Teacher Brings Holocaust Lessons of Kindness to Iowa Town

After 55 years of marriage and a full teaching career, Brad Wilkening could be relaxing with his 12 grandchildren. Instead, he's crisscrossing Iowa with a message he believes the world desperately needs to hear.

Wilkening will present his Holocaust education program Saturday at Mulberry Center Church in Webster City. But this isn't your typical history lesson about tragedy and loss.

"My goal is to bring the story and the random acts of kindness into the world, so we never have this happen again," said Wilkening.

The retired history teacher stumbled into this mission in 2010 while seeking continuing education credits. A single class at the Illinois Holocaust Museum changed everything. "They hooked me," he said simply.

What followed was a decade of deep study at Columbia University and the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous. He learned alongside Holocaust scholars, survivors, rescuers, and filmmakers from around the world. Along the way, he met survivors personally, including Celinda Binaz, the youngest person saved by Oskar Schindler's famous list.

Now Wilkening shares their stories, but always through a lens of hope. His program features survivors he's met and includes a video of a rescuer reunited with the person they saved during the war.

"The program starts out with a design to look at ourselves and determine how can we create a better influence in the world," Wilkening explained. He wants audiences to see themselves in the everyday people who chose compassion when hatred surrounded them.

Why This Inspires

Wilkening admits the presentations drain him emotionally every single time. Yet he delivered his program 105 times in 2025 alone, speaking at churches, schools, and community centers across Iowa.

"I'm out there on my own, trying to spread some kindness," he said. His persistence stems from a simple belief: if enough people hear stories of those who chose courage and compassion in impossible circumstances, they might choose the same in their own lives.

The free program begins at 1 p.m. Saturday at the church in Wilson Brewer Park, though donations are encouraged. Wilkening promises the hour will be uplifting, designed "to make us create the world that we want to live in."

At 77 years old and still going strong, Wilkening is lighting candles across Iowa, one story of kindness at a time.