Dr. James Sedlis, from the Birmingham Holocaust Education Center (BHEC), was the featured speaker at a recent student-body assembly hosted by John Carroll Catholic High School. Dr. Sedlis is the youngest child of Holocaust survivors and works with the BHEC to bring his personal knowledge and the accounts of his father’s experience in the Partisan Resistance Movement to students in our community.

Dr. Sedlis’s father, Gabriel, joined the Partisan Resistance, which was responsible for inspiring the April 1943 Warsaw Ghetto uprising and the Resistance in the Vilna Ghetto. Because of his talent for drawing and artistry, Gabriel contributed to the resistance efforts by creating forged passports, which helped to save many Jewish lives. He also joined in combat in the Rudniki Forest as a machine gunner.

The Battle of Rudniki Forest was carried out by Lithuanian Partisans in an area close to Vilna and was responsible for liberating Vilna from German occupation on July 13, 1944. Vilna was Gabriel's hometown and is often referred to as the "Jerusalem of Lithuania."

In addition to learning more about life spent in the Jewish Ghettos and about the Partisan Resistance, students heard first-hand, through historical video accounts recorded by Dr. Sedlis’s father, about the personal struggles he dealt with, throughout his life, because of the life and death decisions he was forced to make.

The school expressed gratitude not only for Dr. Sedlis’ visit and the BHEC but also for the work that they do and for sharing valuable insight and information with the John Carroll community.