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I was born in Mainz, Germany, in 1964 to German parents, grandparents, great-grandparents… I attend grammar and secondary school (Gymnasium) until age (almost) 14. Even though the educational expectations in German schools were much more rigorous than my later experience, there was no instruction regarding the Holocaust – a taboo subject. I actually earned a referral to the principal in 7th grade for trying to force my history teacher to address my questions about a three-page section in our textbook that included camp pictures – I drew a swastika on the board with the question, “What is this?” After my parents’ divorce, my mother remarried a Jewish doctor, a first generation American born to a German father and a Hungarian Jewish mother, who had both relocated to New York via Ellis Island in 1910. That is when my Holocaust education began.
In November 1978 we moved to Texas, where a student in my high school referred to me as a Nazi, which I did not understand (I did not speak English well and didn’t understand the context). Once at the University of Texas, I decided to major in English with German and secondary education as a additional fields of study. I was required to take one German history course, but did not really learn much about the Holocaust there.
Upon graduation, I moved to Miami and became an English teacher at a predominantly Jewish high school. Because I looked very young and was new to the school and community, parents did not recognize me as a teacher when we had the annual Open House. But they knew their children’s English teacher was German and was teaching The Diary of Anne Frank. Standing in front of my room, I overheard one of the mothers say to another, “Can you believe they have that Nazi teaching our babies about the Holocaust?” It was 1987 and I was 22. Stunned, I debated how to react, then walked up to her, smiled, held out my hand to greet her and said, “Hi, I’m the Nazi.” She apologized profusely. This is when I decided to turn my national guilt and negative personal experience into the opportunity to teach generations to come about a dark time that should never be forgotten.
I became involved with annual Holocaust Awareness Day presentations, organized and hosted by Florida International University and the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Every year, I took a group of students to presentations that always included survivors of various concentration camps. Then I turned to the Miami Beach Holocaust Memorial as a destination. Once I moved to Titusville, I looked at other options as the trip to South Florida was not an option for many. I then introduced new groups to the Florida Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg and the Holocaust Center in Maitland.
Due to restrictions regarding field trips in Brevard County, I changed my focus to films…including The Book Thief. This historical novel shows a slightly different side of German culture during World War II, the side of the German who helps save people, who chooses not to join the Nazi Party regardless of the consequences, who is drafted and forced to fight just to be captured and sent to POW camps or home because of life-threatening injuries – the story of my family members. I have written their experiences based on conversations with my father in the years before his death. Telling their stories and the stories of the millions of victims allows me still to encourage the young minds today to remember but not repeat history.
Nicole Schmatolla (born Trautwein, but had legal name change to my step-father’s last name at age 20)
Born: Mainz, Germany, December 14, 1964
Immigrated to Austin, Texas November 2, 1978
Attended Round Rock and Westwood High School in Round Rock ISD, Texas
B.A. English - University of Texas Austin 1982-1987
Relocated to Miami August 1987
M.A. Linguistics – Florida International University – no degree earned
Relocated to Titusville 2005
M.Ed. Educational Leadership and Policy Studies – University of Texas Arlington 2011-2012
Teaching Career:
North Miami Beach High School September 1987-November 1988
Miami Central Senior High School November 1988 – May 2000
Miami Norland High School August 2000 – May 2005
Adjunct Professor Florida International University College of Hospitality – 2003-2005
Titusville High School August 2005 – present
I was born in Mainz, Germany, in 1964 to German parents, grandparents, great-grandparents… I attend grammar and secondary school (Gymnasium) until age (almost) 14. Even though the educational expectations in German schools were much more rigorous than my later experience, there was no instruction regarding the Holocaust – a taboo subject. I actually earned a referral to the principal in 7th grade for trying to force my history teacher to address my questions about a three-page section in our textbook that included camp pictures – I drew a swastika on the board with the question, “What is this?” After my parents’ divorce, my mother remarried a Jewish doctor, a first generation American born to a German father and a Hungarian Jewish mother, who had both relocated to New York via Ellis Island in 1910. That is when my Holocaust education began.
In November 1978 we moved to Texas, where a student in my high school referred to me as a Nazi, which I did not understand (I did not speak English well and didn’t understand the context). Once at the University of Texas, I decided to major in English with German and secondary education as a additional fields of study. I was required to take one German history course, but did not really learn much about the Holocaust there.
Upon graduation, I moved to Miami and became an English teacher at a predominantly Jewish high school. Because I looked very young and was new to the school and community, parents did not recognize me as a teacher when we had the annual Open House. But they knew their children’s English teacher was German and was teaching The Diary of Anne Frank. Standing in front of my room, I overheard one of the mothers say to another, “Can you believe they have that Nazi teaching our babies about the Holocaust?” It was 1987 and I was 22. Stunned, I debated how to react, then walked up to her, smiled, held out my hand to greet her and said, “Hi, I’m the Nazi.” She apologized profusely. This is when I decided to turn my national guilt and negative personal experience into the opportunity to teach generations to come about a dark time that should never be forgotten.
I became involved with annual Holocaust Awareness Day presentations, organized and hosted by Florida International University and the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Every year, I took a group of students to presentations that always included survivors of various concentration camps. Then I turned to the Miami Beach Holocaust Memorial as a destination. Once I moved to Titusville, I looked at other options as the trip to South Florida was not an option for many. I then introduced new groups to the Florida Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg and the Holocaust Center in Maitland.
Due to restrictions regarding field trips in Brevard County, I changed my focus to films…including The Book Thief. This historical novel shows a slightly different side of German culture during World War II, the side of the German who helps save people, who chooses not to join the Nazi Party regardless of the consequences, who is drafted and forced to fight just to be captured and sent to POW camps or home because of life-threatening injuries – the story of my family members. I have written their experiences based on conversations with my father in the years before his death. Telling their stories and the stories of the millions of victims allows me still to encourage the young minds today to remember but not repeat history.
Nicole Schmatolla (born Trautwein, but had legal name change to my step-father’s last name at age 20)
Born: Mainz, Germany, December 14, 1964
Immigrated to Austin, Texas November 2, 1978
Attended Round Rock and Westwood High School in Round Rock ISD, Texas
B.A. English - University of Texas Austin 1982-1987
Relocated to Miami August 1987
M.A. Linguistics – Florida International University – no degree earned
Relocated to Titusville 2005
M.Ed. Educational Leadership and Policy Studies – University of Texas Arlington 2011-2012
Teaching Career:
North Miami Beach High School September 1987-November 1988
Miami Central Senior High School November 1988 – May 2000
Miami Norland High School August 2000 – May 2005
Adjunct Professor Florida International University College of Hospitality – 2003-2005
Titusville High School August 2005 – present
