I wanted to apologize to you directly for any offense or hurt Jude’s tone and delivery may have caused you and your family and guests during Faces of History. It just came to my attention that many were offended, and I understand and feel terrible. I’m terribly sorry.

Jude presented a very sensitive topic as a child delivering a memorized speech. Just as kids present on characters who did awful things, like Genghis Khan, Napoleon, and others who are more historically and therefore emotionally distant, he spoke of Hitler as a child reporting a history that felt much more distant to him than it does to our generation. He was and is adamantly opposed to all Hitler did. We go to a church focused on reaching Jewish people with the Gospel and loving them well. The Sho’ah (Holocaust) is a deeply troubling and grievous topic.

When he chose this character, he didn’t really know all he was getting into, but he did an incredible amount of research and learned more about history than he had for any previous Faces of History character. Upon understanding more and finishing his paper, he was horrified and asked me if everyone would hate him for talking about Hitler. I told him everyone would hate the person he was talking about. It would be visceral. Everyone would feel hatred toward his character, but they would not hate him- they would separate the two.

Therefore, he decided to go ahead, with the hopes of presenting information that would help people stay aware of the horrors and not stand for it happening again. In his presentation, he did not intend to make light of the topic at all. On the contrary, he looked at how the world started joining sides leading up to WW2. He looked at our world today and leaders like Putin, Nicolas Maduro, Xi Jinping, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Kim Jung Un and saw concerning similarities to upsetting patterns. He noticed how some countries seem to be forming sides, and it was deeply troubling. He wanted to deliver information in a way that would make people think about it and do what they could to not let it happen again. And he delivered it like information with the lasting impression at the end, but didn’t know the best tone to present what he truly felt.

This was the first time he did all the work on his monologue himself.  And he delivered it as the child he is- without the emotional connection of proximity we adults have. I am very sorry that I did not help him more with how he could deliver it in a tone more somber and appropriate. He wanted to give a disclaimer to say why he chose such a terrible person, but I am sorry I did not step in and ensure he delivered it in a manner fitting to the situation. I am also sorry, as I know that the way he delivered it presented his political concerns and these were offensive to many. We are very Republican in our home, and I understand how his approach to the concerns of our world today, which were both vague and pointed about concerning patterns even in our own country, could have been offensive. He did not think he could remember all the things to say that he had considered which could have been more honoring and comprehensive. He also did not have time. And, I allowed him the freedom to take ownership of this speech, when in retrospect I realize stepping in would have spared hurt and offense. I was wrong. I am truly sorry to you and to your family and guests and hope you can pass this on to those close to you who were hurt and forgive our family for indiscretion in this very sensitive and terrible topic.