Rabbi Panitz Speaks with Upper School History Students on Holocaust Remembrance
Norfolk Collegiate’s upper school History students welcomed Rabbi Michael Panitz for a thought-provoking presentation in recognition of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Feb. 3, 2026. Rabbi Panitz, a theologian, rabbi at Temple Israel, and history professor at Old Dominion University and Virginia Wesleyan University, had originally been scheduled to speak on January 27—the 81st anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp by Soviet troops in 1945.
Centered around his guiding message, “Our mandate is to understand the inexplicable, to honor the victims and to prevent future horrors,” Rabbi Panitz challenged students to consider the historical context and lasting impact of the Holocaust. He emphasized that while massacres have occurred throughout history, “but the Holocaust was different. We have to understand how the Holocaust went beyond its deep roots and what happened more recently because of it,” Panitz said. “People fight hard over what they think is the right order of society,” he noted, which is essential to ensuring that such atrocities are never repeated.
Rabbi Panitz explored the evolving concept of citizenship for Jewish people, explaining how Jewish communities first gained citizenship rights in France following the French Revolution, with the United States soon following. Jewish people were later granted citizenship in Germany as well—only to have those rights revoked with the rise of nationalism and shifting societal structures. These historical shifts, he explained, reveal how fragile rights can be when societies struggle over what they believe is the “right” social order.
The presentation also included a powerful personal connection. Rabbi Panitz shared the story of a family friend who survived the Holocaust and displayed an authentic artifact: a Jewish “Yellow Star,” the badge used by Nazi authorities to identify, humiliate and control Jewish people. The artifact offered students a tangible connection to history and a deeper understanding of the human experience behind historical events.
At the conclusion of the presentation, several students engaged Rabbi Panitz in thoughtful questions, continuing the dialogue and reflection inspired by his visit. Norfolk Collegiate joins communities around the world in marking the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau and honoring the memory of the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust, as well as the millions of others who suffered under Nazi persecution. Through opportunities like this, students are encouraged to learn from history and carry forward the responsibility to remember and to stand against hatred and injustice.
