"I can't stress how important I think it is for our students to be educated about our history and respective cultures and backgrounds. Thank you very much!.” ~Kyle (teacher)
Witness To History Project
The Witness To History Project is designed to further the message of the Holocaust by direct interaction between students or interested adults and Holocaust survivors. Participants "step into the shoes" of a survivor by learning his or her unique account of survival via listening to the survivor tell his/her story, asking questions, writing a biography, reviewing a videotape, and memorizing and re-telling the story for others. Ultimately, the re-teller will have the lifelong job of educating others about the Holocaust by sharing this personal narrative, an imperative task now that our survivors are aging and in failing health.
This program may serve as a class project, a community service project, or a Bar/Bat Mitzvah project for young people who are interested in the Holocaust. Students who have acting, teaching, or film-making aspirations might also want to become involved.
The minimum requirements for participation are listed below:
- Participate in one WTHP presentation by a Holocaust survivor
- Review an audio or videotape of the survivor's testimony
- Write a biography about the survivor OR prepare an audio or videotape of the survivor's story, including a paragraph explaining why it is important for you to continue to share this story with others
- Present the story to a member of the Holocaust Awareness Museum to verify accuracy
- Present the story to a minimum of 50 people, to be confirmed by teacher/leader signature
Survivor WTHP presentations are made approximately every eight weeks, depending upon community interest. Please keep in mind that this project will take some time, generally several weeks, to complete.
