Photos of the Day from the South Jersey Times, Oct. 8, 2014

Isaiah Elia, 15, of Glassboro, holds a picture of his teacher Mary Aruffo, himself and Maud Dahme, a holocaust survivor he nominated for the New Jersey Hall of Fame, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2014. (Calista Condo | South Jersey Times)

(Calista Condo)

GLASSBORO — A one-page essay written by a Glassboro High School student when he was 12 years old has earned one of the Holocaust's "hidden children" a spot in the state Hall of Fame.

Isaiah Eila was in seventh grade when one of his teachers asked a class to write essays nominating residents for the New Jersey Hall of Fame. A statewide essay contest had invited middle and high school students to nominate prospective inductees. The winner would attend that year's induction ceremony, and their nominee would be placed in the running for future inductions.

"The other kids were writing about athletes and entertainers," said Isaiah's mother, Tina Spadafora, a teacher in the Glassboro school district. "But we started talking about humanitarians."

Some basic research led Isaiah to Dutch-born Maud Dahme, who was 6 years old in 1942, when she and her sister went into hiding. The two lived apart for years with different Christian farm families during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. Dahme and her sister survived, and the two were reunited with their parents, who had hidden in an attic, at the end of the war. Dahme came to the United States at 14, and eventually became a founding member of the state's Commission on Holocaust Education.

Isaiah's essay earned him a visit to the 2012 awards ceremony, but Dahme was not officially nominated until this year. Now, after decades of visiting schools to speak about her experience, she will join the Hall of Fame alongside James Gandolfini and Dorothy Parker.

"We had learned about the Holocaust in our language arts class," said Isaiah, now a sophomore in Glassboro High School's STEM program. "She had a rough life and made it into a positive thing by educating people. I thought it was nice — you hear a lot of bad things about the world. You never hear about the good things. There are a lot of good people out there."

When Isaiah started eighth grade, Maud, who only heard that she'd been nominated when someone sent her a newspaper clipping, visited his school to tell her story.

"It was unbelievable," said Dahme, who lives in Flemington. "I didn't know about it until I was sent an article after the fact, saying he had won. Most people are nominated by adults, and here I was nominated by a seventh grader. I realized I'm reaching students with the message I bring to them, and I got to reach him before he even heard me speak."

Dahme's talks focus not on the innumerable atrocities of the Holocaust, but on the people who faced death to save families like hers.

"I try to bring out the goodness in people—how they cared and risked their lives to save my sister and I, and my parents," she said. "It's bringing a message of caring, especially today, with all the bullying."

She said she did not know who would take up the reins on Holocaust education when the last survivors were gone — a concern that was not lost on Isaiah.

"You hear about people but you never get to meet them," he said. "Meeting her, I was meeting someone who was there."

Isaiah and Spadafora will be in the audience to see Dahme inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame Nov. 13.

"I'm glad more people can hear about her story," said Isaiah. "I know that will make her happy."

Contact staff writer Andy Polhamus at 856-686-3729 or apolhamus@southjerseymedia.com