Alison Weiss, a Falls Church resident who is studying at the United States Air Force Academy, is among the 14 cadets and midshipmen from the U.S. Military Academy, U.S. Naval Academy, U.S. Air Force Academy, and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy chosen by the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation to participate in the Center’s American Service Academies Program.
Through participating in the program, the cadets and midshipmen will learn how to examine history, become ambassadors of ethical behavior, and take responsibility for upholding these values as future military leaders.
Weiss is a political science major with a minor in Arabic at the United States Air Force Academy where she currently is serving as the Wing Command Chief, the highest junior job in the Cadet Wing.
Cadets and midshipmen began orientation in Washington, D.C. and visited the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. On June 1, students arrived in New York City and attended additional training at the Museum of Jewish Heritage—A Living Memorial to the Holocaust before going on to Poland for two weeks. While in Poland, the participants will learn first-hand about the rich, vibrant life of Jews in pre-war Poland. Each student will meet with Polish and American leaders, visit historic Jewish sites, attend workshops with Holocaust survivors and historians, and visit and attend seminars at the Auschwitz-Birkenau camps.
