Davidson College basketball players traveled to Berlin this summer to study Holocaust history and the impact of antisemitism, The Media Line reported.
The four-day educational journey included visits to locations where Nazi officials coordinated the “Final Solution” and sites used for propaganda. The trip was facilitated by the Benjamin Ferencz Institute for Ethics, Human Rights and the Holocaust, a nonprofit named after the Nuremberg prosecutor who tried Nazi officers for crimes against humanity, according to davidson.edu.
The itinerary focused on several key locations in Germany to provide immersive education. Players visited the Wannsee Villa, where officials met in 1942 to coordinate the murder of Europe’s Jews, according to davidson.edu.
The group also toured the Berlin Olympic Stadium, a venue built by the Nazi regime to project its image to the world. At the House of the Wannsee Conference, players Josh Scovens and Jackson Keith reported struggling to reconcile the peaceful environment with the atrocities planned there, The Media Line reported.
The final day of the trip included a visit to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. This site was constructed in 1936 and held hundreds of thousands of prisoners until its liberation in 1945, davidson.edu reported.
Jackson Keith noted that the trip provided a perspective not covered in previous classroom settings. “My previous education on the Holocaust didn’t cover anything we covered here,” Keith said, adding that the visit motivated him to speak out, according to davidson.edu.
Keith also discussed the responsibility of athletes to use their influence to confront prejudice among their peers, The Media Line reported.
This trip continues a series of educational travels for the Davidson men’s basketball program. In 2018, the team traveled to Auschwitz, where they were guided by Holocaust survivor Eva Mozes Kor, according to both The Media Line and davidson.edu.
The current Berlin program is being used as a model by the Ferencz Institute for its “Athletes Against Antisemitism and Discrimination” initiative, which seeks to bring similar education to collegiate athletes nationwide, davidson.edu reported.
The trip was facilitated by Amanda Caleb ’02, a former Davidson athlete, alongside Ferencz Institute Founding Director Stacy Gallin, davidson.edu reported.
Who organized the Berlin trip for the Davidson players?
The trip was organized by Coach Matt McKillop in collaboration with the Benjamin Ferencz Institute for Ethics, Human Rights and the Holocaust, according to davidson.edu.
What specific sites did the team visit in Germany?
The players visited the Wannsee Villa, the Berlin Olympic Stadium, and the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, davidson.edu reported.
Is this the first time the basketball team has traveled for Holocaust education?
No, the program previously sent a team to Auschwitz in 2018, The Media Line reported.
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