Honestly I felt like I was inside the story experiencing what the person was going through.

Oh my, there was a moment of striking oral history, ancestral traditions, ancestral connection as I heard my first “Their Stories, Our Voices” through Teach the Shoah. Time folded in on itself and honoring the living experience of a person came to the forefront.

Dr. Fripp brings new light to the understanding of passing on stories, the most interesting thing about these stories is that they are told through the perspective of the Jewish survivors. This adds more of a personal level and makes the students more intrigued.

Working with Teach The Shoah has showed me the value of my family’s stories. They have helped me develop the narratives in meaningful ways and have given me the confidence to tell my stories that might never have been heard otherwise.

I didn’t know how serious the situation was for the people living there, as I mostly just learned about the facts or the big picture, not the stories of specific people who had to go through that event.

Deborah Fripp’s presentation to our adult Introduction to Judaism class was an excellent way to introduce the topics of antisemitism and the Shoah to a group of adult learners with relatively little knowledge about the Shoah. She made the topics relatable and understandable for learners from diverse backgrounds, many of whom were brand-new to learning about Judaism, and came from a variety of educational backgrounds with regards to prior knowledge about the Shoah. Deborah’s presentation reached both head and heart, connecting the lessons of the Shoah to the realities of the present-day, using stories and images to engage students. Partnering with her in the weeks leading up to and following the class was a joy, as she always asked thoughtful questions about who the learners were, what questions and background they already had, and she was eager to customize her presentation to meet the educational needs of the class.

I have had the privilege of working with Deborah Fripp from Teach The Shoah.  I participated in the program during my tenure as Director of Education at the Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre.

The program teaches participants the skills to engage with the personal stories of those who survived the Shoah and those who did not.  This engagement gives docents and teachers the opportunity to share the lives of those who went through the Holocaust in “snapshot” moments. The stories are intended to open a window onto a life, share a moment of a life and convey the visitor to that moment. It allows the visitor to the museum to meet the human beings behind the numbers.

My experience learning this storytelling technique has been invaluable, it has changed the way I approach the exhibition and I have seen changes in the way the visitors respond to the exhibition.

Jennifer Rudick Zunikoff, master storyteller, is extremely generous in sharing her craft. My experience with her was in many ways life changing as she helped me discover the ability to share stories with others in a respectful and honest way.

I would recommend this program to all museums that teach a difficult and dark history. So often individual stories get lost in the attempt to teach the vastness of what happened, but it happened to individuals and it is vital that we remember them respectfully.  This is what Teach the Shoah does.

This is beneficial because it helps you learn in a way that you cannot by reading articles.

Dr. Fripp was able to take someone’s story and retell it as if you were there in the moment with her.

I didn’t know about the personal individual hardships that certain Jewish teenagers went through… Teenagers! It blows my mind that they would have to go through these hardships.

Dr. Fripp told real stories of the Holocaust with some background information of the person in first person. The first-person storytelling helped me connect and relate to the person and understand a bit more of what they went through and what was going through their minds over the years of the Holocaust through stories.

The process of connecting the events into a story with an experienced coach was really valuable. I became the person in voice, and the story flowed in a way that surprised me. Those who have heard me tell the story have responded in amazing ways.

Dr. Fripp is a passionate person with a kind heart and whatever she talks about is still useful to know today and hence, people should pay attention while listening to her stories.

Dr. Fripp and Ms. Neff-Helms created something truly moving, a ritual that fully conveys the true terror, yet proves in the end to be both empowering and ennobling. A remarkable evening.

A poignant and ultimately hopeful ritual. Using the words and visual artwork of the victims and survivors creates a deep and humanizing connection, reminding us to preserve and share the echoes of this tragedy to inspire future generations to ensure this history never repeats.

[Moments of Witness, the interfaith commemoration,]  was beautiful. I felt seen, a sense of belonging and a common thread of humanity with the strength to look at the horrors we face as reminders to keep fighting the good fight

I like how they told the stories in a way that felt very personal. Before Dr. Fripp’s visit, the Holocaust felt like a terrible historical event that we were researching in class. I didn’t really understand it on a more personal level. After Dr. Fripp’s visit, I had a better understanding of how the people felt.

I would 100% recommend her because she was able to captivate us and tell us stories that are relevant to what we are learning.

Your words were powerful.

Dr. Fripp recounts stories from those who lived through the Holocaust from a first-person perspective. After the stories are told, the audience engages in a discussion about what the stories teach and a question about them posed by Dr. Fripp. This style of teaching the Holocaust helps students more closely connect with the people in the time period they are studying, and provides specific, concrete examples of how the Holocaust affected Europe that students can then use as a jumping-off point to analyze the Holocaust as a whole.