In November of 2023, Heather Loeschke’s AP (Advanced Placement) Government class commemorated the 85th anniversary of Kristallnacht by learning from Jewish WCCO news reporter Jonah Kaplan, who had interviewed Mrs. Loeschke for the channel before class. This was an incredible opportunity for Cannon Falls students to become more educated on the world beyond our school, as well as gain awareness of Holocaust history and the war occurring in the Gaza Strip.
On the night of November 9th, 1938, Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass, was carried out by the Nazi Party throughout Germany. Jewish businesses were broken into and looted, and Jewish homes were ransacked. Mrs. Loeschke’s AP Government class took a deep dive into the war occurring in the Gaza Strip and how this was relevant in terms of the Holocaust and Kristallnacht. Then, they connected these historical events to the bigger picture of the persecution of Jewish people.
Due to the prior knowledge the AP Government class had obtained during their lessons with Mrs. Loeschke, they were able to go back and forth with Mr. Kaplan and discuss what they had learned. According to Mrs. Loeschke, “They asked great questions and they were really well informed.” He ended up taking over the class and with his strong perspective on Jewish history and politics, he was also able to give students an even stronger understanding of what they had been learning in class. Although this was not on the agenda for the day, Mrs. Loeschke believes that, “As teachers, you let educational moments just be educational moments.” She saw that the value of learning through conversation with an expert was something greater than a student could learn from a textbook. As a result, she scratched the lesson plan for the day and allowed Mr. Kaplan to lead her class.
Mrs. Loeschke is not entirely certain of the reason why she was specifically chosen to be featured in the news, but one possibility does come to mind. Over the past summer, Mrs. Loeschke traveled to Europe with the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) to study the Holocaust. Throughout this trip, Mrs. Loeschke took extremely extensive notes and created a detailed PowerPoint presentation of over 250 slides, which she shared with her classes, members of the community, and the JCRC. She presumes that they found it impressive that someone documented the trip in such great detail, hence why she was seen as a strong candidate for speaking on the group’s trip to Europe.
AP Government students have gained an immense amount of knowledge regarding the current state of the world and how that relates to our history through this experience. They tied their knowledge about the Isreal-Hamas war and the anti-semitism that resulted from that to the persecution of Jewish people during the Holocaust. These two events worked hand in hand to aid students in understanding Jewish history. AP Government student Morgen Brandel explains that this in-person lesson from a passionate expert helped her to, “understand exactly what is happening in more detail rather than just from the news.” This is certainly a rare opportunity and the AP Government students made sure not to take that for granted and made the most of their time with Mr. Kaplan. As stated by Brandel, “I appreciate the opportunity to learn more about it and I’ll take away the information that our reporter gave us coming from his Jewish background.”
Mrs. Loeschke hopes that her AP Government class will “continue to ask the questions about why these kinds of things happen.” Although the Holocaust is the most historically prominent and commemorated incident of genocide, it is not isolated and genocide continues today. She states, “There are still groups of people who are being targeted and persecuted by fellow citizens and their governments based on their race, their religion, and their ethnicity,” She hopes that her students derive a more expansive perspective and greater worldly understanding of Jewish history. She believes that it is important to, “Be aware, be informed, and say something.”
