The Jewish Chronicle has reported Searchlight’s campaign to ban the visit of Jacques Vergès to London, where he has been invited to take part in a debate at the School of Oriental and African Studies.
The paper reports that Mike Freer MP, vice-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group Against Antisemitism, hopes to raise the visit of French-Vietnamese lawyer Jacques Vergès with Home Secretary Theresa May.
Others are adding their voices to the campaign. A spokesperson for the Community Security Trust, which represents and advises the Jewish community on security and antisemitism, said: “It is hard to see how Jacques Vergès’ record of defending Nazis, Holocaust Deniers, mass murderers and terrorists can contribute anything worthwhile to a debate on international justice. This invitation smacks of the kind of attention-seeking sensationalism that can only damage the reputation of an institution like SOAS.”
And Karen Pollock, Chief Executive, Holocaust Educational Trust told Searchlight: “It seems perverse that any prestigious institution would welcome Jacques Vergès, a notorious figure, who over the decades has defended Nazi war criminals and Holocaust deniers with apparent relish – and whose extremely controversial views would surely undermine any serious academic debate.”
More information here
Searchlight
Showing posts with label Holocaust Educational Trust. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holocaust Educational Trust. Show all posts
January 06, 2012
May 26, 2011
Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp to get UK funding
The Auschwirz-Birkenau concentration camp is an enduring symbol of the HolocaustThe joint contribution will mainly be provided by the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Foreign Office. The Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation will be funded over the next three years.
More than a million people were murdered by the Nazis at the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II. The concentration camp was the largest site for the mass murder of Jews. In recent years a number of countries have contributed to the fund to maintain the main concentration camp, Auschwitz, and its nearby satellite camp of Birkenau.
Auschwitz and Birkenau were operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland during World War II, and opened as a museum in 1947.
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said the camp, which stands as an enduring symbol of the Holocaust, was an importance place of remembrance which served to educate people about the horrors of the Holocaust. Speaking at the Jewish Museum in London, he said: "It is our collective responsibility to ensure that Auschwitz-Birkenau stands as a perpetual reminder of the pain and destructive force of hate. We must ensure that the lessons from the Holocaust are taught today and to future generations."
And Foreign Secretary William Hague said Auschwitz-Birkenau underlined "the horrific consequences of intolerance".
Mr Hague said he was "proud that the UK is able to play a part in commemorating the millions of victims who died there" and was helping to ensure the camp's preservation to educate future generations on "the evils of that period in history".
And Lord Greville Janner of Braunstone, who chairs the Holocaust Educational Trust, said the financial support sends a clear message that the camp should be maintained for future generations. He said: "Through our Lessons from Auschwitz Project, the Holocaust Educational Trust gives over 3,000 British students each year the opportunity to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau. This announcement will ensure that when young people visit Auschwitz, they will see for themselves what can happen when racism and prejudice is allowed to go unchecked."
BBC
January 25, 2010
We are still in the shadow of the Holocaust
Anti-Semitism is on the rise, which makes memorial day all the more vital, says Michael Gove
This Wednesday we remember the greatest crime ever inflicted by man against his fellow man. Holocaust Memorial Day allows us to reflect on the bleakest chapter in the history of the 20th century. And there is a special urgency in the call to remember this year, of all years - because the shadow of the Holocaust continues to fall over the world today.
Mass murder is still deployed as a political tool by tyrants, from Burma to Zimbabwe. Racism is returning to the streets of Europe, from St Petersburg to Antwerp. And, hard though it is to credit after the horrors of the last century, anti-Semitism is creeping back into the corridors of power.
We know that Nazi ideology still has the power to motivate evil men. From the Swedish fascist who tried to acquire the "Arbeit macht frei" sign which hung over the gates of Auschwitz, to the British fascists of the BNP, there is an ominous resurgence of extremist activity visible across our Continent. It is because we face a new fascist threat, and because the extremism of the BNP is mirrored in the equally toxic ideology of anti-Semitic groups such as Islam4Uk and Hizb-ut Tahrir, that we need, all of us, to make an additional effort to remember how the Holocaust started. And where it ended.
The history of the Holocaust is the history of a society which blamed the Jews for its miseries, sought to push them to the margins and then sought, literally, to make them vanish from sight. In our time we can see the same trends returning. The calls for boycotts of Jewish thinkers at Israeli universities, the rise in anti-Semitic incidents on our streets, the inflamed rhetoric of vilification which culminates in the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's call to wipe Israel off the map, are all connected.
