I have had the privilege of working with Deborah Fripp from Teach The Shoah.  I participated in the program during my tenure as Director of Education at the Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre.

The program teaches participants the skills to engage with the personal stories of those who survived the Shoah and those who did not.  This engagement gives docents and teachers the opportunity to share the lives of those who went through the Holocaust in “snapshot” moments. The stories are intended to open a window onto a life, share a moment of a life and convey the visitor to that moment. It allows the visitor to the museum to meet the human beings behind the numbers.

My experience learning this storytelling technique has been invaluable, it has changed the way I approach the exhibition and I have seen changes in the way the visitors respond to the exhibition.

Jennifer Rudick Zunikoff, master storyteller, is extremely generous in sharing her craft. My experience with her was in many ways life changing as she helped me discover the ability to share stories with others in a respectful and honest way.

I would recommend this program to all museums that teach a difficult and dark history. So often individual stories get lost in the attempt to teach the vastness of what happened, but it happened to individuals and it is vital that we remember them respectfully.  This is what Teach the Shoah does.

Wow – what an amazing program- Jennifer Rudick Zunikoff and Deborah Fripp crafted an amazing journey through a granddaughter’s Holocaust recounting of family love, resilience, determination, and a gift of appreciation between generations. And the experience didn’t stop there. I’m in awe of the steps taken for appreciation, learning, sharing and imagining. I’m intrigued for more.

I didn’t know how serious the situation was for the people living there, as I mostly just learned about the facts or the big picture, not the stories of specific people who had to go through that event.

A poignant and ultimately hopeful ritual. Using the words and visual artwork of the victims and survivors creates a deep and humanizing connection, reminding us to preserve and share the echoes of this tragedy to inspire future generations to ensure this history never repeats.

The stories that she told gave me lots of insight on what it might have been like to experience the Holocaust first person, and the delivery was done in such a way that I could feel the emotions, unlike when I read articles.

I have been reflecting on the work that I have been doing with Jennifer over the last now several years – telling what has become my mother’s and my Holocaust Survival story including and her journey on the ill-fated MS St. Louis. As you know, my sister and grew up as first-generation Americans. We were born into a small German Jewish Congregation in Philadelphia; my father was one of the founders. In our Jewish world, many had numbers burned into their arms, the parents of our peers had experiences that were far worse than my mother and father. We were surrounded by people of extraordinary circumstance and were told the “story” very early in our lives. As G2’s, we lived in the shadow of the Holocaust, simply having to imagine the terror while unable to fix mom’s circumstance. My father rarely spoke of his experience.

The story that I tell has always been difficult for me. Jennifer Zunikoff is the person that unlocked the door and gave me a way to tell the story thus honoring my mother and educating others with a gentle yet defined process. The first time I told it with Jennifer’s expert instruction and support, I cried all the way through. It takes great skill to help work around the emotion created by my history. Jennifer works alongside, gently bringing out the story, helping me find my way through the difficulties created by my memories. Her process is organized and non-threatening. In fact, Jennifer makes space for anyone, everyone to be that person with a story to tell and she teaches those processes that make one’s story come alive. Her generosity of mind, spirit, and time is boundless….and quite remarkable. Jennifer is a warrior and to me, quite the hero.

I simply could not, in this testimony, give you a feeling for the depth of gratitude I have for your bringing Jennifer into my life and the lives of so many to enable us to be Storytellers Of the Holocaust. Thank you.

Oh my, there was a moment of striking oral history, ancestral traditions, ancestral connection as I heard my first “Their Stories, Our Voices” through Teach the Shoah. Time folded in on itself and honoring the living experience of a person came to the forefront.

[Moments of Witness, the interfaith commemoration,]  was beautiful. I felt seen, a sense of belonging and a common thread of humanity with the strength to look at the horrors we face as reminders to keep fighting the good fight

How to keep the memory of the Holocaust alive without living witnesses poses a critical dilemma for those who care deeply about the history of the Jewish people. Light from the Darkness offers a powerful tool to help future generations bear witness, to understand the history of the Shoah, and to apply its universal themes to modern times.

Honestly I felt like I was inside the story experiencing what the person was going through.

I like how they told the stories in a way that felt very personal. Before Dr. Fripp’s visit, the Holocaust felt like a terrible historical event that we were researching in class. I didn’t really understand it on a more personal level. After Dr. Fripp’s visit, I had a better understanding of how the people felt.

I didn’t know about the personal individual hardships that certain Jewish teenagers went through… Teenagers! It blows my mind that they would have to go through these hardships.

I learned just how horrible the experience actually was. I mean we all read books and accounts of survivors from the Holocaust, but we usually never actually see someone act in that situation. I think it was a great change to see Esther and Dr. Fripp act out some of the people because it felt like we were getting a key into a vault to see what it actually felt like first-hand for people who were going through the situation. Esther and Dr. Fripp actually performing for the class gave it that final touch that you can’t get through a screen.

I first learned of Jennifer Zunikoff’s work with college students researching and telling Holocaust stories over a decade ago at a NewCAJE Jewish Educators’ conference, and I was in awe of the devotion and respect with which the presenters shared their stories. I learned of Teach the Shoah as it was being developed by Deborah Fripp and Jennifer a few years ago, also at a NewCAJE conference. What an essential program this has become! Their invaluable programs should be required for every Middle School and High School program everywhere, in Jewish and secular settings. It is an invaluable visceral experience to hear a Holocaust story told in first person as a result of immersive research and heart connection.

We cannot ever forget. Through guided Storytelling training, the chance to share stories via ZOOM programs, the research, the rituals of the commemoration, the classroom lectures and so much more, Teach the Shoah is ensuring that the memories of those who perished in the Holocaust and those who survived are remembered, as their precious stories are preserved and perpetuated. Teach the Shoah is a lifesaving, life-giving treasure for the ages.