KINGS POINT, August 26, 2024 - For the first time, midshipmen from the United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) participated in The Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation (AJCF) American Service Academies Program (ASAP). This educational initiative in Poland was designed specifically for a select group of cadets and midshipmen from U.S. service academies. While cadets and midshipmen from the other service academies have been participating for over twenty years, this was the inaugural trip for USMMA. To accommodate USMMA’s unique academic schedule, midshipmen participated in a modified program in Poland, from July 5th through July 13th.

This year’s program included seven participants from USMMA: First Class Midshipmen Andrew Wilson, Kelley Lakawitch, Ethan Lister, and Liam Prigmore, and Second Class Midshipman Austin Locke. They were accompanied by Captain Pat Keane, Director of Leadership and Ethics Development, and Dr. Mike Melcer, Head, Department of Humanities and Math and Science. Dr. Melcer found the experience deeply moving, as it resonated with his personal history—having lost family members in the Holocaust, parents who survived the horrors of the Warsaw Ghetto and various concentration camps including Auschwitz. His sister also spent her early years in the care of a Polish family as a “hidden child”. Walking the very grounds where his family once faced unimaginable suffering was an especially profound and emotional journey for him. This connection allowed the midshipmen to share in Dr. Melcer’s personal history, bridging the gap between what they had studied and the personal experiences of someone they know. Midshipman Lister said, “one cannot walk through the grounds of Auschwitz and leave the same person. Its memory of terror, horror, and pain entrap every individual in an unforgettable legacy. Auschwitz creates an unquenchable fire to combat modern tyranny throughout all aspects of life for the individual that walks its grounds.” Midshipman Locke agreed, “it was an emotionally moving trip as we learned about the suffering of Poles and Polish Jews during and following the Second World War, in a way that could only be experienced during this trip.”

Captain Keane explained that, “ASAP is a deliberately structured program that begins with education about the history of the Jewish people in Europe, specifically Poland, and fosters an appreciation for the rich and profound impact of Jewish culture in Poland over the past 1,000 years. The program educates participants about anti-Semitism, which rose during the interwar period and reached its zenith with the Holocaust. It does it in a way that is profound and personal, combining tours of historical sites, presentations and conversations with Holocaust survivors and experts, and group discussions to help participants understand and process what they are observing and experiencing.”

The journey began in Krakow, home to the second-largest Jewish population in Poland before the German invasion of 1939. On the first day, participants toured the old Jewish sector of Kazimierz, including the old synagogue, marketplaces, and other significant community sites. They had the incredible opportunity to listen to Mrs. Monika Goldwasser, a “hidden child” whose family gave her to a group of nuns before they were sent to the Krakow ghetto. Monika was adopted by a Polish family and did not learn her real identity until her 20s. She has since been an advocate, sharing her story widely.

Participants also toured a former Gestapo headquarters where Jews and other enemies of the Germans were detained, interrogated, and sent to death or deplorable conditions in work camps. On the second day, they spent time in the Krakow ghetto, where the Jewish population was forced by the Germans. They visited the factory of Oskar Schindler, who saved the lives of 1,200 Jews from Krakow during the war, and the Deportation Square (Umschlagplatz), from where those imprisoned in the ghetto were sent to concentration and death camps.

From Krakow, the USMMA team traveled to Oswiecim (Auschwitz). Over two very intense days, the midshipmen and staff members toured Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II (Birkenau), the latter being the primary death camp where 1.5 million Jewish men, women, and children perished, along with more than 100,000 non-Jews. They learned about the establishment of Auschwitz, the evolution of the Nazi plan known as the Final Solution, and how it developed in response to Germany’s broader plans for the Jews and Europe. They also learned about life in the camps, from arrival, through to selection (ultimately for life or death depending on one’s ability to work), and the brutal efficiency with which the Germans and their unwilling assistants carried out systematic murder and exploitation within the camp.

The participants also learned about the town of Oswiecim, for which the camps are named. Once home to 4,000 Jews and a vibrant community before the war, its Jewish population was reduced to zero by the Holocaust. The participants spent time at the AJCF’s museum in Oswiecim, learning more about some of the town’s prominent Jews and how that community was destroyed. They performed maintenance at the local Jewish cemetery, a task of significant impact to all involved. The evenings in Oswiecim were spent in hours-long discussions on what the students had experienced, their impressions on causes, and how they might incorporate the grave lessons learned into their lives, the betterment of their character, and their ethical leadership.

From Oswiecim, the USMMA team and their Polish instructors and guides moved to Warsaw, the capital of Poland and the location of the largest pre-war (and post-war) population of Jews in Poland, numbering some 600,000 before the German invasion (and now approximately 10,000 who identify themselves as Jews). The team was conducted on a tremendously informative tour of the Polin Museum, dedicated to the history of the Jews in Poland. They also toured Old Warsaw City, learning how the city evolved from its earliest days through to the time of the Nazis and the Warsaw Ghetto, and through to recovery. On a second day in Warsaw, participants were led by a world-renowned Warsaw Ghetto expert through the area that formed the ghetto and sites of significant importance, including the Grand Synagogue location, remnants of the Ghetto wall, sites of Jewish resistance, and the deportation square. A final stop was at the Katyn Museum, a site dedicated to remembering the 20,000 Polish officers and non-commissioned officers killed by the Soviet Army when they invaded Poland shortly after their, at-the-time, German allies. Here, as in numerous times during the program, the instructors and guides emphasized that the awful toll of the war and the Holocaust was not only on the Jewish people but on nearly every sector and walk of European life at the time.

Captain Keane said, “ASAP is an exceptional program, one that USMMA was fortunate to finally discover and participate in this year. The experience was immensely valuable, and we hope it will become a yearly tradition.” Midshipman Wilson agreed, adding “This trip provided us with a deeper understanding of history which we can use in our leadership practices to be moral leaders and not be bystanders to atrocities in the future.”

To be directed to the photo album for this Team Movement, click: USMMA Midshipmen Participate in Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation Program for the First Time | U.S. Merchant Marine Academy

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The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, located in Kings Point, N.Y, educates and graduates licensed merchant mariners and leaders of exemplary character who will serve America’s marine transportation and defense needs in peace and war. The U.S. Merchant Marine is administered by the Maritime Administration under the auspices of the Department of Transportation.