STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Holocaust survivors watched their lives performed at an original Wagner College performance Sunday afternoon.
Twelve students learned and performed testimonies from six Staten Island survivors, who are originally from Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania in the play, "In Light of One Another: A Meditation on Resistance Drawn from the Testimony of Survivors."
Margot Capell, Romi Cohn, Rachel Roth, and Hannah Steiner attended Sunday's 3 p.m. performance, but Egon J. Salmon and Gabi Held were unable to attend.
Salmon said he would attend at a later date and Held is currently in Florida for the winter.
"These six individuals, who were only teenagers in World War II, are such role models for how to stand up," Professor Lori Weintrob, co-writer of "In Light of One Another" and Director of the Wagner College Holocaust Center, said.
The survivors were moved by the performance and embraced the students after hearing the stories.
"It's very important for the new generation. They have to know...they have to feel what we felt," survivor Rachel Roth said.
Theresa McCarthy, Director of "In Light of One Another," said the college student actors were the best people to work on this project.
"They just really want to honor these survivors," McCarthy said.
Weintrob thanked the Leonard B Kahn Foundation for making the play possible. It awarded a $50,000 grant to the Wagner College Holocaust Center to expand impact on Jewish communities in New Jersey.
The above video captures the survivor reactions to seeing their stories told by the students.
In addition to Sunday's performance at the Stage One Theatre, students performed the play on March 15-17.
Other performances will be at the Congregation B'nai Israel in Basking Ridge, N.J. on April 8 at 10 a.m. and at the Congregation Anshe Emeth in Highland Park, N.J. on April 29 at 1 p.m.
This article was published on SILive.com.