As the chief rabbi, Lord Sacks, has so presciently pointed out, anti-Semitism is a virus which mutates. Originally it was the Jewish people's religious identity which came under attack, and the Church led a programme of forced conversion. Then, as society replaced religion with science as a source of authority, anti-Semitism mutated so that the Jewish people came under attack on racial grounds. Now it is Jewish identity expressed through the right of Israel to self-determination which is the focus of anti-Semitism. Israel, like any state, makes mistakes. Sometimes grievous ones. But many of Israel's enemies now risk repeating one of the greatest errors of history by infusing anti-Semitism with a new and toxic vibrancy. We see it in some of those who have attached themselves to recent anti-war campaigns, with Britons marching through the streets of London declaring "We are all Hezbollah now" even though Hezbollah is a fascist organisation whose leader is a Holocaust-denier who believes the Jews are "grandsons of apes and pigs". And we also see the apparent mainstreaming of anti-Semitism in comments such as those of a former ambassador who recently objected to the composition of the Iraq inquiry team because two of its members were Jewish.
When prejudice is unleashed in this way we are all affected. As the chief rabbi has pointed out, what starts with the Jews never ends with the Jews. The Nazis targeted gay men and women, Roma, the disabled and Christians of conscience. The BNP are, similarly, as homophobic, Islamophobic and plain, downright racist as they are anti-Semitic.
History teaches us many lessons, if we are willing to pay attention. And one of the most profound is that the best guide to the health of a society has always been how secure its Jewish community feels. Throughout history the freest societies, from 17th-century Holland to 20th-century England, have been those in which Jewish people have felt safest. And over the ages the surest sign that a country is moving away from liberalism has been a growing prejudice towards the Jewish community, whether Vienna a hundred years ago, Germany in the thirties or Russia in the last decade.
It is because that lesson of history is so important that Holocaust Memorial Day is so crucial. And it is because we must ensure the next generation learns those lessons that the work of the Holocaust Educational Trust is so vital. The Trust provides the tools for schools to communicate the lessons of the Holocaust – so that young people can understand the consequences of allowing prejudice to grow. The Trust provides schools with books, maps, images and artefacts from the past as well as a Bafta award-winning production containing the testimonies of survivors. And two students from every school in the country are given the chance to visit Auschwitz and see the site of mankind's most terrible atrocity with their own eyes.
As the survivors of the Holocaust grow older and we face losing their vivid living testimonies, so the risk of forgetting grows stronger, and with it the risk of repeating history's mistakes. That is why the Holocaust Educational Trust's work has never been more necessary, the lessons of history never more relevant and the act of commemoration never more important. Whatever else may divide politicians, the lesson of the last century is that the resurgence of anti-Semitism requires us all to unite against this most poisonous of prejudices.
Telegraph
This Wednesday we remember the greatest crime ever inflicted by man against his fellow man. Holocaust Memorial Day allows us to reflect on the bleakest chapter in the history of the 20th century. And there is a special urgency in the call to remember this year, of all years - because the shadow of the Holocaust continues to fall over the world today.
Mass murder is still deployed as a political tool by tyrants, from Burma to Zimbabwe. Racism is returning to the streets of Europe, from St Petersburg to Antwerp. And, hard though it is to credit after the horrors of the last century, anti-Semitism is creeping back into the corridors of power.
We know that Nazi ideology still has the power to motivate evil men. From the Swedish fascist who tried to acquire the "Arbeit macht frei" sign which hung over the gates of Auschwitz, to the British fascists of the BNP, there is an ominous resurgence of extremist activity visible across our Continent. It is because we face a new fascist threat, and because the extremism of the BNP is mirrored in the equally toxic ideology of anti-Semitic groups such as Islam4Uk and Hizb-ut Tahrir, that we need, all of us, to make an additional effort to remember how the Holocaust started. And where it ended.
The history of the Holocaust is the history of a society which blamed the Jews for its miseries, sought to push them to the margins and then sought, literally, to make them vanish from sight. In our time we can see the same trends returning. The calls for boycotts of Jewish thinkers at Israeli universities, the rise in anti-Semitic incidents on our streets, the inflamed rhetoric of vilification which culminates in the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's call to wipe Israel off the map, are all connected.
As the chief rabbi, Lord Sacks, has so presciently pointed out, anti-Semitism is a virus which mutates. Originally it was the Jewish people's religious identity which came under attack, and the Church led a programme of forced conversion. Then, as society replaced religion with science as a source of authority, anti-Semitism mutated so that the Jewish people came under attack on racial grounds. Now it is Jewish identity expressed through the right of Israel to self-determination which is the focus of anti-Semitism. Israel, like any state, makes mistakes. Sometimes grievous ones. But many of Israel's enemies now risk repeating one of the greatest errors of history by infusing anti-Semitism with a new and toxic vibrancy. We see it in some of those who have attached themselves to recent anti-war campaigns, with Britons marching through the streets of London declaring "We are all Hezbollah now" even though Hezbollah is a fascist organisation whose leader is a Holocaust-denier who believes the Jews are "grandsons of apes and pigs". And we also see the apparent mainstreaming of anti-Semitism in comments such as those of a former ambassador who recently objected to the composition of the Iraq inquiry team because two of its members were Jewish.
