“This impacted me by showing how much hate could lead to such a terrible thing.”

“It made me want to stand up for what’s wrong.  It showed me change comes.”

“It made the Holocaust seem more real because the characters were real survivors and easy to relate to.”

“It made the Holocaust more real and helped me understand what people went through.”

“It was really beautifully written and acted.  The story was complex and thought provoking while also being totally accessible for the students to follow.”

“I always think of this current generation of kids as presumptuous and entitled.  But at the end of the play some of the kids had comments like ‘they came to realize how lucky they were’ and ‘how lucky their childhood has been.’  I’m sure there was a takeaway these kids learned from the play.”

“Our students are experimental and visual learners.  Having the Holocaust presented in another form furthers their understanding.”

“Thank you for doing this.  It was wonderful and a more personal perspective to the Holocaust.”

“When I saw the play I had already known a lot about the holocaust and the tragedies faced.  This play really put it into perspective and made me really connect more to the event in history.”

“Such an impressive experience that I hardly know where to begin. The text is beautifully complex yet simplistic in its messages.”

“Your performance inspired me to try to make the world a much happier and safer place.”

“Telling these stories is essential to keep us from repeating tragedies. This had great impact.”

“Everyone was so incredibly impressed by the performance and the kids truly benefitted from it and the important messages within.” 

“THANK YOU!!!! I cannot express my gratitude for all the hard work and effort in bringing this experience to our students. You do such important work. Thanks for making this process easy and the dedication you have towards education.”

“I have only heard very positive comments from students and community people. I think the production was outstanding. The actors did a tremendous job taking on the multiple roles of the survivors and the play was powerful, meaningful and very educational.  It humanizes and personalizes the tragedy of the Holocaust. I know it was impactful for the audience. The commitment and energy of the actors and you are inspirational.”

“It’s important that the play tells a variety of survivors’ stories, not just one. Telling multiple stories creates a richer tapestry, preserves a fuller history of the Holocaust and helps prevent the past from becoming a caricature.”

 “Thank you so much for your work in bringing this incredible story to life for our students and community.  It is really an amazingly powerful story and poignant in today's politically and socially charged world.  Your cast and crew were fantastic to work with and we hope that more area schools can experience this play.”

“When teaching the Holocaust, the smaller "dramas," when presented well, can help illustrate the larger "dramas" that took place. This play deftly demonstrates the stories of the individual characters, and how these stories join to form the larger story of the play.”

“Thank you so much for helping us coordinate this experience for our students. Please extend my gratitude to the author and actors as well. The content and their performances were incredibly powerful.”

“The Survivors performance yesterday was excellent!  As long as our budget allows, we definitely will return next year and I will recommend it to the other middle school in our district.  Student feedback was overwhelmingly positive.  Our kids were engaged, and the personal stories helped put a face and humanity to this unfathomable event.”  

“Thank you, it was great. The students really enjoyed the performance. I have had many of the survivors in my classroom over the years. When I watched the actors on staged it warmed my heart to think of those wonderful people. The actors did an amazing job of helping us connect to them. We are so glad that we were able to participate in this wonderful opportunity.” 

“What a powerful, relevant, and moving performance. Telling these stories is essential to keep us from repeating tragedies. This had great impact.”

“The comments from the kids were overwhelmingly positive and even those that wanted to grumble a bit relented that they saw a strong connection between what we were doing in English class with what they had already learned in social studies and that the performance really helped to round out their experience.”

“We partnered with the playwright, Wendy Kout, and a local theater group here in Philadelphia and they worked together in organizing performances of the play. Crafted from the actual words and experiences of ten Rochester, NY-based Holocaust survivors, this play does a wonderful job of putting a human face on the Holocaust. Survivors weaves the shocking and inspirational stories of Eva Abrams, Erich Arndt, Arthur Herz, Ellen Lewinsky, Rosemarie Molser, Henry Silberstern, Helen Przysuskier, Evie Schuerman,Kurt Weinbach and Carl Voldman. We received nothing but positive feedback about the play.”

“I have learned a lot and I think the lesson that will stay is that everyone is human, we all feel emotions and pain. We all eat and sleep, but most importantly we all dream. We wish to be someone's hero or the hero. We all want love and peace. We all want to be human. So, the lesson is one that has been said over a million times and I will say it again and again. Treat those the way you want to be treated. I know I can and will abide by this fundamental law of life. And all I want to be is someone who can make people happy, and the only way to do that is to treat those the way I want to be treated. I think that learning any hardship or problem is to help the next generation to find a better outcome. But why do we learn? Is it to better ourselves? Or to fix the last generation's mistakes? I believe in a way it's both. May it be Holocaust or The Invasion of Ukraine, each generation faces problems. The past may have the key to the future. So why learn from the past? Why learn from the Holocaust? Simple. Because history repeats itself. They may not be Hitler or a Hutu but they may be the general of the next world crisis. So, I believe that if we equip the newer generations with knowledge, they may need to combat such insolence before things can get that drastic.”

“It was inspiring.”

“You're telling the story of those who can't anymore, as well as helping other people see the hope in their situation and ask for the help they deserve.”

"I am glad that you came to our school and presented that beautiful play. I've learned a lot more than I would have if I was just reading about it in class.”

“Just absolutely mind-blowing.”

“May it be Holocaust or the invasion of Ukraine, each generation faces problems. The past may have the key to the future. Why learn from the past? Why learn from the Holocaust? Simple. Because history repeats itself.”

“Amazing. Thank you so much.”

“I did indeed have the privilege of attending the performance. It was such a powerful and moving message, so honestly portrayed by the actors through the testimony of the survivors. It was heartening to see the deep commitment of so many to honor the history. I hope you are successful in your efforts to bring the play to other schools. Please let me know how we can support your efforts.”

“This eye-opening Holocaust play for middle and secondary schools has been performed by an outstanding young cast, to 1000 students in the Victoria area.  We were lead on an emotional journey from hatred and horror to hope and triumph.”

“Capturing the attention of an audience of teenagers who are trying to be “too cool for school” is often not an easy task. However, there was a great deal of engagement with the students, and I know the play gave them many important things to reflect on.”

“SURVIVORS is a dynamic and effective way to bring Holocaust history to life in the classroom in a way that is relatable to students. The play not only sheds light on the processes of antisemitism and hate that led to the genocide of two thirds of the Jewish population in Europe, but it also touches on aspects of human dignity and hope, as well as the resilience of the Jewish community in the aftermath of devastating trauma.”

“It was such a powerful and moving message, so honestly portrayed by the actors through the testimony of the survivors. It was heartening to see the deep commitment of so many to honor the history. I appreciated the opportunity to hear the Q&A presented by the actors, as it also reflects the unique perspectives of our students.”

“An incredibly thoughtful and impactful piece of work that brings a terribly important historic event to light. Not only does this convey the importance and dangers associated with hate, prejudice, and racism – it also makes connections to the challenges and realities that people face today. This is a brilliant way of making history come to life, be interactive, and be poignant.”

“An incredibly thoughtful and impactful piece of work that brings a terribly important historic event to light. Not only does this convey the importance and dangers associated with hate, prejudice, and racism – it also makes connections to the challenges and realities that people face today. This is a brilliant way of making history come to life, be interactive, and be poignant.”

“This performance will change my actions moving forward because I will remember what I had learned from this play about how important it is to treat people with respect and kindness because you don't know what their stories are.”