JEANNETTE (KDKA) — More than six decades have passed since Allied forces liberated Jews held in Hitler’s concentration camps.

Generations later, the horrors of the Holocaust were revealed by middle school students in Jeannette-McKee Middle School in Jeannette.

Eighth graders transformed the school gymnasium into a temporary Holocaust Museum.

History teacher Lisa Abreu teamed up with language arts teacher Christina Mumford. Their students transformed the gymnasium into a temporary Holocaust Museum.

“They’re proud about their work,” she says, “and they become knowledgeable and become teachers to the people who come through.”

Her colleague, language arts teacher Christina Mumford, says the museum is the culmination of a three-month project.

“Some of them cried. Some of them laughed with the characters. So they really were able to see themselves and put themselves in that situation and realize how different life was for these people. Some of those characters were their own age.”

Art students graphically captured the horrors of Nazi concentration camps, including images of prisoners who somehow survived and images of shoes, grim reminders of those who did not.

Eighth grader Phoenix Brown was struck by the stories he learned.

“They went through all these atrocities, and they were able to get through them, and survive.”

Jefferson Jones read about boys and girls his age, and younger, who had joined the Hitler Youth.

“They learned from a very young age how to hate other people. We always try to teach other people things that’ll make sure things like this never happen again.”

That is the most important lesson of all.

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