When prejudice is unleashed in this way we are all affected. As the chief rabbi has pointed out, what starts with the Jews never ends with the Jews. The Nazis targeted gay men and women, Roma, the disabled and Christians of conscience. The BNP are, similarly, as homophobic, Islamophobic and plain, downright racist as they are anti-Semitic.
History teaches us many lessons, if we are willing to pay attention. And one of the most profound is that the best guide to the health of a society has always been how secure its Jewish community feels. Throughout history the freest societies, from 17th-century Holland to 20th-century England, have been those in which Jewish people have felt safest. And over the ages the surest sign that a country is moving away from liberalism has been a growing prejudice towards the Jewish community, whether Vienna a hundred years ago, Germany in the thirties or Russia in the last decade.
It is because that lesson of history is so important that Holocaust Memorial Day is so crucial. And it is because we must ensure the next generation learns those lessons that the work of the Holocaust Educational Trust is so vital. The Trust provides the tools for schools to communicate the lessons of the Holocaust – so that young people can understand the consequences of allowing prejudice to grow. The Trust provides schools with books, maps, images and artefacts from the past as well as a Bafta award-winning production containing the testimonies of survivors. And two students from every school in the country are given the chance to visit Auschwitz and see the site of mankind's most terrible atrocity with their own eyes.
As the survivors of the Holocaust grow older and we face losing their vivid living testimonies, so the risk of forgetting grows stronger, and with it the risk of repeating history's mistakes. That is why the Holocaust Educational Trust's work has never been more necessary, the lessons of history never more relevant and the act of commemoration never more important. Whatever else may divide politicians, the lesson of the last century is that the resurgence of anti-Semitism requires us all to unite against this most poisonous of prejudices.
Telegraph
October 29, 2009
Poll: BNP leader Nick Griffin 'lied' over Holocaust
More than two in three Britons believe Nick Griffin is a Holocaust denier despite the BNP leader’s claim to the contrary during his controversial Question Time appearance.
In a poll conducted exclusively for the JC by YouGov this week, 1,409 adults were asked if they were convinced by Griffin’s belated acceptance of the Holocaust. Sixty-nine per cent responded that “Griffin is still at heart a Holocaust denier and only pretends to have changed his views to make the BNP appear more moderate”.
Just 14 per cent agreed that Griffin now genuinely acknowledged that the Shoah did take place. Among Labour and Lib-Dem voters, four out of five said Griffin still denied the Holocaust. YouGov also asked whether British Jews had “reason to be fearful if the BNP gained significantly in strength”. Fifty-four per cent responded that Jews would have cause for fear — with the figure rising to 64 per cent among Londoners polled. Seventy-two per cent said Muslims should fear a more powerful BNP.
The responses demonstrate that the BNP has failed to achieve the hoped-for bounce from Griffin’s slot on Question Time, which attracted a record eight million viewers.
YouGov president Peter Kellner was surprised that “such a big majority thought Griffin was still a Holocaust denier”. It showed that attempts to convince voters that he believed in the Holocaust, and was a friend of Israel, had failed. “However, a lot of people still support what the BNP stands for.” If its support reached 10 per cent, it could become a serious and divisive political force.
In an earlier poll for the Daily Telegraph, YouGov found that 66 per cent of Britons would not under any circumstances consider voting BNP in a local, general or European election. Only four per cent would “definitely consider voting BNP”. Asked for their views on a variety of fringe parties, 71 per cent expressed negative opinions about the BNP, as opposed to two per cent who were “very positive” and seven per cent who were “fairly positive”.
Community and anti-racist leaders were split over the impact made by Griffin on Question Time. Veteran anti-fascist Gerry Gable said it had served to wake up the many who might have been persuaded that the BNP had reformed.
Holocaust Educational Trust chairman Lord Janner felt Griffin had come across badly, “but the fact of his appearance has given status to the BNP, which in the long run could do great harm to the Jewish and other minority communities”.
Jewish Council for Racial Equality director Dr Edie Friedman said “Griffin’s comment about the BNP supporting Israeli actions in Gaza was a sinister attempt to demonstrate pro-Jewish and anti-Muslim credentials.”
