Our video scroll of family names ran for ten minutes, it was updated and now includes over 600 names of Ramaz family members who perished in the Holocaust. Students stood in the darkened auditorium, silently watching the screen and noting the names of their friend’s relatives, as tens of memorial candles were being lit by the grandchildren of survivors.

Junior Rachel Shnay spoke about her namesake as the picture of her six year old Great Aunt רחל was shown. Passionately, Rachel asked the unanswerable, “I wonder, would Aunt רחל have grown to love music and art? Would she have studied medicine to heal the sick or would she have been a teacher?

While millions suffered a similar fate, many others were able to defend themselves in very different ways. Our Shoah program addressed the different forms of resistance.

Sophomore Danielle Deluty told of an uncle whose sense of humor saved him. Danielle captured the essence of the program and our belief as she concluded by saying, “I will not accept the comparison made between the actions of my people to that of a sheep ready for slaughter. I remember the acts of heroism; each act of resistance was an exaltation of the human spirit and a valiant struggle”.

Partisan fighter Sam Bloch, who fought with the renowned Bielski brothers, shared his personal experiences. Clips, in both Hebrew and English from the film “Resistance: Untold Stories of Jewish Partisans” were shown to offer a more in-depth appreciation of the resistance movement throughout the war.

Freshman Philip Trencher presented each of our guests with a simple gift: a beautifully framed pasuk,  ובחרת בחיים למען תחיה אתה וזרעך which expressed our recognition of their courage.   

Please visit Yom Ha'Shoah 2007 and click on “Content Selections” where you can listen to the students who spoke so passionately, to Sam Bloch, partisan fighter and to view the film clips from “Resistance: Untold Stories of Jewish Partisans.”