Reflecting on Bonnie Abrams' Presentation

I've really enjoyed listening to our speakers these past few days and appreciate their willingness to speak to our class about such a traumatic event as the Holocaust. Bonnie Abrams' song "The Legacy" has a really powerful message. The last stanza of this song says "Our family tree was burned; From ashes we arose; How can we ever learn? If just the martyr knows..." This song speaks to everyone, not just the children and relatives of Holocaust survivors. Although our family trees may not have been "burned", it is still important that we learn about the Holocaust, especially from it's survivors. The world needs to know about the Holocaust, and all genocides so that we can learn how to help the victims of genocide and so that we may also learn how to spread awareness and prevent future genocides from happening.
The other thing I liked about Bonnie Abrams is the fact that she is using her coping style to help others cope with their problems as well. I love how she teaches her music to students and helps them to make sense of, and overcome their difficulties.
All in all, I really appreciate those that share their stories- whether they are first or second generation survivors, and so on. Hearing individual stories makes events seem that much more real, and its easier to sympathize/empathize when we hear stories rather than by just reading textbooks.