When Steven Spielberg’s epic motion picture “Schindler’s List” was released in 1993, a local benefactor considered its message so significant that he pulled out his wallet and paid for every high school senior in the state of Utah to go see it.
A contribution of similar intent by John and Marcia Price may not garner quite the same attention, but it is of no less social significance.
A $500,000 donation from the two went to the cost of building the Price Family Holocaust Memorial Garden at the I.J. Jeann Wagner Jewish Community Center located at Fort Douglas.
What philanthropists such as these clearly realize is that so much of our learning takes place away from the confines of classrooms and outside the teachings of textbooks.
Clearly, when we think of the millions of Jews murdered in the Nazi genocide of World War II, we remember the mantra that we must never forget.
Between stepping into a theater to see a Hollywood production and visiting a memorial garden located near the University of Utah campus, we may take in lessons that no history professor’s lecture can ever hope to rival.
As John Price is a survivor of the Holocaust, his motivation for having the garden built is clear-cut. However, even those of us from subsequent generations must have no less firm a grasp on the sordid history this garden represents.
Consequently, when it opens in the spring, we must take the opportunity to visit the garden and soak in its message.
Once the Olympics have come to a close, the ever-expanding TRAX system will run to the garden, making access to this monument extraordinarily easy.
Meanwhile, the garden’s proximity to local high schools and junior highs further expands the number of its potential visitors. This is no less an important consideration.
After all, as that movie theater benefactor of eight years ago realized, the Holocaust is an event of such terrible ramifications, its lessons are applicable to people of all ages, including the youth of the Salt Lake valley.
Consequently, the Price family is to be commended for making this garden happen. And U students are to be encouraged to treat this as the monumental reminder that it is.