​ BADGE OF SHAME – SOLIDARITY STARS

 

All Jews, from the age of six-years old – the very young and the very old – had to wear the Badge of Shame!  They could not go out of their home without the 6-pointed yellow Star of David pinned to their clothing to mark them as inferior and to be despised.  They were spat upon, ridiculed and persecuted in so many ways - an object of hatred...

 

At each of the events for the week of Holocaust Education and Awareness in Branson, Solidarity Stars will be available at the door.  Each one attending these events will be asked to pin on one of these yellow stars in Solidarity with the past. There is little that will have more impact than wearing a Solidarity Star in a group of others also wearing the Badge of Shame...

 

I will be speaking specifically to students and other groups in a hands-on project with a gentle teaching on what the yellow Star of David means and why we are joining with many others in the Branson area to produce these stars in solidarity with the past.  It is to be an interactive/participative exercise and a form of educational hands-on.  At each of the events for the week of Holocaust activities, we will sit as a group in a "role-playing" exercise to get the impact of what it might have been like to be singled out for persecution and ridicule and separation in preparation for transporting to camps to be liquidated.  I will not be going into that in any kind of graphic way depending on the age of participants.  

 

In order to have enough stars for everyone to be able to have one, I am organizing "Cut-out Gatherings" at various venues around Branson.  Small groups sitting together cutting out these stars that hold so much meaning - and talking about what they must have gone through and how losing their individual identities added to the traumatic sense of impending doom in a world out of their control...

 

If you want to be part of a team, just let me know.  I have hundreds of stars and lots of scissors - and I could use your help in making this a teaching moment!

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Create your own Gatherings:

​For those hosting a gathering click on the PDFs below to download and print the "Badge of Shame," and the "Solidarity Stars," sheets.

 

There are three sections per page on the Badge of Shame educational piece that can be cut along the dotted lines and made available for those who are attending. This sheet can be printed on white paper. 

 

The Solidarity Stars must be produced on Hammermill, 20#, 8.5 x 11 Goldenrod paper which comes in reams of 500 sheets.  Any number of sheets will be provided to your gathering by request.  You will be cutting them out on the inside of the dotted lines, and when they are completed, they can be slipped into an envelope and returned to an AECO representative or mail to the address under contact.  We know this is a project where we ALL can have a part in providing a meaningful memory for the Annual Holocaust Education and Awareness Week events. ​