Holocaust hits home for class

LEHI — Kellie Richins saves letters from Elie Wiesel in the same box in which she keeps cards from her husband. The letters from the Nobel Peace Prize recipient and author, she says, are as precious to her as notes from her spouse.

Last fall, after her junior-class students at Lehi High School finished Wiesel's book, "Night," the English teacher was inspired to learn more about the Holocaust and why 11 million people — including Jews, mentally ill, physically handicapped, those considered gypsies, Jehovah's Witnesses and homosexuals — were put to death.

"I wanted more knowledge for myself," she said, "so I could share it with my students."

Richins wrote a letter to Wiesel and invited students to do the same. He responded with two letters: one for the students, one for Richins. She now has both letters at home.

The Alpine educator also applied — and was accepted — to the Holocaust Remembrance Project. Richins, who had to write an essay as part of her application, attended with six other teachers and a handful of students from across the United States.

Richins was able to meet Wiesel during the July 16-22 project. She said she felt intimidated while penning her letter to him. After all, she said, his writing in "Night," which describes his experiences as a teen in the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps during World War II, was so strong and clear.

"And then I promised him, I made a pledge for me personally, that I would never forget what the Jews had to suffer because of their religious convictions," she said. "I would do my part not to permit intolerance and not blame my problems on another race."

Wiesel responded graciously. "Your students are privileged to learn from a person with such commitment to education and memory," he wrote. "I am honored to share the teaching profession with someone like yourself."

Wiesel's letter to the six Lehi students contained comments for each of them.

One student asked Wiesel how the experience changed his Jewish faith.

"Even during those dark times, I never lost my faith in God," Wiesel wrote. "Rather, I protested against and questioned God's silence. I still believe in God but my faith is a wounded faith."

Richins went to Washington, D.C., to tour the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and visit with nine Holocaust survivors.