Students Reflect on Stones of Remembrance

The Stones of Remembrance Project is an annual activity, sponsored by The Breman, the Lillian and Al Weinberg Center for Holocaust Education, Eternal-Life Hemshech, and the Jewish Foundation of Greater Atlanta that memorializes the 1.5 million Jewish children who were killed during the Holocaust.

Students from public and private elementary, middle, and high schools in metro Atlanta are invited to participate. They are given an actual murdered child’s first and last name, the date and place of birth, and the date and place of death. They write this information on a specially-prepared stone and decorate it using permanent markers. The stone then becomes a unique memorial to that murdered child’s life. Once the stone is completed, students are encouraged to write a short reflection to help them process their participation in the project. Their reflection can be open-ended or more guided using questions they are provided. The stones are then either displayed as a Holocaust memorial on their school grounds, at The Breman, or each student can take their stone home and place it in a special location of their choosing.

This year, a total of 20 schools/entities and more than 1,600 students participated in the project: Ahavath Achim Youth Education Program, Annsley Hillman Klehr and Lisa Vitello; Atlanta Jewish Academy, Ron Einhorn; Camp Coleman, Beth Glick; Congregation B’nai Torah, Jordan Levine; Congregation Shearith Israel, Jane Arnold; The Davis Academy, Rabbi Michael Lapidus; The Daffodil Dash; The Epstein School, Dr. Idit Bendavid; The Galloway School, Leah Pence; Holy Innocents Episcopal School, Maureen Danzig; The Howard School, Ms. Leviton; The Lovett School, Kelly Lecceardone; Marist School, Jenni Justus; Mary Lin Elementary School, Jordan Rager; Morningside Elementary School, Jennifer Lieb; Pace Academy, Kirstin Baillie; Pope High School, Erica Cason; Temple Emanu-El, Beth Blick; Temple Sinai, Emily Yehezkel; The Westminster Schools, Jan Allen.

The following are some examples of responses from the students:

Shail Patel, Westminster grade 6: When I painted a Stone of Remembrance, it opened my eyes a little more and helped me understand what kids my age and even younger had to go through. This activity felt more real compared to the Diary. It was like the stone honored them and it had a life.

Ethan W, Temple Sinai grade 6: I felt sad because the child that died was four, which is the age of my brother.

Frances Jackson, Lovett grade 6: I felt horrible and guilt-filled that kids were dying before they even knew what was happening. My person died at age 9, which, in my opinion, is one of the worst ages to die, because you are old enough to comprehend what is happening, but you barely got to live your life.

Molly M, Galloway grade 8: I felt very melancholy. The little girl I painted that stone for was only 4 years old. As a Jewish girl, that made me put myself in her shoes. This project made me grateful that my family moved to the U.S. before WWI.

Glenn Kuts, Marist grade 9: I felt peace within me as I knew I was painting a stone for someone who lost their life unjustly at a very young age. This person did not get to experience the joys of life so it all just started replaying in my mind as I tried to put myself in that person’s shoes.

Zach Schulman, Atlanta Jewish Academy grade 6: I’m sad that the person died, but I’m happy because my class and I are remembering them.

Ford Clary, Lovett grade 6: This project is important because many of these kids were so young that they could not even process what these cruel people were doing to them. Everyone should be noticed and remembered in this world, for we are all here for a reason.

Louisa Hale, Lovett grade 6: Instead of just studying the Holocaust and the important things that are most famous, we got to learn about the least known things.

Chloe Isakow, AJA grade 8: It is important to remember those who have no descendants to be remembered by. It is important to remember those who some (such as antisemites) wish to erase and forget. We have to remember the children who were killed in the Holocaust, so they can be commemorated and so we can learn from the horrors that occurred.