JC Online
In a poll conducted exclusively for the JC by YouGov this week, 1,409 adults were asked if they were convinced by Griffin’s belated acceptance of the Holocaust. Sixty-nine per cent responded that “Griffin is still at heart a Holocaust denier and only pretends to have changed his views to make the BNP appear more moderate”.
Just 14 per cent agreed that Griffin now genuinely acknowledged that the Shoah did take place. Among Labour and Lib-Dem voters, four out of five said Griffin still denied the Holocaust. YouGov also asked whether British Jews had “reason to be fearful if the BNP gained significantly in strength”. Fifty-four per cent responded that Jews would have cause for fear — with the figure rising to 64 per cent among Londoners polled. Seventy-two per cent said Muslims should fear a more powerful BNP.
The responses demonstrate that the BNP has failed to achieve the hoped-for bounce from Griffin’s slot on Question Time, which attracted a record eight million viewers.
YouGov president Peter Kellner was surprised that “such a big majority thought Griffin was still a Holocaust denier”. It showed that attempts to convince voters that he believed in the Holocaust, and was a friend of Israel, had failed. “However, a lot of people still support what the BNP stands for.” If its support reached 10 per cent, it could become a serious and divisive political force.
In an earlier poll for the Daily Telegraph, YouGov found that 66 per cent of Britons would not under any circumstances consider voting BNP in a local, general or European election. Only four per cent would “definitely consider voting BNP”. Asked for their views on a variety of fringe parties, 71 per cent expressed negative opinions about the BNP, as opposed to two per cent who were “very positive” and seven per cent who were “fairly positive”.
Community and anti-racist leaders were split over the impact made by Griffin on Question Time. Veteran anti-fascist Gerry Gable said it had served to wake up the many who might have been persuaded that the BNP had reformed.
Holocaust Educational Trust chairman Lord Janner felt Griffin had come across badly, “but the fact of his appearance has given status to the BNP, which in the long run could do great harm to the Jewish and other minority communities”.
Jewish Council for Racial Equality director Dr Edie Friedman said “Griffin’s comment about the BNP supporting Israeli actions in Gaza was a sinister attempt to demonstrate pro-Jewish and anti-Muslim credentials.”
JC Online
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April 30, 2009
Scottish heroine of the Holocaust will be awarded national honour
A Scottish woman who was gassed by the Nazis in Auschwitz after she refused to abandon Jewish orphans in her care will finally be honoured by the British government.
Jane Haining is among a group of British heroes of the Holocaust who are to be recognised with a new award. Yesterday's announcement follows Prime Minister Gordon Brown's visit to the concentration camp earlier this week and is a victory for a Scotsman campaign that backed calls by the Holocaust Education Trust.
Details of the award will be decided in talks between the UK government, the trust and families of the Holocaust heroes, but it is understood a permanent memorial may be created and a specific award given to the families.
The decision to honour the heroes is understood to have been made by Mr Brown before his trip to Auschwitz this week. The Prime Minister has been a supporter of the trust's work and, as Chancellor, found Treasury money to pay for school trips to the infamous death camp.
Yesterday Mr Brown said: "My visit to Auschwitz left me absolutely determined that we must learn from the past as we build our future. Part of this must be proper recognition for those who made extraordinary contributions to protect others during the Holocaust."
He added: "These heroes, many of whom have now died, are a true inspiration to everyone in Britain. I believe that, together, their brave actions form a critical part of our nation's wartime history and they deserve to be recognised through a special award."
The announcement has delighted the Holocaust Education Trust, members of which saw the awards as an important step in spreading their message of using the atrocity to teach young people about prejudice. The Holocaust led to the murder by the Nazis of six million Jews and other so-called undesirables.
Karen Pollock, chief executive of the trust, said: "We are delighted that this initiative has received widespread support, including from The Scotsman, and that the Prime Minister and British government will create an award of recognition in memory of these British heroes."
The formal announcement was made during a debate in Westminster Hall on the issue, initiated by Dumfries and Galloway Labour MP Russell Brown, who represents the constituency in which Ms Haining was born.
"This is great news," he said. "It is very important that Jane Haining and the others get the formal recognition they deserve so their brave actions will not be forgotten."
However, the trust's original campaign for them to receive awards through the honours system will not happen. Honours can only go to people who are still alive.
Jane Haining was born in Dunscore, Dumfries. In 1932, she went to Hungary to work as a missionary. At the outbreak of the Second World War, she ignored orders and advice to return to Scotland, and stayed with the Jewish children in her care. When Germany invaded Hungary in 1944, she was arrested along with the children and taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where she was gassed. Her name is now inscribed near Oskar Schindler's on the Holocaust memorial in Israel.
