CHILDREN'S HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL
80 Webb St, Te Aro, Wellington 6011, New Zealand
www.nzchmemorial.com/ +64 4-801 9480
1.5 million children died in the Holocaust. This enormous number is too great for children to grasp—until you make it real. So the children of Moriah School decided to see it for themselves. Over a period of two and a half years the children collected 1.5 million buttons.
“We still find it hard to understand: How can people murder innocent children? By remembering we can help stop this horrible thing from happening in our generation”
(Jonah, Yr 7)
We are now raising money to build a memorial to house the buttons, to act as a vehicle for education, and to honour the lost children: The New Zealand Children's Holocaust Memorial, to be built in Wellington, New Zealand.
We feel a special bond to the buttons we have collected...as if we know the children and we are friends. We are so lucky to live in a time like today and in a safe place like New Zealand. We feel total respect for the children of the Holocaust”. (Kessem, Yr 7)
Our project has already gained support from across New Zealand and across the globe. Sir Nicholas Winton, MBE, a British humanitarian who organized the rescue of 669 children from Czechoslovakia is a Patron to the project, as is children's author Joy Cowley, OBE.
Other contributors incude French historian of the Holocaust, Serge Klarsfeld, our current Prime Minister, John Key, our local mayor and our Minister of Culture and Heritage.
"As wrong as the Holocaust was, it can teach us all a very important lesson – we can use it to prevent something as tragic as this from ever happening again. That means if you see someone being teased or mocked about their race or religion you need to stick up for them. A little bit of teasing on the streets could lead to everybody else ganging up on that race or religion. We want everyone to think about this, and we think our button project will soon become a valuable memorial that all children can learn from. Hopefully this means they didn’t die in vain”
(Brittany, Yr 8)
Moriah School Button Memorial.mp4
JustineHitch (4.52)