By
RamazKids.com
The Lower School commemorated Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Memorial Day, with a school wide assembly where they discussed the significance of the day and the importance of remembering what happened.First graders heard the book The Tattooed Torah and second graders heard, Star of Fear, Star of Hope by Jo Hoestlandt, Johanna Kang, and Mark Polizzotti and The Tie Man's Miracle by Steven Schnur and Stephen T. Johnson.
The film, Hannaleh's Rescue was shown to the 3rd grade. The story is about Hannaleh, a young girl whose family was put in a ghetto. The situation in the ghetto worsened and her family smuggled Hannaleh out of the ghetto in a huge soup pot. She was cared for by a friend of the family. Hannaleh needed to change her name to Anna to hide her identity from the Nazis.
Miracle at Moreaux was viewed by the 4th Grade. Four Jewish children, attempting to escape the Nazi occupation of France by going to Spain, wandered rather haplessly into the sanctuary of a Nun, and the story surrounds their short stay and their relationship with the other residents in the home. The differences in ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds of the various children, along with the attempted escape to Spain, comprise the basis of the plot. These differences, coupled with the ever watchful eye of Nazi officials, including one zealous SS Major, make for some very poignant moments including some surprising acts of kindness shown the children by a sympathetic Nazi soldier.
Third and fourth grade students were asked to take a pledge accepting the responsibility to remember and retell stories about the Holocaust, to fight anti-Semitism and to commit to the furtherance of Jewish life in the State of Israel.
Teachers led discussions in the classrooms to follow up the book readings and videos. Parents were urged to answer any additional
questions their children had about what they learned and to show them the importance of today.