HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE EVENT ENCOURAGES
STATEN ISLAND YOUTH TO ‘STAND UP TO HATE’
by Annalise Knudson
Hundreds of Staten Island youth were encouraged to stand up to hate during an event that served as a poignant reminder of the atrocities committed during the Holocaust.
The Wagner College Holocaust Center on Tuesday held its largest “Youth Stand Up to Hate” day during Yom Hashoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day. It brought together at least 1,500 people, including students from several schools, educators, community leaders, special guests and more, at the St. George Theatre.
“We are here to stand united against hate and indifference in all its forms on the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising,” said Lori Weintrob, director of the Wagner College Holocaust Center. “The intimate stories of your neighbors — six Holocaust survivors — inspire courage … Listen to the words of these survivors as they are performed by Wagner College students. These survivors lived, but many members of their families are among the 6 million Jews who were murdered in six death camps and 400 concentration camps.”
Among the partners in sponsoring the event were the Staten Island Hate Crimes Task Force and the Richmond County District Attorney’s office, Staten Island Advance/SiLive.com, the Alan and Joan Bernikow Jewish Community Center, the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, the Council of Jewish Organizations of Staten Island, the Jewish Foundation School and Department of Education District 31 Deputy Superintendent Christine Chavez.
“Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it but today, in recognition of Yom HaShoah, we made certain that thousands of young Staten Islanders were educated on the atrocities of the Holocaust while also celebrating five Staten Island educators for their commitment to promoting anti-bias and tolerance in the classroom,” said District Attorney Michael E. McMahon.
“In what was our borough’s largest ‘Youth Stand Up to Hate’ day, I was honored to stand alongside my partners in the Wagner College Holocaust Center and Theater Department to sponsor ‘Rising Up: Young Holocaust Heroes’ in an effort to highlight the truly awe-inspiring stories of six Staten Island survivors and to ensure that hate will never have a home on our shores for generations to come.”
RISING UP
During the commemoration event, students at Wagner College performed the original play, “Rising Up: Young Holocaust Heroes,” which traces the childhood relationships, growing challenges of the Nazi era, and courage and resilience of six survivors who lived on Staten Island. The musical was written by Weintrob and directed by Mickey Tennenbaum, adjunct professor of theater at Wagner College, who is a child of Holocaust survivors.
It follows graduate student Tali, played by Molly Nemirow, who encounters six teenagers caught in war and genocide — Margot (“Tina” Jean-Louis), Hannah (Taitum Eddington), Egon (Viraj Shriwardhanker), Romi (Nicholas Nunez), Rachel (Caitlyn Efner) and Gabi (Leslie Baez).
Throughout the play, the six survivors share experiences during the Holocaust using spoken word and song. By the end of the storytelling, the graduate student then wonders how youth can rise up and prevent something similar from happening again. It encouraged the crowd of youths to not turn away when there is hatred.
The play concluded with the same motif throughout — singing, “rise up, we are here to stay.”
Holocaust survivor Arthur Spielman attended the event, as well as the families of the six survivors who are featured in the play.
COMMUNITY MEMBERS HONORED
Awards were also presented by Wagner College Provost Tarshia Stanley to five educators who inspired thousands of youth with their commitment to anti-bias and Holocaust work.
“We now honor five heroes from our own community who are committed to teaching the lessons of the Holocaust at a moment of rising racism, anti-Semitism and prejudice. This type of work on the frontlines is essential,” said Stanley.
Ruth Garber, principal of the Jewish Foundation School of Staten Island, as well as the school itself, received the “School Partnership Award for Holocaust Remembrance.” Traci Frey, former and retired deputy superintendent of District 31, received the award for “Leadership in Holocaust and Anti-bias Education.”
Bobby Digi was named the “Community Builder of the Year,” and Dr. Vanessa Smith Washington, assistant professor of education at Wagner College, received the “Upstander Award.”
Christine Chavez, deputy superintendent of District 31, presented the “Holocaust Educator of the Year” award to Jennifer Hermus Washburn for her 16 years of work at Susan Wagner High School.
“Above all, the message of today is be an upstander,” said Weintrob. “This is urgent work among rising anti-Semitism, racism and all forms of prejudice.”
The event is part of the Arts in Education program at the St. George Theatre, and is supported by several partners, including: the Staten Island Advance/SILive.com; the Staten Island Hate Crimes Task Force; the Richmond County District Attorney’s Office; the Alan and Joan Bernikow Jewish Community Center; Jewish Community Relations Council-NY, and the Council of Jewish Organizations of Staten Island.
https://www.silive.com/education/2023/04/holocaust-remembrance-event-encourages-staten-island-youth-to-stand-up-to-hate.html