She is not the only Scot in line for recognition. Tommy Noble was among a group of British prisoners of war who found a Jewish girl, Sarah Hannah Rigler, who had escaped from a death march. They hid and fed her in their camp, saving her life.
Scotsman
Jane Haining is among a group of British heroes of the Holocaust who are to be recognised with a new award. Yesterday's announcement follows Prime Minister Gordon Brown's visit to the concentration camp earlier this week and is a victory for a Scotsman campaign that backed calls by the Holocaust Education Trust.
Details of the award will be decided in talks between the UK government, the trust and families of the Holocaust heroes, but it is understood a permanent memorial may be created and a specific award given to the families.
The decision to honour the heroes is understood to have been made by Mr Brown before his trip to Auschwitz this week. The Prime Minister has been a supporter of the trust's work and, as Chancellor, found Treasury money to pay for school trips to the infamous death camp.
Yesterday Mr Brown said: "My visit to Auschwitz left me absolutely determined that we must learn from the past as we build our future. Part of this must be proper recognition for those who made extraordinary contributions to protect others during the Holocaust."
He added: "These heroes, many of whom have now died, are a true inspiration to everyone in Britain. I believe that, together, their brave actions form a critical part of our nation's wartime history and they deserve to be recognised through a special award."
The announcement has delighted the Holocaust Education Trust, members of which saw the awards as an important step in spreading their message of using the atrocity to teach young people about prejudice. The Holocaust led to the murder by the Nazis of six million Jews and other so-called undesirables.
Karen Pollock, chief executive of the trust, said: "We are delighted that this initiative has received widespread support, including from The Scotsman, and that the Prime Minister and British government will create an award of recognition in memory of these British heroes."
The formal announcement was made during a debate in Westminster Hall on the issue, initiated by Dumfries and Galloway Labour MP Russell Brown, who represents the constituency in which Ms Haining was born.
"This is great news," he said. "It is very important that Jane Haining and the others get the formal recognition they deserve so their brave actions will not be forgotten."
However, the trust's original campaign for them to receive awards through the honours system will not happen. Honours can only go to people who are still alive.
Jane Haining was born in Dunscore, Dumfries. In 1932, she went to Hungary to work as a missionary. At the outbreak of the Second World War, she ignored orders and advice to return to Scotland, and stayed with the Jewish children in her care. When Germany invaded Hungary in 1944, she was arrested along with the children and taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where she was gassed. Her name is now inscribed near Oskar Schindler's on the Holocaust memorial in Israel.
She is not the only Scot in line for recognition. Tommy Noble was among a group of British prisoners of war who found a Jewish girl, Sarah Hannah Rigler, who had escaped from a death march. They hid and fed her in their camp, saving her life.
Scotsman
January 28, 2009
UK party leaders sign Book of Commitment to mark Holocaust
The leaders of the three main British political parties commemorated Holocaust Memorial Day on Tuesday by signing the Book of Commitment in Parliament.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Conservative leader David Cameron and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg signed the book, which contains a pledge to remember the Holocaust and join together to fight all forms of discrimination. The book was placed in the House of Commons by the Holocaust Educational Trust (HET) on January 14. To date, over 150 MPs have signed it.
Established in 1999, Holocaust Memorial Day is an annual national event in the UK.
Gordon Brown also welcomed Holocaust survivors Ben Helfgott and his sister Mala Tribich, together with HET chairman Lord Janner, at his Downing Street residence to mark the commemoration.
"The whole world should remember and never forget - remember courageous men and women, and also remember the evil that was done," Brown said. "As [Nobel laureate] Elie Wiesel said, 'Because I remember, I despair. Because I remember, I have the duty to reject despair.'"
"It was a great honor and privilege to meet the prime minister, and particularly that he found the time for us when he is so deeply busy," Helfgott said. "It is a great tribute to him that, in spite of the current challenges, he found the time to sign the Book of Commitment to ensure that the Holocaust will never be forgotten."
A parliamentary motion in support of the day was also tabled by Labor MP Phil Wilson and co-sponsored by Conservative MP Greg Hands and Liberal Democrat MP Alistair Carmichael.
In Parliament on Monday, Brown praised the work of the HET and particularly the government-supported program that enables high school students from across the country to visit Auschwitz and educate fellow students about the Holocaust.
"We are delighted that so many MPs are supporting Holocaust Memorial Day. This and Holocaust education are more important now than ever, and this year's theme, 'Stand Up to Hatred,' highlights the importance of joining forces against hatred, prejudice and intolerance," HET chief executive Karen Pollock said. "At the HET, we endeavor to impart the history of the Holocaust to young people, across all communities, so they can see where hate and racism can ultimately lead."
