Holckner Bnei Mitzvah Program

Melbourne Holocaust Museum

Holckner Bnei Mitzvah Program

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What does the program offer?

With sensitivity to the age of participants of the program, we believe that by engaging in the stories of children during the Holocaust, they can make what is already a very significant time even more powerful.

During this unique 90-minute program, students are taken through a practical session led by Holocaust education experts to gain perspective on the experiences of Jewish youth throughout the Holocaust. The practical session is further enhanced with activities using replicas from the MHM Collection.

For survivors like Irma, maintaining a Jewish identity was imperative for survival. Moreover, for many, hiding in “plain sight” with identities that concealed their Jewish backgrounds proved necessary to survive. Interestingly, these survival methods often inadvertently intensified introspection on people’s Jewish identity and what being Jewish meant to them.

In this targeted program, students will:

• Gain a greater understanding of the diversity of Jewish culture through practical activities based on MHM’s collection

• Hold open discussion and reflection on what being Jewish means to them

• Be gifted with a memoir written by a Holocaust survivor

Collection items such as this Rosh Hashanah card – donated by Holocaust survivor Irma Hanner – help fuel discussions around what being Jewish means to students. Irma crafted this card in September 1943, while she was incarcerated in Theresienstadt.

It reads “To a Good Year.” Until liberation, Irma hid this new year card under her straw mattress.

With two successful sessions run in March, we look forward to hosting this important program again later in the year.