After reading Night, Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel’s searing memoir about the Holocaust, eighth graders at Ezra Academy in Woodbridge were asked by their teacher to construct a work of art inspired by Wiesel’s experiences as a young man struggling to survive in Auschwitz and Buchenwald. Although their work took many different forms – paintings, sculptures, drawings, mixed-media models – they all reflected the talent and creativity of the middle schoolers, who seemed to internalize the pain and suffering of the victims of the Holocaust. The students’ work was exhibited in the school library. “Everyone who saw their work was deeply touched by it,” noted middle school Judaics teacher Rabbi Amanda Brodie.

CAP: An Ezra Academy 8th grader discusses his art project, inspired by Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel’s experiences, to 6th and 7th graders touring the exhibit in the school’s library.