Today, I took my theater kids to the National Holocaust Memorial in Washington D.C. We're performing "The Diary OF Anne Frank" In a few weeks and we wanted to put some meaning behind the words of the script for the kids.

You want to talk about faith in people? I had 11 teenagers, fighting back tears, holding hands, huddled together in silence, touched by their own humanity as we walked passed the images and voices of those less fortunate. We drove 3 hours in 2 vans to get there, and the kids became as one. The "cooler" kids in the back seat were laughing and talking with the "shyer" kids stuck next to the teachers...playing guessing games, singing songs .... having a ball. That was the ride TO the Memorial. After leaving the horrifying images and sad stories of broken spirits, I watched 4 kids....holding each other's hands as we walked very quietly to the vans. They were more somber, but also touched in a positive way. Our actress in the role of Anne said to me “I think I will be able to put more meaning into my lines, now that I know more of the real story.” She held her tears back, but her eyes spoke volumes to me.

My heart was touched. My tear ducts were filled, and my soul was lifted by the courage and innocence of those millions of victims of this most horrible human shortcoming.

There is a room with hundreds of pairs of shoes, taken from the prisoners before they were executed. We walked through an actual railroad car that took innocent people to their deaths.....I felt their souls in the stale, still air of that car as we passed through. We looked at the luggage that they were told to leave behind ... all images that conjured up pictures of the humans attached to each story. The Holocaust is no longer a page from a history book for me. It is now a very real reminder, that we must cherish life at all cost, respect our fellow humans, and never, ever forget how much we are ALL THE SAME in this world.

We argue about keyboards and stereo. These people were starved, beaten and died because of where they were born. Everyone in the world needs to see this place, and be reminded that this behavior can NEVER BE REPEATED or worse even, tolerated. It is proof of how strong leadership in the wrong hands can ruin humanity. It is a dark moment in the history of mankind that should never be erased, and my hope for all is that we can draw strength from the survivors, their families, and their stories.

Anne Frank was just a young girl who told stories to her diary. Many other children, and their families, were not so lucky. Today, I have been blessed to be lucky enough to have spent the day in the company of 11 incredible teenagers whose lives are forever changed. It’s a start.