Schools

Holocaust Exhibit at MRHS Teaches the Power of One

Monmouth Regional is one of two schools in the state to host the traveling exhibit through the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous.

added a feather to its social consciousness cap this fall when it was one of two schools in the state to host an exhibit on the Holocaust that is making its way across the country.

Organized by the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous (JFR), the display showcases individuals that stood up for Jews being persecuted during the Holocaust and is at the high school from Oct. 3 to Oct. 28. Whoever Saves a Single Life… Rescuers of Jews During the Holocaust is comprised of eight 8-foot panels that tell dramatic stories of heroism, like Irena Sendler who helped more than 2,500 children in the the Warsaw ghetto and was able to smuggle many of them to safety.

The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous provides financial support to more than 800 non-Jews who rescued Jews during the Holocaust and preserves their legacy through a national education program, according to its Web site.

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Social studies teacher Janice Kroposky provided the link between the high school and the foundation. In 2005, the Eatontown resident received a scholarship to study with scholars from JFR at Columbia University for a week. Kroposky, who received her master's degree in genocide studies, has continued her relationship with the foundation and in 2006, she traveled with the group to Poland and even met Sendler, who was living in a nursing home.

Kroposky said that the topic of the exhibit is timely and fits nicely with the course she's teaching to seniors this year, "The Holocaust, Genocide and Modern Humanity." The college-level course -- it's administered through Keane University where Kroposky is an adjunct professor -- focuses on those who have the courage to stand up for others.

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"That's the common theme," she explained, "the situations may be different but it's the common element."

The 30 students in the class have spent the first three weeks that the exhibit was set up in the school's media center focusing on and discussing the rescuers depicted on the panels. During the final week the exhibit is at Monmouth, other teachers will bring their classes to view the panels and hear presentations on the topic by Kroposky's students.

Earlier this month, she traveled with the class to New York to view the newly-opened National September 11 Memorial. And on Oct. 20, the class will meet the mother of a man who saved countless people on Sept. 11 before he lost his own life, known as "The Man in the Red Bandana."

The message Kroposky said she hopes the students take away from all of these stories is the difference that they can make in the world. "It's the power of one."


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