The Social High School’s 9th-graders’ project about VE Day will culminate in interviews with Israeli Soviet Veterans of WWII.
Over the last month, ninth graders at Dror Israel’s Social High School in Tel Aviv have been learning about Victory Day over Nazi Germany. Victory Day, or VE day, is celebrated on May 9 and marks the victory of the Allied Forces and the end of World War II. Israel has a large population of immigrants from the former Soviet Union, among them many veterans of the Soviet Army who are incredibly proud of the role they played in defeating the Nazis.
Dror Israel’s high school network is made up of 8 schools located throughout Israel’s social and geographic periphery. Our schools serve over 1,100 students yearly in partnership with local municipalities. Students come from diverse, mostly troubled backgrounds, having been rejected from other educational frameworks and for whom Dror represents their “last chance.” While the primary target population for Dror Israel schools is youth at risk, other students choose to opt in, attracted by our innovative, high quality education and intense focus by teachers on a child’s holistic development, not only on test results.
The pedagogy of the Dror Israel’s high school network focuses on project-based learning – an approach which combines different subjects to create a holistic and innovative learning experience for the students. As part of their current project, the students learned about the reasons for the outbreak of World War II and the role of Jewish fighters in the Red Army.
Next week, the classes will interview veterans of World War II who fought heroically against Nazi Germany and then upload the interviews to the Terraza website, which archives memories and stories of Israeli citizens.
In order to prepare for the interviews, the students met with Avraham Grinzaid - a veteran and hero of World War II himself.
Avraham spoke about his role and his heroism in the war, about friendships between soldiers and the importance of the State of Israel to the Jewish people. In addition, he told about the organization he leads - The Union of Veterans of the Second World War - which preserves and honors the stories of the fighters and Jewish heroism so that their stories will not be forgotten by the next generation.
On May 9, the students will accompany Avraham and his comrades in battle at the national VE Day parade in Jerusalem.
