Two hundred and fifty daffodil bulbs were planted at the Augusta Jewish Museum (AJM) on Sunday to serve as a perennial reminder of the 1.5 million children who died in the Holocaust.
This is AJM’s way of participating in The Daffodil Project, which is part of the worldwide Living Holocaust Memorial that aspires to plant 1.5 million daffodils in the memory of the child victims.
Rabbi David Sirull, with Adas Yeshurun-Conservative-Synagogue, said that remembering the Holocaust is essential “so that something tragic like that never happens again.”
The blooms planted on Sunday are expected to bloom around March of next year.
Museum Manager Angela Russo said that similarly to these flowers, which will return year after year, honoring those lost in the Holocaust is an evergreen commission: “It’s an ongoing task to remember the victims of the Holocaust, and [to] just remember that it happened, that it was real, how horrific it was and how we can use that to educate people about injustices today,” she said.
Girl Scouts lend a hand
Among the small group of volunteers helping plant bulbs were several Girl Scouts from Troop 20200, based in Augusta.
Troop leader Stephanie Ware said this year, her group of girls is “focusing on doing more things in the community.
Sunday won’t be Troop 20200’s last time working with AJM; according to Ware, her daughter Sukie, who is also a Girl Scout, is working on a service project connected to her Bat Mitzvah, which occurred around a month ago.
Ware said that Sukie is enlisting the help of her Girl Scout friends to start at the end of this year to develop a kid-focused, hands-on program at the museum that will allow parents to better enjoy the exhibits.
Family history
Nathan Jolles, vice president and board member of the Augusta Jewish Museum board, shared a slice of his personal connection to the museum during the daffodil planting.
Jolles said that the museum was once used as a Court of the Ordinary building where official records, such as marriage licenses and death certificates were preserved. Adjacent to that was the historic Telfair Street synagogue.
“It’s very personal to me,” he said. “My family grew up here, worshiping here.”
Jolles said that his father had a Bar Mitzvah there in 1943, followed by his uncle not long after. His aunt was married there in the late 1940s.
Visit the museum
The Augusta Jewish Museum is open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from noon to 3 p.m. It is located at 525 Telfair St.
