Twenty-five cadets and midshipmen from five U.S. service academies recently took part in the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation’s (AJCF) American Service Academies Program (ASAP), a 14-day educational journey marking the program’s 20th anniversary.
The program, designed to foster ethical leadership through the study of the Holocaust, included participants from the U.S. Air Force Academy, U.S. Naval Academy, U.S. Coast Guard Academy, U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and the Air Force ROTC. While in Poland, the group toured Auschwitz I and Auschwitz-Birkenau, explored Kraków’s Kazimierz Jewish Quarter and the site of the former ghetto, met Holocaust survivors, and helped maintain the Jewish cemetery in Oświęcim.
In Warsaw, the cadets and midshipmen visited the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, the Treblinka Death Camp Museum, and the Warsaw Uprising Museum. The program also featured academic seminars and time for reflection.
“For 20 years, the American Service Academies Program has empowered young military leaders to understand the consequences of hatred, the fragility of democracy and the importance of moral courage,” said Simon Bergson, Chairman of AJCF.
The journey concluded in New York City with visits to the Museum of Jewish Heritage and the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. Participants also met with Holocaust survivors and Poland’s Consul General, and attended AJCF’s annual gala.
“These young men and women represent the future of our nation’s armed forces and they are confronting some of history’s darkest chapters to become the kind of leaders the 21st Century needs,” said Jack Simony, Director General of AJCF.
Since its founding, ASAP has educated hundreds of future military leaders, highlighting the enduring importance of moral responsibility and historical understanding. The Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation remains committed to combating hatred and bigotry through education and humanitarian work.
The American Service Academies Program 2025 is made possible with Assistance from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany Supported by the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future and by the German Federal Ministry of Finance.
Additional funding is provided by the David Berg Foundation and Taube Philantropies.
