SHS Students Raising Awareness of Genocide – Past and Present

Scarsdale High School students Jedd Fryman and Ben Hyman are seeking to raise awareness of past and current genocides, with the hope that increased awareness will help bring an end to the seemingly never-ending occurrence of genocidal violence. Their work with other genocide-awareness student groups around the world has led them to contribute their families’ personal stories connected to genocide to the recent publication Genocide Know More, which can be viewed here. Assemblymember Amy Paulin has collaborated with them in order to help give their publication a broader platform.

In September 2015, the United Nations General Assembly established December 9 as the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime. The 9th of December was chosen as it is the anniversary of the adoption of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

In honor of Genocide Awareness Day 2021 Fryman and Hyman ask you to practice being an upstander. Sociologists report that people who were rescued during the Holocaust often reported that altruistic actions were normal to their everyday lives. Build this habit into your life by doing something kind for someone else daily. An act of kindness each day is an honorable goal.

Pictured at top: Scarsdale High School students Jedd Fryman and Ben Hyman