A flower can be symbolic of both life and death, blossoming and alive in the spring yet withered and dying in the fall. Its potential to rebloom each year represents strength and survival. Similarly, people faced with adversity can prove resilient despite persecution. Am Yisrael Chai (AYC), a non-profit Holocaust and genocide education and awareness organization, created The Daffodil Project to provide a living memorial to those who perished, but also to serve as a light for the future.
Based in Atlanta, Georgia, AYC introduced The Daffodil Project in 2010 to commemorate the 1.5 million children murdered during the Holocaust, their young lives cut short by enemy hands. The daffodil was chosen for its strong resemblance to the yellow star Jews were forced to wear during the Holocaust as a symbol of degradation and humiliation. At the same time, daffodils are resilient, blooming every spring with a vibrancy and burst of color, symbolizing renewal and hope. The goal of the project is to plant 1.5 million daffodils around the world honoring those children and in support for children who continue to suffer today as a result of humanitarian crises.
“The Daffodil Project is an excellent way to facilitate Holocaust and genocide education in today’s society,” said Andrea Videlefsky, president of AYC and founder of The Daffodil Project. “This Holocaust-related project inspires and stimulates learning through action,” she added. To date there have been 475,000 daffodils planted, the majority in places across Atlanta. The project has expanded to many cities throughout the United States as well as internationally in Israel, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Canada and most recently in Japan at the high school that Chiune Sugihara attended.
In 1939, Sugihara was stationed in Lithuania where he ran the consulate and was faced with Jews fleeing German-occupied Poland. Defying Government orders, Sugihara issued at least 6,000 visas for people to travel through Japan to other destinations. Nine years prior to his death in 1986, Sugihara was interviewed and asked why he took such a risk. “It was a matter of humanity,” he explained. “I did not care if I lost my job. Anyone else would have done the same thing if they were in my place.” Sugihara was a hero who saved Jews not only with his signature but with his moral essence.
Teaneck resident David Goldschmidt recently began volunteering for AYC, and subsequently has introduced The Daffodil Project to many local organizations and schools. “I was emotionally moved when I learned about the project,” said Goldschmidt. “The daffodils grow back every year, with minimal care. Imagine the year is 2044 and a 12-year-old student walks by a small garden of daffodils and questions the significance and could such a thing have really happened.” Goldschmidt hopes through this undertaking Holocaust awareness will prevail for generations to come. “Their lives were so short, but their memory should live on forever.”
In our local community, Holocaust education is a fundamental part of the Jewish history curriculum. The Daffodil Project offers students a hands-on opportunity to memorialize victims of the Holocaust, and at the same time recognize other groups of people who are suffering around the world. The project is not exclusively based on Holocaust commemoration. AYC aspires to spread awareness about global genocide existing in areas such as Darfur, South Sudan and Rwanda.
“As soon as we learned of this opportunity we realized the tremendous impact it could have on our students. As we move farther away from the Holocaust, and as the number of firsthand stories dwindle, it becomes all the more important to relay its gravity to our children,” said Rabbi Clair of the Rosenbaum Yeshiva of North Jersey. “A tangible flower, representing a child’s life cut short, would be a delicate path of chinuch. A flower is something that anyone of any age can connect to, and in the same way the paperclip project was so poignant, we hope that by connecting with other institutions worldwide, our children and students could connect as well.”
At The Frisch School there is a farm on campus that students cultivate, providing an ideal space for planting. The chesed department sees The Daffodil Project as a perfect addition and an excellent way to engage students in a meaningful project. “Building a living Holocaust memorial on campus commemorating the children who were heartlessly murdered will serve as a tribute to their young lives and remind our students that we must never forget what happened,” expressed Rabbi Schulman, director of chesed programming.
There is a significant emphasis on Holocaust education for the eighth grade students at Yavneh Academy. During this final year of middle school, students are immersed in Holocaust awareness in a variety of formats including a grade performance of a play based on the experience of a survivor, often a relative of a Yavneh student. The Daffodil Project aligns perfectly with the Holocaust program at Yavneh, offering students a chance to create something tangible in memory of lives lost.
“The Daffodil Project has allowed Yavneh’s eighth graders to feel a connection to children who perished in the Holocaust. Each eighth grader memorialized a child by planting a flower; our garden will bloom in the spring to honor them,” said Barbara Rubin, Yavneh Academy associate principal, middle school.
Planting the bulbs is dependent on the climate and condition of the earth. In many places down south, planting is done in conjunction with the commemoration of Kristallnacht, usually in November. Here in New Jersey, planting must be completed before the ground freezes and is therefore typically done in October. At times, depending on the Jewish calendar, the first blooms will befittingly start to show around Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Commemoration Day). AYC provides the first 250 bulbs free of charge and asks that participating organizations fund an additional 250 bulbs either at the initial planting or after the first year. AYC will send a Daffodil Project plaque for display at the location of the planting.
The Daffodil Project offers hope while remembering sorrow. It shines a light on the future while reflecting on the darkness of the past. As Jews, we have been persecuted throughout time, yet we continue to grow as a nation, believing in the future of mankind. AYC hopes that the young lives lost in the Holocaust will live on through the daffodils planted in their memory.
If you are interested in volunteering to engage others in this communal project and perpetuate the message of “never again,” please contact David Goldschmidt at 201-836-4029 or email him at [email protected]. To learn more or to contribute to The Daffodil Project, please visit www.daffodilproject.net or by email at [email protected].
By Andrea Nissel
