Local HS students discover unsung heroes of WWII
By Jason Cohen
August 29, 2008
Matthew DiProfio and Steven Wortman, who graduated from Jonathan Dayton High School of Springfield in June, were honored by the Men's Club of Temple Beth Ahm Yisrael in
Four years ago, Temple Beth Ahm Yisrael created a
"The Holocaust essay college scholarship program was endorsed from both ends; the Men's Club endorsed it and each year the members look forward to it," said Bernard Flashberg, the former Men's Club president and retired high school teacher who volunteered to run the program. "While, at the same time, the teacher of the class, [Mary] Coeking, is responsible for getting the students to write the essays and for not grading them with favoritism."
The Men's Club decided to set up an annual scholarship for two students of the Holocaust class at
Flashberg reads each essay and picks the two best. Only then does he find out the names of the winners with the two best essays on the Holocaust. The two winners, DiProfio and Wortman, have no affiliation with Temple Beth Ahm Yisrael.
"The entries were anonymous; I picked the two winners simply based on the content of their essay and the sensitivity showed by the student," Flashberg said.
Flashberg said one thing that he did notice in DiProfio's and Wortman's essays compared to the rest of the students was their accuracy and research.
"I feel its very important for the school to spend a whole semester learning about the Holocaust and writing an essay on it, rather than just doing a quick lesson on it," Flashberg said.
Father Maximilian Kolbe
DiProfio wrote about a Polish priest, Father Maximilian Kolbe, an inmate of the
"In the spring of 2008 I took an elective entitled Holocaust and Genocide because I knew the teacher was very good and I like learning about WWII and history," DiProfio told The Jewish State.
In his essay, DiProfio said Kolbe is a hero.
"Many people see a hero as a mythical creature that saves the day constantly," DiProfio wrote in his essay. "If you were to ask a 4 year old who their hero is, they'd probably say Superman, Batman, or Spiderman. If asking a teenager the same question, they'd probably say basketball great Michael Jordan or pop-star sensation Kelly Clarkson. But after taking the Holocaust course this year, my mind sees and feels a totally new meaning for the word hero. A hero is someone who stands up for other people when everyone is against them. A hero is someone who does the most unexpected thing during rough times to save another fellow human being's life. A hero is Father Maximilian Kolbe."
He spoke about Father Kolbe's heroic actions throughout the essay.
"Father Maximilian Kolbe was a Polish priest who died as prisoner 16670 in the infamous
He concluded his essay and said Father Kolbe truly is a hero and that he should be recognized today.
"He wasn't a rescuer, a ghetto or death camp resister, or a citizen opposing Nazi German actions by the government," DiProfio wrote. This man needs to be recognized by the government for what he has done for another human being. He gave up his own life with no regards or thoughts of prejudice or death. I feel that I have learned so much from this man. He has taught me to stand up for others being discriminated against. Lastly, I have learned that I should do the right thing even if everyone is doing the opposite."
DiProfio said Kolbe took care of the Jewish children and when the Nazis came for the kids, he wouldn't let them go by themselves, therefore he went with them.
"Before researching this and writing the essay I knew a lot about history and the Holocaust, but I still can't believe that people would do what went on in the camps, it's unbelievable," DiProfio said.
DiProfio will be a freshman in the fall at
Barbara Szymanska
Wortman wrote about a woman named Barbara Szymanska in his essay entitled, Barbara: A Real Hero.
Wortman said he had to do a project on an individual who was a hero during the Holocaust and he picked her because she had an interesting story.
In the essay he wrote, "A hero is a person with ordinary social and physical qualities that can mentally accomplish extraordinary things. Even though Barbara Szymanska wasn't born from royal blood, she epitomized the idea of a heroine. A widow with three children and barely enough means to survive, it was only her heart of gold that allowed her and her family to get by. Her reputation as a mother participating in the underground resistance, and a giving person throughout the community always caused people to approach her first whenever they were in trouble. One day in 1942, a woman named Rachael Litowicz with her 7-year-old daughter heard of her benevolence, and knocked on her door for a big favor. She needed to be rescued, but it wasn't from a burning building."
His essay continued and he spoke about the fear she lived in every day.
"The German's were conducting raids and mass exterminations of Jews, and it was only a matter of time that Rachel and her daughter were to be caught," Wortman wrote. "With a pleading request with selflessness, Rachel just wanted Barbara to hide her daughter, Rebecca, as best as she could. The risks though, Barbara considered, were heavy if she was caught. If she was charged for harboring a Jew, she could face death for her and her children; the same punishment her husband faced one year early. She couldn't just leave them to die, and ever since her husband died, she was committed to helping anyone that needed help. Despite the grave danger associated with helping a Jew, the few means she had to barely feed her family, and the space to hide the little girl, Barbara accepted Rachel's plea and was able to hide Rebecca until the end of the war."
Wortman concluded his essay by explaining how Barbara's actions dignify her as a hero and how much her story meant to him.
Wortman wrote in his essay, "Barbara, to me, was a true hero. She, in essence, was able to accomplish a simple feat that most of us would be scared to do. Though, her family was inconstant danger, she was able to use the goodness of her heart and the feeling of doing what is right to get past their brushes with death. The love that Barbara exudes in the story taught me that we all have something to share to the world in our own unique way. Whether it be standing up for what's right or helping someone in need, there is always something extraordinary that we can do that makes us all heroes. That is why, Barbara affinity for helping people, in truth not mythology, make her in our society forever immortal."
Wortman said he chose Szymanska because she was working class, her husband died, he was part of the underground resistance against the Nazis, and she was a teacher and had two kids. Also, she thought she was going to be killed next and, despite her situation, she persevered.
"She had a small house, with two rooms, she was poor, and because there were raids constantly she distinguished Rebecca as her second daughter," Wortman said.
Wortman, who will be a freshman at Rutgers University in the fall, added, "Everyone cared about it, it felt good, I accomplished something worthwhile in high school, I felt honored, especially since I was one of the two that was given the scholarship toward college."