Young Women of Hasmonean High School for Girls Save Memory of Polish Shtetl
Written by Ariella Garren

Six months ago, dozens of young women at Hasmonean High School for Girls organised themselves to translate the memorial book of the town of Parysow, Poland from Yiddish into English.

Over a thousand such books have been written, memorializing the life of Europe’s Jewry prior to the Holocaust, and documenting their tragic fate, but almost all were written in local Yiddish dialects. Due to the ever-changing nature of Yiddish as a language, a few decades later even native Yiddish speakers have a hard time understanding these books.

Year 12 student Ariella Garren found one of these books while researching her translation of the memoirs of a Holocaust survivor, Abraham Gutrejman, and her schoolmates volunteered to help her translate the memorial book of Mr Gutrejman’s hometown.

Using their knowledge of Hebrew and of Judaism, online tools, and with the help of elderly Yiddish speakers in our community, these young women have immortalized the memory of the town, now available at cost on Amazon as “The Parysow Yizkor Book: Life and Death of a Shtetl,” volume one of two. They have also compiled a glossary of difficult-to-translate Yiddishisms to help future generations of translators.

Students in the United States have volunteered to join the movement for the next translation in the series.

Hasmonean High School would like to express its pride in these young women who have, at such a young age, already contributed something of enduring value to the world.

The young women, themselves, hope that by raising awareness of the brutal potential of the human race, their efforts may help avoid future genocides.

The indefatigable Mrs Abecasis created a wonderful programme for Multi-Faith Day.

Mr Marcus and Mrs Katz delivered a slick Multi-Faith Day where the students were able to hear from our own magnificent speakers: Mrs Brice, Mr Heddle, Mr Sidhu, Mr Khan, and Mrs Shah about their faiths.

All our teachers spoke eloquently about Christianity, Sikhism, Islam and Hinduism, enabling our students to understand more about the wide world of faith that surrounds us. They all found the similarities and differences fascinating, as well as learning that there is far more that unites us than divides us.

The hall was transformed with Chanukah decorations, disco lights and fairy lights heralding the Festival of Light.

On Monday the Sixth Form had a panel session on the meaning and messages behind internal beauty and inner confidence. This featured Miss Gelley and Mrs Naylor, as well as guest speakers, Atara Feld and Danielle Benardout. Mrs Hamer summed up the messages of the session and connected internal beauty to Chanukah. Each Sixth Former was given a complementary gift to inspire the students.

Tuesday, lesson 3, saw Year 10 immerse themselves in ‘’colour war.’’ They were split into two teams: the Maccabim and the Greeks. The tasks included: Chanukah dress-up, a dance off, art competition, songs, and more. They were judged by their esteemed staff, including Miss Gelley, Mrs Jacobson and Mrs MacNeill.

And of course…doughnuts were sold at lunch!

For lesson 6, Year 11 students were paired with Year 7 girls for an inspiring learning programme led by our very own Rabbi Bennett. The students were then split up into groups for a unique H.I.P.E adapted dreidel game followed by a Chanukah trivia quiz. At the end of the day, the activity was repeated with Years 8 and 9.

Wednesday was Chanukah carnival day: Years 10-13 had the hall for lesson 6 and Years 7-9 followed them. The carnival included an incredible Chanukah themed programme with activities ranging from glitter face paint, doughnut decorating, ‘Pan N Ice Cream’, electric car racing, and a fire show amongst others.

Thank you to all the HIPE team for creating such an imaginative and inspirational three days of events, and to all the staff for ensuring that the girls were in the right place at the right time!