PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Students at the Barrack Hebrew Academy have created their own museum on Jewish life in Czechoslovakia, which opens to the community Sunday night.

The Barrack Museum of Czech Jewry was created by ninth grade students at Barrack Hebrew Academy, with help from Centropa, an organization in Vienna that works to keep the memory of Jewish life alive. Through larger than life story panels and videos, the museum examines the vibrant life that was Czechoslovakia before it was destroyed by the Holocaust.

“You usually think about how awful it was and all the atrocities that happened – and those are very important, but we never really get to hear about what it was like before,” said Docent Ann Presky.

The Museum is dedicated to Dr. Igor Laufer, a Czech emigre who became a well respected radiologist at the University of Pennsylvania.

“Because he’s from Czechoslovakia, because he’s a survivor story, that’s why we chose to dedicate our exhibit to him,” said Jack Kalanski, a student.

Reported by Karin Phillips, KYW Newsradio