Pembroke Academy will host Mr. Tom White of The Cohen Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Keene State College and Holocaust survivor Kati Preston on May 23. 

With parental permission, junior World Literature students will attend Mr. White’s presentation, where he will discuss Eli Wiesel’s memoir “Night” as a “constructed memoir” and “crafted testimony,” according to letter sent home to parents on May 3 by English teachers Mrs. Ficken, Ms. Paquette, Mrs. Berger-Montgomery and Mrs. Mullen.

At the end of the presentation, students will also have the opportunity to ask questions to Ms. Preston, who bore witness and survived one the most horrific events. 

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Mrs. Mullen said. “I encourage all students to attend if they are able to.”

Students attending the presentation will be dismissed from their Period 5 class and will miss Period 7 as an excused absence from class. They are responsible for any work they may miss that day.

The presentation was organized by Mrs. Ficken, and Mrs. Mullen said she has “high hopes” that this will become a yearly event.

“It gives us the capability to be worldly, to gain knowledge and become better, more empathetic people,” said Mrs. Mullen.

Select seniors will also have the opportunity to attend.