Our Youth

Remembering the Holocaust

June 26, 2019
Since the beginning of the school year, a group of Queens schools worked together to develop a documentary about the Holocaust. One of the students involved, Robert Wieczorek, is an active member of Sacred Heart parish in Bayside. (Photo: The Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway)

 The Tablet Staff

“This is one of the most important projects I work on,” said Sacred Heart, Bayside, parishioner and eighth-grader, Robert Wieczorek.

Speak Up Against Tyranny

“Students of all faiths must learn about the horrible events of the Holocaust so we can speak up against
tyranny in the future. Nothing compares to spending time with survivors in person and hearing their stories live.”

More than 40 eighth grade students from local Queens schools, including Wieczorek, participated in the “Names, Not Numbers” program.

The program was created by educator, Dr. Tova Fish-Rosenberg.

The project is described as an interactive, multimedia Holocaust oral history documentary. The program included students from The Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway (HAFTR), Lawrence Middle School and Bell Academy of Bayside.

Telling Survivors’ Stories

For more than six months, the students dived into historical research about the Holocaust. They researched survivor stories, developed interview questions, learned basic videography and video editing skills.

The final product was a documentary produced by the students.

The documentary detailed the journey of seven survivors as well as the journey of the students as they collaborated to complete the project.

During that time, the students also visited the Jewish Heritage Museum and studied the events which led up to the horrific events of the Holocaust.

They interviewed survivors who graciously shared their stories.

Sacred Heart, Bayside, parishioner Robert Wieczorek, center with the green kippah, interviewed Holocaust survivor Linda Marshak, sitting on the bottom row.

Survivors they interviewed included Simon Berger; Natalie Gomberg; Linda Marshak, originally of Poland; Rachel Gleitman, originally of Czechoslovakia; Abraham Gordon, originally of Belarus; Edith Levor, origi-
nally of Belgium; and Renee Levy, originally from France.

The “Names, Not Numbers” program is hosted and lead by the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway. The documentary will be housed by the Archive in Israel.