BECOMING THE VOICES: A NEW GENERATION SPEAKS FOR HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS

In the innovative Becoming the Voices program, groups of students from Jewish and non-Jewish schools spend time with a Holocaust survivor and a professional storyteller, learning the details of the survivor’s story to share with others. This CJE program is possible with support from the Baltimore Jewish Council (BJC) and the Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Fund for the Enrichment of Jewish Education of THE ASSOCIATED: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore.

This year’s community-wide Yom HaShoah event, coordinated by the BJC, recognized Becoming the Voices and two other unique education programs in the Baltimore area—programs that bring to life the stories of those who perished and of those who survived during the tragedy we call the Shoah. One of our groups, a cluster of eighth graders from St. Mark’s School and Krieger-Schechter Middle School, shared a dramatic presentation of a survivor’s story as a part of their participation in the project.

 “These kids have clearly been transformed by this process,” says Caron Blau Rothstein, CJE’s director of special projects who coordinates the program. “I really believe they will take this experience with them the rest of their lives… And it gives the survivors hope that their stories will continue to be told after they’re gone. It gives them some kind of hope that the lessons are not going to die with them.”

Krieger-Schechter’s Devin Krol wishes everyone could have the experience she did through Becoming the Voices. “It was just a great learning experience, and I think everyone should have this learning opportunity,” she says enthusiastically. “I was really lucky to be chosen for it.”

CJE is delighted to announce that through the continued generosity of the Blaustein Fund, Becoming the Voices will continue into the 2007-2008 school year with plans to develop a written curriculum so that other communities can take advantage of our experiences.

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