Tenney student earns trip to Holocaust Memorial

Christopher Roberson |, The Eagle-Tribune, North Andover, Mass.
·2 min read

May 13—METHUEN — Diyaa Damir, an eighth-grade student at the Tenney Grammar School, is one of six students in the Greater Boston area who will be traveling to Washington, D.C., to visit the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Damir and the five other students, all in grades 6-12, were the winners of the 16th annual Israel Arbeiter Holocaust Essay Contest. The trip will be funded by the New England Friends of March of The Living.

"Both my family and I were really happy about being selected as one of the six winners," said Damir. "I enjoyed learning about the Holocaust, especially about the artist Samuel Bak, who survived the Holocaust."

The winners were announced on April 28, which is recognized as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The day is held in memory of the six million Jewish people who perished in Nazi concentration camps during the horrific four-year Holocaust.

Damir's teacher, Margaret McCarty, said she was "thrilled" that one of her students had been selected as a contest winner.

"The contest is an important one, especially as we have fewer and fewer Holocaust survivors with us to tell their stories," she said. "Giving our students the opportunity to learn and write about the Holocaust is essential for all of us so that we all remember."

The other winners of the middle school contest are Avaneesh Siruvuri of Milton and Gwen Winter of Danvers. High school winners are Janelis Negron of Boston as well as Souleymane Diallo and John Perry, both of Stoughton.

The contest, which began in 2006, is sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) in honor of Holocaust survivor Israel Arbeiter, who spent 50 years teaching young people about turmoil created by anti-Semitism and prejudice. Arbeiter passed away in 2021 at the age of 96.

"I commend your insight, compassion and commitment to amplifying the critical teachings of the Holocaust," Arbeiter's son Jack said to the contest winners. "My hope is that you will take the lessons you learned and share them with others so a tragedy like the Holocaust will never happen again. I hope you will continue using your voice to shine a light on the injustices around us and sharing your knowledge and experience to create a more compassionate world."

In addition, Rick Mann, chairman of the JCRC Yom HaShoah Commemoration, shared his thoughts during the April 28 Yom HaShoah rally in Boston.

"Blinded by a resurgent anti-Semitism, some trod a path of Holocaust denial," he said. "Each of us must choose the path of truth and commit ourselves to 'Never Forget' and 'Never Again.'"

Looking ahead, Irv Kempner, president and CEO of the New England Friends of March of the Living, said his organization is already raising money to fund scholarships for high school students wishing to participate in the 2023 March of the Living trip to Poland and Israel. Approximately 10,000 students from 50 countries make the trip every year.