Susan Powell and Melissa Wheeler were taken aback when they discovered many of their students at Horn Lake (Mississippi) Middle School didn’t know what the Holocaust was.
Instead of just telling them it was when 6 million Jews were killed during World War II, the teachers wanted to involve the students in a project.
“They felt like if they had a project to go along with what they were taught and learned, they would really understand,” says Diane McNeil, president of the Unknown Child Foundation. “And, oh my, did they.”
The children collected 1.5 million pennies. Each penny represents one child killed in the Holocaust.
To showcase the children’s efforts and to raise money for a memorial that will include the pennies, “A Night to Shine” will be held December 16th at the Landers Center. Priscilla Presley will be the special guest.
“When I was asked to serve as honoree of a gala to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Unknown Child Foundation, I learned the mission of the foundation is to educate the world on the importance of keeping children safe by memorializing the 1.5 million children who perished in the Holocaust,” Presley says. “The Unknown Child Foundation will be the only memorial outside of Israel dedicated to these children. I have no doubt visitors will travel to the Mid-South from far and wide to pay their respects to these children.
“I have lost my daughter, Lisa Marie, and I have lost my grandson, Ben. I have a heart for all children.”
McNeil got involved when Powell contacted her about helping them come up with a project for the students. She knew McNeil had been involved with Jewish/Christian relations. When asked, McNeil didn’t hesitate.
“I’d always wanted to know what 1.5 million looked like. And so I said, ’Why don’t we get the students to collect 1.5 million pennies? One for each child that died in the Holocaust. Then we’ll know what 1.5 million looks like.’”
Both teachers loved the idea. “So, the kids started collecting. We thought we would have it done by the end of that school year.”
Instead, she says, “It took three-and-a-half years.”
The pennies “weigh over four tons.”
During one point, they realized they might have a problem, McNeil says. “We’re sitting here with 1.5 million pennies. There’s something wrong with this picture. Why are we going to let people from the Holocaust be represented by the American penny? That makes no sense at all.’”
They then discovered a fascinating fact. “The guy who designed the penny came here as a 19-year-old from Lithuania. And he’s Jewish. Victor David Brenner.”
Also, she adds, “The penny is the most circulated piece of art in the world.”
But there was another question. “What are we going to do with all these pennies?”
“I had no idea. But someone had brought me these pictures of a sculpture of a child in the ovens of Auschwitz.”
She contacted Israeli artist, Rick Wienecke. “I called him and said, ‘We want to melt these pennies and make something out of them.’ He said, ‘No, you don’t. The power in the project is them collecting 1.5 million pennies.’”
He told them not to melt the pennies. He said, ‘I will make this sculpture for you.’ I said, ‘We have no money.’ And he said, ‘I believe in you.’
“He made the sculpture for us. It’s a life-sized sculpture in bronze. And it’s of a child in the oven of Auschwitz. The child is on the grate about to be burned.”
Some of the pennies are beneath the grate.
In addition to the life-sized statue, Wienecke told them he’d make 10 limited editions — some smaller sculptures or maquettes of the statue. He said he’d sign them, number them “and then break the mold. No more.”
As a result of the penny collection/sculpture project, McNeil, the two teachers, and some volunteers formed the Unknown Child Foundation.
The Desoto County Museum in Hernando, Mississippi gave the space for them to do an exhibit on the penny collection. The exhibit, “The Unknown Child Holocaust Exhibit,” which is still on view, includes a more than six-foot tall wall of pennies. These aren’t the pennies from the Horn Lake students, McNeil says. The pennies in the exhibit are less than two percent of 1.5 million.
Also included is a recording of Rabbi Levi Klein from Chabad Lubavitch of Tennessee and a student from the Hebrew Academy reciting names of children who died in the Holocaust.
The goal is for the exhibit to travel, McNeil says. “We can go through the state and tell about this and raise funds for a permanent memorial.”
The timing for the gala was perfect. “Christmas and Hanukkah coincide this year. And this happened to be our 15th year.”
Dabney Coors, a Memphis friend of Presley’s, contacted her about attending the gala.
Presley agreed. And, in addition to appearing in person, Presley will be featured in a video with about 10 of the children who collected pennies. The children will be saying, “It’s so much more than a penny.”
For more information, go to unknownchild.org
