Marsha Hebden stood “truly stunned” as she stared at several different shades of brown, black and blond hair swatches and the rating assigned to each by the Nazis.
For an instant, the El Cerrito High School teacher’s mind trailed off to the hair swatches one might find next to a pharmacy shelf stocked with Clairol.
That thought stunned her even more.
“This was so real,” says Hebden, a first-time visitor to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. “They had instruments that measured the shape of your skull and ratings for different eye colors and physical characteristics.
“I’ve taught about this in my classes before, but this — it’s more than textbook schooling.”
Hebden and seven other Bay Area Holocaust educators visited the museum last month through a program sponsored by the S.F.-based Jewish Community Relations Council.
The eight well-versed Holocaust teachers were chosen by the S.F.-based Holocaust Center of Northern California and the Foster City-based program Facing History and Ourselves.
A first for the JCRC, the program was fully funded by an $8,500 grant from the Holocaust Memorial Education Fund of the Jewish Community Endowment Fund.
In addition to visiting the museum, the teachers took part in the museum’s “Arthur and Rochelle Belfer National Conference for Educators: A Next Step” at which survivors and scholars lectured to 120 teachers.
They were also given $150 vouchers for the museum gift shop, where most purchased books, videos and other classroom materials.
“A tremendous amount of information came our way in a short amount of time,” said Wendy Garner, an English teacher at Amador Valley High School in Pleasanton. “I left with so much more than I had when I came in — intellectually and emotionally.”
Jackie Berman, education director for the JCRC, explained that the program was intended to supplement the teachers’ understanding of the Holocaust, thereby providing a better learning base for students.
“American schoolchildren must understand what happened [during the Holocaust],” said Berman. “Especially now, when so many people are denying it.”
The program has so far succeeded educating the teachers. As for its application in the classroom: “I know there will be ways that we’ll be able to make this history more alive just from what we saw,” said Hebden.
Teachers Debbie Samake, Cathy Mellera, Bailey Field, Julie Coghlan, Mike Henderson, Eric J. Temple, Hebden and Garner embarked on their three-day journey as relative strangers, but quickly bonded as they explored the horrors inflicted by the Nazis.
“For me, the [bonding] was my favorite part,” said Temple, assistant head of school at Crystal Springs Uplands School in Hillsborough. “It was wonderful to be able to talk with others educators who teach Holocaust studies.”
Temple, who teaches a Holocaust literature course to juniors, also appreciated the chance to explore the museum after hours and without crowds.
“I was able to read everything and take in the detail,” he said. “It allowed for a more scholarly experience.”
Temple has visited the museum once before. He felt his previous “more emotional” experience allowed him to take a more “analytical perspective” this time.
Garner, a first-time museum attendee, on the other hand, felt the full emotional impact. She said she was overwhelmed with “tremendous sadness” over the “loss of potential and opportunity.”
“The sorrow really permeates,” she said. “But at the same time, you are aware of the resilience and the courage.”
Garner said she was particularly moved by the museum exhibit “Flight and Rescue,” which features individuals who helped save thousands of Jews from the death camps.
“One particular area had some correspondences, letters between family members who were still trapped in the ghettos of Europe and family members who had gotten out,” she said. “You see the progression of what’s happening and kind of feel the helplessness they must have felt.
“They didn’t know their fate — and eventually the letters stopped.”
As Hebden sat down to plan her curriculum for the upcoming semester, she described her recent visit.
“It was a very powerful experience,” she said, “a very positive experience.
“But how can you enjoy so much suffering?”
She stared at a 6-inch stack of material she collected on the trip — and said she has gone over most of it. One question about the mass genocide, however, continues to gnaw at her conscience.
“How could this happen?” she asked. “I ask myself this over and over again and I still don’t have an answer.”