For my Mitzvah Project, I have decided to become an Ambassador for Yad Vashem to raise awareness of the twinning program, to share my experience with future B’nei Mitzvot and to encourage participation. I commit to encouraging at least five more twinnings at my synagogue and will help fundraise for any family that might not be able to afford the voluntary donation.
Beatrice celebrated her Bat Mitzvah on
20 April 2024
My name is Beatrice Small. I am 13 years old, I live in London, and am an active member of Bromley Reform Synagogue. After listening to a talk given at our synagogue by Yad Vashem, I decided to participate in their twinning program where you donate and get matched with a young victim of Holocaust who never had a bar or bat mitzvah.
I provided information about myself and my family, and after a week or two of waiting, I received a letter telling me I had been twinned with a Polish girl named Sara Grodzik. Sara lived in Pultusk, Poland, a village where my Mum’s own family lived before the war. My Hebrew name is Sara Bracha, so being matched with her was even more special as we not only share a common homeland, but we also share our name.
Sara’s parents were named Tuvia and Gitel Grodzik and she had a sister as well named Pnina, who survived. Sara was born in 1931, but died from a disease called Typhus at age 10. Typhus fevers are a group of diseases caused by bacteria and are spread to humans through fleas and lice. It wasn’t just Sara, but millions of Jews died in the concentration camps from typhus due to crowding.
On Friday night, my family and I had a special Shabbat meal that included relatives that had travelled from afar. My Mum made a special Bencher (book of blessings) that included information about Sara that everyone could keep and use, meaning Sara’s memory would live on. I wore my Yad Vashem pin and even lit a special set of candles just for her.
Sara never had a bat mitzvah, so on April 20th I twinned with her for my own special Simcha because she never had the opportunity.