On Thursday, April 26, seniors who participated in the “Names, Not Numbers©” program screened, “Names, Not Numbers©: A Movie In The Making.” The film, by Adam Chinoy, followed the students as they interviewed Holocaust survivors and embarked on a life-changing trip to Poland. The students were involved in the entire process of documenting the survivors’ Holocaust experiences, including developing interview questions, filming the interviews and editing the footage. Thirty seniors participated in the program this year, which is in its twelfth year at MTA, and captured the stories of six Holocaust survivors. Seniors and their parents were joined by the survivors and their families at the screening, along with MTA administration and faculty members, including the creator of the “Names, Not Numbers©” program, Tova Fish-Rosenberg. New York State Assemblywoman Carmen De La Rosa was also in attendance and spoke to the group. Senior and program participant Yaakov Lauer addressed the audience and shared the biggest lesson he learned from interviewing survivor Bronia Brandman: “You should always be proud to be Jewish,” shared Lauer. “Throughout their whole ordeal, the Nazis took everything from them, but they could not take away their Jewish identities.”

From near-death experiences in concentration camps, to the Death March, hiding in a neighbor’s loft and being trapped in the ghettos, each survivor’s story provided a different and eye-opening perspective of the Holocaust. These brave survivors entrusted students with the important task of ensuring that their stories are documented for future generations and will never be forgotten.