Clarksburg School Prepares for Annual Holocaust Event
.JPG) File photo
The Clarksburg eighth-grade will present their studies on the Holocaust next Thursday from 6 to 9. |
The deaths of millions occurred 60 years ago in another land across the sea, but for five years, the school's eighth-graders have been plumbing the Holocaust's depths each spring. It culminates with a public presentation and featured speaker that has brought family, friends, community members and others from far and wide to the school gym.
The year's presentations will be on the rescuers, survivors and victims of the Holocaust with speaker Bill Clarke of Budapest, Hungary, who will share his tale of survival during World War II on Thursday, May 20, from 6 to 9 p.m.
The event will include more than 250 items on loan from Darrell K. English, a well-known collector of WWII paraphernalia. Some of his pieces will sojourn at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington after ending their display in Clarksburg.
Teacher Michael Little developed the curriculum, which starts in the seventh grade with the reading of "The Diary of Anne Frank."
"They're always interested," said Little. "They've heard the name on or off and once they read 'Anne Frank' and get a taste they're real keen to learn more."
Students take a different aspect of the theme and, working in teams or individually, research and develop a presentation board. The boards and dioramas have ranged from ghettos to political alliances to survival techniques to military maneuvers to concentration camp conditions.
"They bring their own sense of personality, of fears, wants and longings," said Little. "It really is different every year. We do reuse some boards from different years, but every student has their own particular angle."
Little has worked closely with Rabbi Robert Sternberg, former director of Hatikvah Holocaust Education Center in Springfield, as well as English. The rabbi and featured speakers have also spoken to classes, and some field trips have been taken. Jewish Federation of the Berkshires will be visiting next Wednesday to do a story for its monthly newsletter and the course has been featured in other media.
Speakers have included liberators and survivors, such as last year's Benjamin Gruenfeld, a Swedish author and illustrator who spent his youth in Nazi concentration camps and detailed his experience in a self-illustrated book.
"We're having a tribute board for Benny this year. He was huge," said Little. Gruenfeld, now in his 80s, began speaking late in life about his experiences at schools; he's given about 10,000 talks. "He went through Clarksburg and said it was the best school he'd ever been to."
The presentation and talk are open to the public and will be held in the Clarksburg School gym.
