There are a lot of different ways to try and illustrate how many 6 million is.Putting the whole thing into perspective is very difficult. Even I, as an adult, can't truly fathom how many people died in the Shoah, the Holocaust. How, then, do I teach young people to comprehend it?
One teacher tried with paperclips.
Others have used pop-top lids, math tools, pennies, written words, and others.
In Glencoe, we use yellow flags. A field full of them, about 5000 in all, to honor the memory of the victims of the Shoah. Yellow flags that draw the eye, set in the middle of town, in Kalk Park.
Tonight, our 7th and 8th graders planted the field of flags.
(my husband, planting flags with his students)And they heard the story of a woman, Kate Lipner, who saved many Jews in France during the war. Her story...so incredible. And yet, she said "I am not a hero. I just did what I had to do." Our young people are rarely quiet. You could have heard a pin drop in the room as she spoke.
If you are in the area, drive through Glencoe before Friday afternoon. The flags are near the train station. Their beauty is stunning. So were all the lives lost.
Zecher tzadik livracha...may the memory of the righteous be for a blessing.May we always remember. May we learn not to forget.
