The JKHA middle school students had the opportunity to commemorate Yom HaShoah with Holocaust survivor Sonia Klein. Klein spoke to to the students and shared her miraculous story of survival. Klein was transported out of the Warsaw Ghetto, and was taken first to Majdanek, then survived three more concentration camps, including Auschwitz/ Birkenau, as well as a grueling three-month death march. On an age appropriate level, Klein detailed the atrocities she witnessed, and described how much of the “good fortune” she experienced that enabled her to survive was through Hashem’s help. At age 92, Klein acknowledged that her contemporaries won’t be around forever to tell their story and she strongly conveyed the message to the students that they must be the ones to tell her story and the stories of all those that were killed.

The JKHA eighth grade students have been working all year to interview Holocaust survivors and film and edit their testimonials for this year’s “Names Not Numbers©” film. The final product will be screened on Wednesday, May 30 at 7 p.m. in the school’s Epstein-Stein Auditorium.

The Yom HaShoah program helped students recognize the necessity of spreading these stories and appreciate their role as the future generation that ensures the perpetuation of the Jewish people’s history.