04 801 9480
Call us Today
Ex-Moriah school pupil, Benya Klaupaukh, recalls his learnings from primary school, when he was a founding student in the Moriah button collection:
“My primary school was very small, with only 20 pupils. At my school we were learning about the Holocaust and one fact we came across was that 1.5 million Jewish children were murdered. Our principal wanted to make me and my fellow students understand the magnitude of this number, so we began our project, New Zealand Children’s Holocaust Memorial, collecting 1.5 million buttons, one for each child that perished in the Holocaust. So, 20 children, no older than 12 years old were supposed to collect and count 1.5 million buttons. This even to me, looking back sounds completely ridiculous, that’s 50,000 buttons per student. However crazy we thought this idea was, we never gave up, we never stopped making posters, we never stopped telling people about our ‘ambitious’ project, and we never stopped counting the buttons that were pouring in. “ The significance of the Moriah Button Project was recognised by featuring in a 2012 edition of the New Zealand School Journal, and being used as an illustration for National Standards in Reading (Yr 7). View PDF here When Moriah school closed in 2012, the button collection and plans for a memorial were entrusted to the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand (“HCNZ”). Memorial & Supporters The Patrons of the Children’s Holocaust Memorial project were British humanitarian, Sir Nicholas Winton (who saved the lives of 669 mostly Jewish children by organising their evacuation in trains from Czechoslovakia to the UK during 1939), and acclaimed New Zealand author of children’s literature, Dame Joy Cowley. Sir Nicholas passed away in 2015 before the project could be completed, but Dame Joy Cowley continues as Project Patron. |
Sir Nicholas Winton, with survivor, Vera Egermayer MNZM
Dame Joy Cowley
|
Matthijs Siljee
|
Memorial Design
The original memorial design, entitled ‘Bewilderment’, was a cube-like building housing a maze with walls filled with buttons and a central candle sculpture including a simple plaque quoting Wellington-based Holocaust child survivor, Vera Egermayer MNZM: “In a time like the Holocaust it is like living in a pitch-black room, but every time someone does something nice for you, it’s like them coming in the room and lighting a candle. You need to focus on the light”. This quote inspired the children because it a) gave them a visual image which helped them comprehend the sentiment and b) helped them find a message of hope within the range of negative emotions holocaust education evoked. Unfortunately, this design was not feasible and a site was never secured. When Moriah School closed in December 2012, the button collection and plans for a Memorial were entrusted to the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand (“HCNZ”). A New Design In 2017, a Committee was formed to ensure that the Memorial would be realised and the children’s efforts brought to fruition. This Committee included ex-Moriah school pupils, child survivors of the Holocaust and HCNZ's Founding Director, staff and Chair of the Board. A new design concept was facilitated by Assistant Head and Lecturer from the Massey School of Design, Matthijs Siljee. His design captures the original intention of representing each child and conveying the unimaginable scale of 1.5 million lives. Rather than a permanent installation in Wellington, the Memorial has been designed to travel throughout New Zealand to be accessible to as many people as possible. The Children’s Holocaust Memorial was officially launched at the National Library of New Zealand in Wellington on 15 November, 2018. |
Vera Egermayer, child survivor of Terezin concentration camp and champion of the Children’s Holocaust Memorial interview, Radio Prague, 23.5.2013
Vera Egermayer talks about the New Zealand Children's Holocaust Memorial.
|
TV 3 News, July 2 2010
Wellington Moriah School Button Project
|
DETAILS:
|
DIRECTIONS:
|
HOURS:
Monday: 10am - 1pm
Tuesday: 10am - 1pm Wednesday: 10am - 1pm Thursday: 10am - 1pm Friday: 10am - 1pm Saturday: Closed Sunday: 10am - 1pm |
|