To mark the memorial day, the National Union of Teachers (NUT) has joined the HET in publishing a new school resource.
Martin and Erica's Journey, a book that tells the story of Holocaust survivor Martin Stern and his sister Erica, was launched at a reception at the NUT headquarters in central London on Tuesday evening.
"The NUT has a proud history of supporting race equality and diversity, its importance and the lessons that can be learned from history," said Christine Blower, acting general secretary of the NUT. "This is an invaluable personal record of the horrors of one of the 20th century's worst atrocities."
She added, "We hope that this powerful story will help young people understand the consequences of prejudice and racism and in turn challenge all forms of discrimination."
Meanwhile, the Muslim Council of Britain boycotted official Holocaust memorial events in protest of Israel's offensive in Gaza.
The MCB, which represents 500 Muslim organizations in Britain, did not send any representatives to any of the official memorial events. The decision was made at an MCB committee meeting last week.
"There was no one in that [committee] meeting who was prepared to attend [Holocaust Memorial Day] this year without making a visible protest about the genocide in Gaza," the council said in a statement Tuesday. "It was agreed that the MCB does not wish to minimize the tragedy of the Holocaust or demean or disturb its annual memorial by attending and protesting about the genocide in Gaza, and it was therefore decided to abstain from the Holocaust Memorial Day this year."
The statement concluded, "The MCB believes that the memorial for the victims of the Nazi Holocaust is to ensure that we make the cry 'Never again' real for all people."
In 2007, the MCB called off a boycott of Holocaust Memorial Day that had been in existence since 2003, when then-MCB secretary-general Iqbal Sacranie claimed that the memorial ignored the plight of the Palestinians.
"Regrettably the memorial ceremony in its present form excludes and ignores other ongoing genocide and human rights abuses around the world, notably in the Occupied Palestinian Territories," he said.
Jerusalem Post
Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Conservative leader David Cameron and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg signed the book, which contains a pledge to remember the Holocaust and join together to fight all forms of discrimination. The book was placed in the House of Commons by the Holocaust Educational Trust (HET) on January 14. To date, over 150 MPs have signed it.
Established in 1999, Holocaust Memorial Day is an annual national event in the UK.
Gordon Brown also welcomed Holocaust survivors Ben Helfgott and his sister Mala Tribich, together with HET chairman Lord Janner, at his Downing Street residence to mark the commemoration.
"The whole world should remember and never forget - remember courageous men and women, and also remember the evil that was done," Brown said. "As [Nobel laureate] Elie Wiesel said, 'Because I remember, I despair. Because I remember, I have the duty to reject despair.'"
"It was a great honor and privilege to meet the prime minister, and particularly that he found the time for us when he is so deeply busy," Helfgott said. "It is a great tribute to him that, in spite of the current challenges, he found the time to sign the Book of Commitment to ensure that the Holocaust will never be forgotten."
A parliamentary motion in support of the day was also tabled by Labor MP Phil Wilson and co-sponsored by Conservative MP Greg Hands and Liberal Democrat MP Alistair Carmichael.
In Parliament on Monday, Brown praised the work of the HET and particularly the government-supported program that enables high school students from across the country to visit Auschwitz and educate fellow students about the Holocaust.
"We are delighted that so many MPs are supporting Holocaust Memorial Day. This and Holocaust education are more important now than ever, and this year's theme, 'Stand Up to Hatred,' highlights the importance of joining forces against hatred, prejudice and intolerance," HET chief executive Karen Pollock said. "At the HET, we endeavor to impart the history of the Holocaust to young people, across all communities, so they can see where hate and racism can ultimately lead."
To mark the memorial day, the National Union of Teachers (NUT) has joined the HET in publishing a new school resource.
Martin and Erica's Journey, a book that tells the story of Holocaust survivor Martin Stern and his sister Erica, was launched at a reception at the NUT headquarters in central London on Tuesday evening.
"The NUT has a proud history of supporting race equality and diversity, its importance and the lessons that can be learned from history," said Christine Blower, acting general secretary of the NUT. "This is an invaluable personal record of the horrors of one of the 20th century's worst atrocities."
She added, "We hope that this powerful story will help young people understand the consequences of prejudice and racism and in turn challenge all forms of discrimination."
Meanwhile, the Muslim Council of Britain boycotted official Holocaust memorial events in protest of Israel's offensive in Gaza.
The MCB, which represents 500 Muslim organizations in Britain, did not send any representatives to any of the official memorial events. The decision was made at an MCB committee meeting last week.
