some of the students reenacted one of Kase’s childhood experiences that he shared: When his labor camp was liberated by Allied forces, an American soldier handed the malnourished 15-year-old—who weighed only 65 pounds—an almond Hershey bar. Ever since then, that symbol of his freedom has remained his favorite piece of candy.

“ Mr. Kase inspired students and parents with his passionate story,” said Maurine Francis, Hamilton Language Arts department chair. “All who heard him were led toward a new understanding of tolerance and compassion toward all human beings. Some of their lives were literally changed just by listening to him.”

Hamilton Middle School students (L to R) Kristen Alessi, Jack Killen and Taylor Schlosser reenact a real-life moment that occurred for Holocaust survivor Walter Kase, center, during a May 8 event at the school. When Kase was 15, Allied forces liberated the concentration camp he was in, and an American soldier gave him an almond Hershey bar—his favorite sweet to this day.