Leo Diamantstein, Part 2 | S.C. Voices: Lessons from the Holocaust

Living in constant fear, the Diamantstein family fled from place to place—to a large Jewish community in Frankfurt; to the apartment of friends in Milan, Italy; to Como, Italy, escaping barefoot in the snow to the other side of the Swiss Alps. Trying to dodge German patrols, they still wound up in a German work camp. When the war ended, they eventually moved to South Carolina where Leo Diamantstein is an interpreter and teaches classes at Furman University. He says, "This happened there; it can happen anywhere; we want to make sure it never happens here. Stand up for your human rights. You have no idea what people might be in power or what they might do. Know your rights and remember them."

Standards

• 5.3 Demonstrate an understanding of the economic, political, and social effects of World War II, the Holocaust, and their aftermath (i.e., 19301950) on the United States and South Carolina.
  • 5.3.CE Analyze the cause and effect of government-sponsored policies within the United States and Europe related to the status of different groups, to include the Holocaust.
• 6.5 Demonstrate an understanding of the development of global interdependence from 1920 to the present.
  • 6.5.CE Explain the impact of nationalism on global conflicts and genocides in the 20th and 21st centuries.
• 8.5 Demonstrate an understanding of the impact of world events on South Carolina and the United States from 1929 to present.
  • 8.5.CO Compare South Carolina and U.S. wartime contributions and demobilization after World War II.
• MWH.4 Demonstrate an understanding of how international competition and conflict realigned global powers during the time period of 18851950.
  • MWH.4.CX Contextualize World War II and the Holocaust within local and global economic, political, and social developments from 1919 1950.