"There was no one in that [committee] meeting who was prepared to attend [Holocaust Memorial Day] this year without making a visible protest about the genocide in Gaza," the council said in a statement Tuesday. "It was agreed that the MCB does not wish to minimize the tragedy of the Holocaust or demean or disturb its annual memorial by attending and protesting about the genocide in Gaza, and it was therefore decided to abstain from the Holocaust Memorial Day this year."
The statement concluded, "The MCB believes that the memorial for the victims of the Nazi Holocaust is to ensure that we make the cry 'Never again' real for all people."
In 2007, the MCB called off a boycott of Holocaust Memorial Day that had been in existence since 2003, when then-MCB secretary-general Iqbal Sacranie claimed that the memorial ignored the plight of the Palestinians.
"Regrettably the memorial ceremony in its present form excludes and ignores other ongoing genocide and human rights abuses around the world, notably in the Occupied Palestinian Territories," he said.
Jerusalem Post
January 20, 2009
Nazi death camp survivor tells pupils of the horrors
Born in a German concentration camp just three days before it was liberated by the Americans, Holocaust survivor Eva Clarke has a remarkable story to tell.
Speaking yesterday at a Holywood grammar school, the 63-year-old held her teenage audience in rapture as she told her family’s story of life – and death – in Nazi occupied Czechoslovakia, Poland and Austria.
Almost all of Eva’s family were killed in concentration camps during World War Two, only a few survived – including her mother Anka who will be 92 this year. She spoke of her mother’s three-and-a-half years as a prisoner in Nazi camps Terezin, Auschwitz and Mauthausen and how she survived to give birth to Eva at the gates of one of the most notorious camps just days before the end of the war.
Starting with the gradual stigmatisation of Jews, she continued, with the aid of photographs and artefacts, to show how her parents were called to a warehouse from which they were taken to Terezin. They were lucky. Young and healthy they were able to work which kept them alive.
But they were separated and when Eva’s mother heard her husband had been moved to Auschwitz she volunteered to go after him, unaware of the horrendous nature of the camp. She never saw him again, but was lucky enough to survive the camp and was sent away to Dresden with a group of women to build V1 bombs.
From there she was sent to Mauthausen, where at just five stone, she gave birth to Eva as she climbed off the coal train at the entrance to the camp. Taken in a cart filled with the sick and infirm up the steep hill to the gates, she managed to give birth to her 3lb daughter.
The story is just one of many poignant and sad moments – from the comments from the Nazi officers and so-called doctors who carried out experiments, to the instances of luck and good fortune which enabled her mother Anka to survive.
And her message certainly got through to the pupils at Sullivan Upper in Holywood, where she spoke to junior and senior pupils.
Eva Clarke is in Northern Ireland on behalf of the Holocaust Educational Trust. She will be speaking at Fermanagh County Museum in Enniskillen today and tomorrow.
Belfast News Letter
Speaking yesterday at a Holywood grammar school, the 63-year-old held her teenage audience in rapture as she told her family’s story of life – and death – in Nazi occupied Czechoslovakia, Poland and Austria.
Almost all of Eva’s family were killed in concentration camps during World War Two, only a few survived – including her mother Anka who will be 92 this year. She spoke of her mother’s three-and-a-half years as a prisoner in Nazi camps Terezin, Auschwitz and Mauthausen and how she survived to give birth to Eva at the gates of one of the most notorious camps just days before the end of the war.
Starting with the gradual stigmatisation of Jews, she continued, with the aid of photographs and artefacts, to show how her parents were called to a warehouse from which they were taken to Terezin. They were lucky. Young and healthy they were able to work which kept them alive.
But they were separated and when Eva’s mother heard her husband had been moved to Auschwitz she volunteered to go after him, unaware of the horrendous nature of the camp. She never saw him again, but was lucky enough to survive the camp and was sent away to Dresden with a group of women to build V1 bombs.
From there she was sent to Mauthausen, where at just five stone, she gave birth to Eva as she climbed off the coal train at the entrance to the camp. Taken in a cart filled with the sick and infirm up the steep hill to the gates, she managed to give birth to her 3lb daughter.
The story is just one of many poignant and sad moments – from the comments from the Nazi officers and so-called doctors who carried out experiments, to the instances of luck and good fortune which enabled her mother Anka to survive.
And her message certainly got through to the pupils at Sullivan Upper in Holywood, where she spoke to junior and senior pupils.
Eva Clarke is in Northern Ireland on behalf of the Holocaust Educational Trust. She will be speaking at Fermanagh County Museum in Enniskillen today and tomorrow.
Belfast News Letter
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November 09, 2008
Kristallnacht 70 years on
Seventy years after the terror and cruelty of Kristallnacht, the event should not be simply consigned to our history books writes Karen Pollock of the Holocaust Educational TrustCan you imagine your neighbours being attacked and dragged away – and you doing nothing? Seeing their houses looted and torched – and you saying nothing?
