Education paper by Brinda, Wayne
Memories: A short play about the Hungarian Holocaust that preserves the past and connects to the future.
Type of Abstract (select):Abstract (max. 250 words):
“Youth want to relate their learning to their everyday lives, rather than abstract thinking” (Choy and Delahaye 2005). A collection of five works of nonfiction literature by Hungarian Holocaust survivors about their experiences as teens transforms abstract history into relevant situations.
Elder, L. Tom Perry wrote: “The lessons of the past … prepare us to face the challenges of the future (2009). Combining literature and theatre, Memories is an original short play about the Hungarian Holocaust. It preserves truths from the past and connects to the present, so we find a positive future in these days of turmoil and uncertainty.
The play begins with the words of Livia Bitton Jackson and Isabella Leitner that sound familiar: “Did you go to the movies? Did you have a date? What did he say? That he loves you? And “In my daydreams I am a celebrated poet . . . beautiful, elegant and very talented.” History comes to life as audiences feel with the authors who share important historical memories.
As the 15 minute script of Memories is presented and made available, educators discover a tool to enhance history, the Holocaust, and literature. The play is a collection of excerpts from the diary of teenager Eva Heyman of Nagyvarad who did not survive the Holocaust, but perished in Auschwitz at age 13 along with books by Holocaust survivors Aranka Siegal raised in Beregszasz, Isabella Leitner born in Kisvarda, Judith Magyar Isaacson from Kaposvar, and Livia Bitton Jackson from Czechoslovakia. These works of literature and writers have made and are making a significant impact on young people who encounter this history. Through their memories, we hear them say – “One is one’s memories. One cannot exist without memories. Memories connect the past, present and future. They connect oneself with the world. Memories.”
Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Wayne Brinda, Ed.D. Wayne is Director of Teacher Education at The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford. He is also the Co-Founder/Artistic Director of Prime Stage Theatre in Pittsburgh. A reviewer for Middle School Journal, Wayne is published in Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, Journal of Aesthetic Education, Literacy Learning: The Middle Years, Australian Literacy Educators’ Association, National Middle School Journal, The ALAN Review, and Youth Theatre Journal. He delivers presentations for the American Hungarian Educators Association, National Council of Teachers of English, the American Alliance for Theatre and Education, Association for Middle Level Education, and the International Reading Association. As a Museum Teaching Fellow at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC, he delivers presentations and produces theatre using young adult literature to teach the Holocaust.