Herbert Heller, an 84-year-old survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Nazi Poland, visited students in Claire Ernst’s World History classes on May 1.

Heller shared the story of his childhood in Prague, marred by German occupation in 1941, and the horrors he encountered over the subsequent four years at both the concentration camp and the Auschwitz death camp in Poland. After the presentation, students engaged Heller in conversation.

“It’s important for everyone to hear about a difficult topic like the Holocaust,” sophomore Daniel Zwiebach said. “If you don’t learn about something like this, you will never understand or never be grateful for those who went through it.”