Kitah Zayin

Dear Kitah Zayin families,

We had a very interesting class trip to White Plains tonight. Our visit to the HHRECNY/ Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center of NY served as a brief review of our Holocaust studies this year. Mr. Goldberg reviewed Hitler's rise to power and the world's response to the atrocities of the Nazi regime. He then introduced us to political cartoons and how we can interpret them. He showed us how to look for symbolism, the cartoonist's point of view in his/her messages, captions and labels, use of analogies, irony and extreme exaggeration. In groups, we examined a political cartoon commenting on the S.S. St. Louis and the Statue of Liberty as well as a cartoon reflecting the desperate hope that the Evian Conference would find a haven for German Jewish refugees. (See attached photos.)

The HHRECNY will be helping us next week as well. We will have a Survivor from their speaker's bureau visit with the class to speak about her experience. Please have students arrive at 4:30 sharp for this important kitah zayin program.

"Betty Knoop was born in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. She was 8 years old when the Germans invaded her country. Her whole family was arrested and sent to camp Westerbork and on to Bergen Belsen concentration camp. She was liberated by the Russians and returned to Amsterdam. Her mother survived the camp but died 3 days after she was liberated. Betty was a contemporary of Anne Frank, lived in the same neighborhood and was deported to the same concentration camp. Betty Knoop's presentation covers life in Amsterdam, Westerbork, Bergen Belsen, concentration camp, life after liberation."- From the HHRECNY site

l'shalom,

Rabbi Wendy Pein and Morah Betsy Deckert