Henry County Middle School celebrated this year's Black History Month in a special way – they learned about the plight of the Jewish people during the Holocaust.
During a special event last Monday, participants listened to the horrific story of an 86 years old Holocaust survivor and watched the play "And Then They Came For Me" about the life of Anne Frank and her best friend who survived the war.
Representatives of the Consulate General of Israel took part in this event and discussed the common past of African Americans and Jews.
"The two groups (Jews and African Americans) share a common memory of slavery, one historical and one biblical. We share a common past of being acted toward with prejudice and suffering from racial persecution," said Yossi Gvili, Director of Community Outreach for the Consulate General of Israel to the Southeast.
The long history of discrimination eventually inspired many Jews to stand in solidarity with African Americans during the civil rights movement 50 years ago.
"For all these reasons and more Black History Month is an excellent and appropriate occasion to highlight the common values our two people share," said Gvili.
Photo: Zellie Orr, Historian, Sheila Thomas-Johnson, Henry County Middle School, Yossi Gvili, Israeli Consulate, Yonit Stern, Israeli Consulate