RPRY eighth grade students prepare for the unique program “Names, Not Numbers©,” an interactive, multi-media Holocaust project created by educator, Tova Fish-Rosenberg, which gives them the opportunity to interview and film Holocaust survivors in person. Before the interviews, which this year will take place in February, students learn about the Shoah in their Judaic Studies classes with Rabbi Nachman Lapa and Nitza Adler, as well as during their general studies classes, with Dr. Chaya Friedmann.

The students learn about the historical events leading to and during the Shoah, using visuals like the color-coded map of WWII Europe and an annotated 11-foot timeline. In addition, the lessons focus on antisemitism and our fight against it, and especially on putting a human face on the Holocaust, as emphasized by the name of the program. Students will learn about Jewish life before the Shoah, in the ghettos, on the run and in hiding, and in the camps—as well as of the survivors’ and victims’ courage and resistance, as they fought to stay alive and to keep Jewish traditions and culture alive.