Two Nassau County teens are striving to shed light on what they call an "often overlooked" event in history by using a common household item: clothespins.

Harley Moritz and Romy Fruman, both 14 and incoming freshmen at George W. Hewlett High School in Hewlett, are the driving forces behind the Kindertransport Clothespin Project. The initiative invites people to decorate clothespins representing one of the nearly 10,000 children saved by the Kindertransport during the Holocaust.

The Kindertransport was an organized rescue effort that brought about 10,000 children, who were predominantly Jewish, to Britain, mostly by train, from Nazi-controlled territories just before the start of World War II.

"Not enough people know about the Kindertransport," said Harley, of Woodmere. "It is the only part of the Holocaust that was hopeful."

The idea for the Kindertransport Clothespin Project materialized after Harley and Romy interviewed a handful of Kindertransport survivors as part of a 10-minute documentary they completed for their school’s eighth grade social studies fair. After the fair, the girls came up with the concept for their project, which was inspired by a similar effort involving paper clips started by Tennessee middle schoolers in 1998, Moritz said.

The project’s goal is to ultimately turn the clothespins into an art installation themed around train tracks, since many Kindertransport survivors were transported by railroad, the girls said. So far, they estimate having collected thousands of decorated clothespins, which include everything from illustrations of butterflies to images of survivors, Harley said.

"I'm very grateful, because I didn't think it would become this big," said Romy, of Woodsburgh. "It makes me feel really happy and very joyful knowing that we're doing something to keep these stories alive and keep the Kindertransport unforgotten, so that history doesn't repeat."

Since launching the project, Harley and Romy have spoken about the Kindertransport and their clothespin project to students at two elementary schools in the Hewlett-Woodmere school district. The pair is also working with the Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center in Glen Cove to create educational packets for local schools to teach fifth and sixth grade classes about the Kindertransport, they said.

In addition, the girls both spoke this spring during an unveiling of a new bench outside the Holocaust center that features a QR code that can be scanned for more information on the Kindertransport, they said.

"Harley and Romy have put their heart and soul into the Kindertransport Clothespin Project," said the center's director of education, Donna Rosenblum. "The Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center supports the hard work and dedication of these two young students and embraces their passion and creativity in spreading light on such a dark time in history."