Dec. 11, 2018 -- The Heights High Boys Varsity Basketball Team visited the Maltz Museum Stop the Hate exhibition and talked to Holocaust Survivor Stanley Bernath on November 29.
“I wanted balanced preparation for our varsity team that included activities beyond the court,” said Varsity Basketball Coach Michael Cruz. That’s why he turned to new colleague and friend, Mark Sack and together they planned the trip. Mr. Sack teaches the Lessons of the Holocaust course and played professional basketball in Israel.
“For the team to meet with Mr. Bernath was a real honor,” said Mr. Sack. “We do not have many Holocaust Survivors left and I knew that he could share his stories and tell the team about the dangers of hate and indifference.”
While the students participated in several activities at the museum, the interaction with the 92 year old Holocaust Survivor was the highlight of the afternoon.
Mr. Bernath shared his powerful story of survival during the Holocaust and offered advice to the students. He told the young men to believe in themselves, to never, ever give up, no matter how bad things look and that nobody is better than you and you are not better than anybody else; we are just different!
“The students soaked up his wisdom,” said Mr. Sack. “Mr. Bernath also had a request for the athletes. ‘He asked that the young men erase hatred and help others because a Holocaust is what can happen when no one helps victims.’”
The team’s visit also included tours with docents Shelly Hartman and Adrienne Yeltsky, both Heights High graduates. Mrs. Yelsky is also a retired Heights High teacher. The student-athletes learned about the rise of Nazism in Germany and examined the hate that permeated the United States during the Jim Crow era. They saw artifacts and short films that documented some of the horrific acts of both time periods and examined a map of currently active US hate groups - including several in Ohio.
“We were reminded that at any time in history, when good people do nothing, evil flourishes,” said Mr. Sack.
A special treat happened during the visit when Albert Ratner, a 1946 graduate of Heights High who played on the Heights basketball team, stopped in to say a few words about his experiences as a teenager during WWII.
Mr. Ratner is a successful businessman, well known philanthropist and strong supporter of public school education. He gave his fellow ‘hoopers’ credit for taking the time to come to the Museum to learn and wished them well in the upcoming season.
Mr. Sack concluded the afternoon by sharing two points with the team.
“I told the players that they had been great participants in the activities at the Museum,” he said. “And that on any given day each of them might be a victim, a perpetrator, a bystander or an ‘upstander’.”
He explained that he and Coach Cruz organized the trip because they hope that if the students see and hear about the dangers of hate and indifference, each one of them will have the knowledge and the courage to step up and be a true ‘upstander’.
Mr. Sack and Coach Cruz encouraged each team member to say or do something when they see injustice around them.