The Righteous Conversations Project

Students hear learn from Holocaust Survivors in The Righteous Conversations Project

At its core, The Righteous Conversations Project is about bringing Holocaust survivors and teens together. The survivors share their stories of resiliency, courage and resistance and, in turn, the teens create short films and Public Service Announcements. Within the testimony by those who have survived genocide, the students grapple with understanding that so much of what the survivors have to say is applicable to the travesties in the world today. There is no doubt that The Holocaust has to be among the darkest days in human history.

Kids Learn from Older Generations in The Righteous Conversations Project

As one student filmmaker said, "I was inspired by the survivors' ability to forgive and their gratitude for the lives they were able to live after the war. I hope that by my helping to keep that history alive, more people are motivated to end injustice. By calling attention to our similarities, we have a better chance of living in harmony."

Samara Hutman and Cheri Gaulke have been at the helm of The Righteous Conversations Project since its inception in 2011. As the last of the survivors dwindle down to a smattering, the need for preserving their testimony and legacies for the next generation has become more imperative than ever.

"I think young people crave truth, and they crave meaning," Hutman said.

Family history, bullying, human trafficking, censorship, and the effects of modern technology are just a few of the topics the students and survivors address. The students tell powerful stories in their films and PSAs, which have won awards at film festivals as far away as Jakarta, Indonesia - but, equally important, they are gifted to non-profit organizations which champion social justice for use as part of their media campaigns.

Students Learn from Stories of Holocaust Survivors in Peace by Piece: The Story of Harry Davids, a film by The Righteous Conversations Project

Cheri Gaulke, the head of Harvard-Westlake's Upper School Visual Arts Department, is the project's artistic director. "The whole idea just clicked for me," she said. "I'm really passionate about teens learning how to use media to affect the world, because that's the world we live in. And teens need to be not just consumers of media, but makers of media. I liked the idea of giving them the tools of advertising to sell an idea, rather than a product."

"People die," Hutman said. "But our legacies do not; that lives on. And the work we're doing now is an attempt to create meaning out of these encounters while we still have the opportunity."

For a gallery of Righteous Conversations Project Public Service Announcements and short films, visit www.righteousconversations.org