VRHS Students Hear Holocaust Survivor's Story

“How long is the world going to remember an event such as the Holocaust?” asked Oscar “Osi” Sladek, addressing students in the auditorium at Vista Ridge High School. Sladek, accomplished musician and author, was just 8 years old when he was smuggled from his homeland of Slovakia to escape the Jewish persecution during World War II.

Now 90 years old, Sladek spends his time sharing his story. “I am almost a century old. I have the need and the strength to share this with as many young people as I can,” he said.

English teacher Casey Frese explains the importance of inviting a Holocaust survivor to interact face-to-face with students. “They often struggle to grasp the scale of millions of victims. A survivor's individual story detailing their fear, difficult choices, and resilience, gives a face to the abstract statistics,” he said. “It makes the suffering and the will to live intensely personal.”

After students watched a 30-minute film chronicling Sladek’s journey, they lined up to ask him questions about his past, and its resonance with the challenges of the world today. “We have to be alert always, if we want to keep our freedom,” he said.  

Frese explains that allowing students to ask their own questions transforms them from passive listeners to active learners. “When the students are able to engage directly with Osi, they’re not just learning facts—they’re making connections between history and their own values, communities, and responsibilities in the present,” he said.  

Sladek shared how proud he is to be an American. “I didn’t think I was going to live when I was a little kid. From the minute I stepped on this soil, I felt like I was in heaven,” he said.

One message Sladek stresses to America’s youth: “Be happy.”