Young Leadership Associates Winter Gala Featuring the Yad Vashem Exhibit “No Child’s Play”
Reporting by Leah
Over 800 people attended the American Society for Yad Vashem Young Leadership Associates Annual Winter Gala on Thursday, February 12, 1009, at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York City. Featured at this year’s Gala was the “No Child’s Play” Exhibit from Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, which opens a window into the world of children during the Holocaust.
Unlike other Holocaust exhibitions, this exhibit does not focus on history, statistics or descriptions of physical violence. Instead, the toys, games, artwork, diaries, and poems displayed, highlight some of the personal stories of the children, providing a glimpse into their lives during the Holocaust.
The exhibition tells the story of survival – the struggle of these children to hold on to life. It describes their attempts to maintain their childhood and youth by creating for themselves a different reality from that which surrounded them. In many cases, it was the children who gave their parents the encouragement and hope to continue their desperate daily fight for survival. This exhibit is one of several available for loan free of charge by the American Society for Yad Vashem.
The Young Leadership Associates, a group of dedicated future leaders and highly motivated young professionals, are an integral part of the American Society for Yad Vashems efforts to commemorate the Holocaust through education. They ensure the continuity of this mission through educational programs, social events and activities. For more information on the Young Leadership Associates, please call (212) 220-4304.
The American Society for Yad Vashem is a not-for-profit volunteer organization whose goal is to support the ongoing work of Yad Vashem in the areas of commemoration, education, research, special projects, and capital improvements. Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Authority, located on Har Hazikaron in Jerusalem, was established in 1953 by the Israeli Parliament.
