Research, coursework inspires alumna’s participation in Auschwitz Legacy Fellowship, enhances teaching

Research, coursework inspires alumna's participation in Auschwitz Legacy Fellowship, enhances teaching

With a new school year beginning this fall, a Northwest Missouri State University alumna is reflecting on her summer journey to Poland with the Auschwitz Legacy Fellowship, which equipped her with the knowledge and tools necessary to teach her students about the Holocaust.

Brianne McDermott, who graduated from Northwest in 2022 with a bachelor's degree in social studies-history, teaches social studies courses at Maryville High School, including histories of America, the world and the Holocaust.

Being a Northwest student in Dr. Devlin Scofield's research seminar course, "History of the Holocaust," solidified her intrigue about the topic.

"Up until that point, I was unaware of how many intentional steps were taken in order for the Holocaust to happen," McDermott said. "I'm particularly interested in learning about and teaching the steps the Nazis took to dehumanize and alienate Jewish members of European society for eight years leading up to the 'Final Solution,' which began in 1941."

The Midwest Center for Holocaust Education selected McDermott for the opportunity after an application process. It is one of many organizations that partners with the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Foundation to spread awareness of the history of the Holocaust. McDermott represented Missouri while joining 44 other teachers from around the country.

While the Fellowship program gives teachers curriculum to use in their classrooms - such as a documentary movie, lesson plans and access to online, guided tours of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp - McDermott said traveling and physically visiting the camps is the best way to learn about them.

"Poland is 5,000 miles away from here, so it puts you into the context of, 'I am here. This place does exist,'" she said. "We tend to think that Poland is in a different world. But walking through the grounds, I never doubted that anything didn't ever happen. It makes it really real for you, and just feeling the energy within the place and getting to hear from the tour guides who are deep, deep experts in that field, that was a really memorable experience."

The year-long program kicked off with a six-month online training program. The group met for monthly online meetings to learn about World War II. They also attended guest lectures online and listened to stories of a Holocaust survivor, Eugene Ginter.

In July, the Fellowship traveled to Poland, visiting historical sites in Warsaw, Auschwitz and Krakow. They spent one day touring the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp, following a prisoner's journey, from the train station to the gas chambers. They then shared their thoughts during various workshops at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.

"I don't think I'll ever forget the emotions and feelings going through different parts of the camp," McDermott said. "That's something I'll never forget, is walking that path and just listening to people's footsteps and just the dead quiet of nobody talking; everyone's kind of just taking it in."

McDermot's Northwest experience

At Northwest, Scofield's research seminar pushed McDermott as an undergraduate student to be a better researcher and educator while expanding her interest in Holocaust education. It helped her understand specific stories from the Holocaust and how victims were affected.

"Brianne already had the knowledge to teach about the Holocaust, but from my own experience, I know that nothing is as powerful or moving as visiting the actual concentration and killing camp sites - along with the affiliated museums and monuments - to fully convey the extent of the murderous apparatus and the human tragedy of the Nazi-led effort to exterminate the Jews of Europe," Scofield, an associate professor of history at Northwest, said. "I believed she was uniquely positioned to ensure that her students at Maryville High School would benefit from the deeper understanding and perspective the Fellowship provides."

As a result of her rigorous undergraduate research, McDermott won the B.D. Owens Library Research Award for her paper from Scofield's course, titled "Second Class Citizens and the 'Incurables': Shared Ideologies and Practices of the United States and Nazi Germany."

"The award itself is a fantastic opportunity for Northwest students across disciplines to showcase a wide range of outstanding scholarship taking place on campus," Scofield said. "It also provides important recognition of student achievement beyond the traditional 'A' on an assignment, offering a public acknowledgement of the dedication and creativity our students bring to their work."

The honor motivated McDermott's desire to teach high school social studies, and she says working with that age group allows her to discuss uncomfortable topics and dive deeper into research.

By teaching the next generation about the atrocities of the Holocaust, she believes it can help prevent something similar from happening again.

"If students can recognize that, and recognize history and draw connections to things that might be happening today or might not be happening today, it empowers them to be active citizens and ensure something like it just does not happen again," she said.

McDermott also hopes students understand their actions have power and impacts.

"I'm hoping they walk away with the knowledge of they have power as human beings to hold themselves and each other accountable with how we treat human beings," she said. "I think it's important for students to know that they have power in ensuring that human beings are treated accordingly, like human beings, and that we can't just treat them like parasites and vermin like the Nazis treated the Jewish population."