Posted May 19 | 8:15 a.m.

Cathedral High School is centered around its Holy Cross traditions, especially the Holy Cross values implemented at the school. One such value, diversity, was encouraged through the May 18 Holocaust presentation.

Holocaust survivor Mrs. Esther Davidson and her husband, U.S. Army officer Mr. Ed Davidson, spoke to the student-filled Shiel Student Life Center after school on May 18.

Mrs. Davidson said in the opening of her presentation, “The reason I do this is that if we do not learn about our history and learn from our history, we are going to repeat our history, and we must never allow that to happen.”

Mrs. Davidson remembered history yesterday by sharing her story.

She was born near Warsaw, Poland and lived through World War II in Europe. After she was born, her mother gave her to an old Christian woman, Reba, who claimed her as her granddaughter for the next four years. This was done so that if her mother was caught and thrown into a Nazi-controlled concentration camp, her daughter might be safe.

After the war, she said she and her parents ended up in a displaced persons camp in Germany for about five years.

Her family came to America in 1949. About this, she said, “I can tell all of you with absolute certainty that there is no greater country on this planet than the United States of America.”

Mr. Davidson followed his wife’s presentation by discussing his father’s experience serving as a translator at the Nuremberg Trials and lecturing on the history of World War II. He, too, reflected on the importance of remembering and learning from history.  

Junior Mary Grace Wolfla, who attended the presentation, said, “It was a unique opportunity to hear about sides of the Holocaust not frequently talked about.”