Strat Labs

Welcome to Strat Labs’ Changemaker Spotlight Series! This blog series is dedicated to showcasing the inspiring journeys of remarkable individuals who have transformed their passions into purposeful endeavors, leaving a significant impact on the world around them every single day. Join us as we delve into the heart of innovation and commitment, celebrating the extraordinary stories of those who are not just dreaming of a better future but actively shaping it in their journey as a changemaker.

Mark Schonwetter is a Holocaust survivor and Co-Founder of the Mark Schonwetter Holocaust Education Foundation (MSHEF). In the Spring of 1942, the Gestapo had taken Mark’s dad and he was never seen again. Mark’s dad was eventually murdered alongside 250 Jewish men, women, and children in a mass grave on August 12, 1942. After his father’s disappearance, Mark, being only 8 years old, then walked 15 miles in one night with his Mom and younger sister to escape the Nazis from his hometown in Brzostek, Poland, fleeing to the Debica ghetto, where they thought they would be safer. After escaping the ghetto, they went into hiding for three years in the Polish countryside until the end of WWII.

Mark moved to the United States in 1961 where he began sweeping floors at a jewelry factory, eventually running his own jewelry business. Mark’s daughters, Ann Arnold and Isabella Fiske started the Mark Schonwetter Holocaust Education Foundation in 2019 after seeing the need for more funding for Holocaust education across the United States due to budgetary constraints faced by many teachers. Their mission is to provide grants for educators to teach anti-hate initiatives, respect, and kindness to students nationwide through Holocaust education. Since their inception, they have awarded 439 grants across 31 states, reaching over 114,000 students.

Mark, was there a specific moment or event that gave you hope during your lived experience of the Holocaust?

The only hope that my sister and I used to get was hope from my mother. The way she handled taking care of us as two little kids was the reason we were never depressed and never had to worry about anything. Kids cry, they complain, and especially because of the circumstances that we lived in during the Holocaust. But she always had a positive way of approaching us with a smile on her face. She explained to us the circumstances to a degree and kept telling us, “Soon, things will be different. They will be better. We will survive. We will have different lives.” 

After the war, how did you rebuild your life? What helped you most in starting over?

After the war, we had a new life but we were stuck in communist Poland. We had to be sent to school, but we were past elementary age and my sister and I didn’t even know the alphabet or simple math because we had never gone to school before. After trying to enroll us, my mom went back to the principal of that school and asked him “Would you allow my son to take private lessons? Mark gets a teacher and then you would give him a test. If the teacher sees that he’s ready for the first grade, you will give him a test and if he passes then he’ll continue with the teacher for second grade and then for third grade. Until you tell us he’s ready to enroll.” The principal agreed. After going through that program, I was finally able to enroll in the sixth grade.

Times were pretty tough for me as a child, taking private lessons because mom says you have to get an education. But it was the most important thing. I eventually graduated from high school and then my mom told me I have to go to university. I decided I liked law and applied to the university in Krakow. I was accepted, but I didn’t finish because we had an opportunity to leave Poland at that time.

It was a very tough time, but somehow, we succeeded.

Can you describe how you and the Mark Schonwetter Holocaust Education Foundation are making a significant social impact?

I was already speaking to schools about my experience as a Holocaust survivor before we created the foundation. After talking with the teachers, I found out they weren’t able to teach the kids more about the Holocaust because they didn’t have the funding to purchase books or go to a Holocaust museum. 

This is what gave my daughters, Ann and Isabella, the idea of creating the foundation. They told me, “We will use the foundation in your name to give you the honor, what you went through in the Holocaust.”

I have to proudly say that the two daughters of mine did a fabulous job. Right now, we’re giving teachers grants for books, trips to museums, or whatever they feel would be necessary for them to teach the new generation about the past. And of course, we are always asking for more support with donations. The more support we get to help us in educating the young generation about what happened in the past, the better.

What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve encountered in your fight against hatred and how have you overcome them? 

The biggest challenge is that the young generation, the children in schools, haven’t been taught about the atrocities that happened during the Holocaust or other past and ongoing atrocities around the world. We cannot limit ourselves to teaching kids only about the Holocaust. While that’s the main focus of our foundation, we understand it is also important that people are aware of the atrocities happening in various nations around the world. The more you understand the history, the better chance we have of uniting together to prevent anyone from taking power and creating hatred between people.

Can you tell us a story about a particular individual who has been impacted or helped by the Mark Schonwetter Holocaust Education Foundation?

There was an incident where a kid drew a swastika in their school, and he was accused of being a Nazi. I was asked if I would be willing to sit down with the kid and have the conversation on this subject. Of course, I agreed with pleasure. We got together and we talked about it. Right away, I saw that the kid didn’t do anything wrong. Yes, he drew a swastika, but he didn’t have the slightest idea what that symbol meant. He saw somebody else draw it somewhere and he just wanted to follow them. As I explained its meaning to him, the kid became very upset because he didn’t have any knowledge of what he had done.

To me, this story shows the power of education. If the schools were required to teach this subject, these kids would know not to do things like that.  

What are your aspirations and goals for the future of the Mark Schonwetter Holocaust Education Foundation and how do you plan to continue your journey as a Changemaker?

I won’t be bashful to say the first thing I hope is to get as many donations as possible so we can grow and expand our influence by giving even more help to schools. The more people give, the more of a chance we have to fight hatred by educating students about the past. We have evolved to influence kids all over the United States, but the goal is to reach all 50 states. Currently, not every state mandates Holocaust education. We hope that every state will someday mandate Holocaust education because the more you teach, the more knowledge you have. It is too important of a subject and one that shouldn’t be missed.

How would you define “Changemaker”? Can you explain what you mean?

A Changemaker doesn’t need to be someone who has lived through something like the Holocaust. A Changemaker is someone who understands the past and uses that knowledge to do good for everybody. Changemakers notice discrimination and stand up for those people being discriminated against. We have so much more power together to stand up to hatred.

To learn more about the impactful and important work that the Mark Schonwetter Holocaust Education Foundation is doing, visit their website at www.mshefoundation.org.

If you are interested in connecting with Mark Schonwetter to learn more about his Changemaker journey or connect with the foundation, you can contact him and his daughters at ann@mshefoundation.org and isabella@mshefoundation.org or connect with Mark, Ann, and Isabella on LinkedIn.