Holocaust Education Project: Labels Do Not Define Us

After a sad day thinking about the Holocaust, and doing a little research as well, I had the idea that one could make a project in which yellow Jewish stars become butterflies, as the butterfly is a symbol that has and is being used to represent the Holocaust and in one case specifially children who perished in the Holocaust. So I cut up a bunch of yellow Jewish stars, only the butterfly idea didn't really become anything, so I decided to take my own advice and do a collage with the stars. As I was making this little collage, an abstract conceptual piece of sorts, I started to reailze that how I chose to make the piece could indeed represent so many aspecits of the Holocaust, and that abstract art can be a great medium for discussing heavy concepts, especially with somewhat older children.

So thus was born my Holocaust Education Project: Labels Do Not Define Us. Because education about the Holocaust should state the facts, but at the end of the day shouldn't just be a historic lesson, but rather a lesson in how to combat the evils of human natur, and to dispell hatred from this earth of ours. Keep reading for some insight regarding this project, and how to do it with a group of kids, or even just yourself as I did in my kitchen this afternoon.

You'll Need:

• yellow and white paper, or yellow wrapping paper that is yellow on one side and white on the other (or yellow cardboard could be great too…….)
• glue
• a square of cardboard
• scissors

How To:

Give each student a square of cardboard, say 6"x6" or just a bit bigger, and have them cut out a bunch of yellow and white stars all the same size. Tell them to use the stars, the cardboard and the glue to make an abstract collage. Do of course mention that this yellow star represents the yellow star that Jews were forced to wear on their garments in Nazi Germany, but not much more than that. Give each student about 20 minutes or even less to make something, and see what happens.

Now for the interesting part: have a discussion about how the students felt making their art piece, and whether any significant thoughts came to mind. Does the placement of their stars represent something, or can they interpret their work after the fact?

As I was making my piece, I started to think about the idea of labels, namely being labeled as a Jew, and what that meant for those in the Holocaust, 6 million were murdered as they were labeled as Jewish, and yet, this attempt to wipe Jews from the face of the earth didn't work. Why? Because the Jews refused to let that evil label keep them from doing the things they were meant to do . Yes, the pain of the Holocaust is deep and should never be forgotten, and yet the Jewish people survived and are thriving, and continue to be an example of a people who just won't give up, no matter what. And that indeed is a powerful lesson, right?

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