The following announcement was provided by the Jewish Community Day School of Greater Boston:
The Jewish Community Day School of Greater Boston (JCDS) proudly invites the public to experience a unique and moving museum exhibit: Unpacking History – A Mobile Holocaust Memorial. Developed by the JCDS Class of 2025, this innovative traveling exhibit was created by teens, for teens to educate and inspire a new generation about the realities of the Holocaust.
Sponsored by the renowned educational organization Facing History and Ourselves, Unpacking History approaches Holocaust education in a thoughtful, age-appropriate way. The exhibit aims to combat rising antisemitism and Holocaust denial by empowering young people to learn, reflect, and take a stand against hate.
The exhibit features powerful storytelling, personal artifacts, and interactive elements, encouraging visitors to connect deeply with the past while considering their role in shaping a more just future.
“This isn’t just a school project,” said one student curator. “It’s our response to a world where too many people are forgetting — or even denying — what really happened. We wanted to create something that speaks directly to our generation.”
Unpacking History is currently open for private viewings for members of the press and the wider community. Appointments are required and can be made by contacting the project team at unpackinghistory@jcdsboston.org. As school is still in session, visitors without appointments may be turned away.
On Tuesday evening, May 13, we also celebrated the culmination of a year-long collaboration between 8th Grade students from JCDS and the German International School of Boston. Together, students have explored what it means to stand on opposite sides of a shared history—and the responsibility we all bear to remember the Holocaust.
A special culminating event, held for students and their families, showcased the students’ collaborative memorial projects. These thoughtful creations reflected deep learning, empathy, and a powerful commitment to remembrance and justice.
Having the Consul Generals from both Germany and Israel join students, parents, and friends from the two communities added a level of importance and urgency to this shared project. Also, survivor Elizabeth Depazo enthusiastically participated, reinforcing a message of gratitude and hope in our future leaders of tomorrow.
Join us in honoring the past — and in building a more informed, compassionate future.
Facing History and Ourselves is an excellent program and I am glad they are still around. The have great programming on the Holocaust and Armenian Genocide. I still remember many lessons. I don’t know if their curriculum has expanded but I always thought they could do a great program on African American enslavement since our form of slavery and the racist system that persists today inspired Hitler, along with the Armenian Genocide. He saw these two destructive, traumatic realities, and realized that he could possibly get away with the murder of 6 million Jewish people and 1 million others (LBGTQ, Roma, dissidents, POWs, political opponents, disabled, etc.) If there was a national education curriculum, I would include their programing. Unfortunately today too many young men are idolizing Hitler and Ayn Rand, and not Mohammed Ali or Julia Child. It is not cool. We have to do better for everyone.
Education is the best way to remedy hatred, the power of propaganda and antisemitism. I am so happy to see this take place given the extraordinary rise in number of incidents of overt and more passive new forms of antisemitism.