Seventy years ago on Sunday 9th November the Nazi government sanctioned widespread destruction of property and wanton terror and violence against the Jewish communities of Germany and Austria. In the space of a few hours more than 1000 synagogues were torched, tens and thousands of Jewish businesses and homes ransacked and destroyed, 91 people murdered and more than 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and sent to concentration camps.
The name given to this night of terror was Kristallnacht or Night of Broken Glass in reference to the shattered glass that carpeted the streets – a testimony – even a trophy to the perpetrators ‘achievement’ in causing widespread destruction.
In the years that followed Kristallnacht, it came to mean so much more than mere broken glass. Kristallnacht came to represent broken lives, broken families, the collapse of civilisation and humanity. It signalled the prelude to the annihilation of six million Jewish people and millions of others, including from the Roma and gay community, disabled people and political opponents. It signalled the prelude to the Holocaust.
Dr Arthur Flehinger, a German eyewitness to Kristallnacht claimed that during that night of state-sponsored violence, many people privately wept behind their curtains at the destruction – full of sorrow at the tide of racial violence, but powerless to stop it. Indeed this was not dissimilar to the world’s reaction to what was the most publicised event at the time in the history of the fate of European Jewry. If this glimpse into the future horrified so many people worldwide, why was their outrage not translated into action?
If we are to learn anything from Kristallnacht it is a reminder to us all of where unchecked racism and intolerance can lead and underscores our responsibility as human beings to ensure that such evil is always confronted whenever and wherever it occurs. The Holocaust did not begin with the gas chambers at Auschwitz, it did not even begin with Kristallnacht – it began with words and was reacted to with silence. The extermination of European Jewry took place at the end of a long road, a long history marked by centuries of age-old antisemitism and prejudice dating back to the middle ages and most significantly it was a long road marked by indifference. Nor was the Holocaust a mere symptom of the time; the era. As we have seen repeatedly in the years that have followed the Holocaust genocide and atrocities have plagued every corner of the globe and continue to do so.
We cannot and must not consign the terror and cruelty of that night to our history books or fool ourselves into believing that it was a history belonging to a different era. To remove ourselves in this way is to remove our own responsibility in fighting racism and intolerance today.
This year, many of us have no doubt felt helpless as far-right parties continue to gain a foothold in local councils, and even in the London Assembly – the body representing one of the most diverse cities in the world. And make no mistake about it - these are politicians who exploit community divisions, and whose ideology is based on the same racism and prejudice exhibited during the Holocaust.
But we do have the ability to halt racism in its tracks. This is a belief that goes right to the heart of our work at the Holocaust Educational Trust. Founded by Lord Greville Janner and the late Lord Merlyn Rees in 1988, we work in schools and local communities across the UK to ensure the Holocaust is not only learnt for its own sake, but also that its vital lessons for today are learnt, disseminated and acted upon. We believe that if we are to ever achieve a future free from antisemitism, racism and discrimination, if we are to say ‘never again’ and actually mean it – we must ensure that future generations are equipped with the knowledge and confidence to face such evils head on.
Through our piloted Think Equal Project which we plan to take nationwide we have reached disaffected young people in communities which are experiencing problems of racial tensions and which are also being targeted by the far-right . By working within the Citizenship Curriculum and helping them to understand the importance of their role in society, and the responsibility that they have as citizens to actively oppose hatred and prejudice they literally become ambassadors for conveying the lessons of the past; ambassadors for a better future. Not bystanders but agents of change.
This Sunday – seventy years since that night of brutality; that night where millions of lives were forever changed and soon to be wiped out, let us not shed tears behind drawn curtains but instead let us all become agents of change. Let us commit ourselves to ensuring that no one anywhere should ever face the fear or discrimination experienced by those during Kristallnacht; let us commit ourselves to ensuring we stop the far-right from gaining a foothold in our political system before it is too late; let us commit ourselves to ensuring a future we can be proud of free from genocide and crimes against humanity.
Karen Pollock is the Chief Executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust. More information about the work of the Holocaust Educational Trust is available at http://www.het.org.uk.
New Statesman
August 14, 2008
‘Deny the Holocaust and it could happen again’
Phil Wilson, MP for Sedgefield, recently visited the Majdanek concentration camp in Poland as part of a cross-party Parliamentary group. Here, he reveals his experiences – and explains why it strengthened his stance against the BNP.
Unlike Treblinka, Majdanek is not hidden away in a forest, or like Dachau behind a high wall. Majdanek was built metres from the city of Lublin, where people could see and hear what was happening. Children, walking past the barbed wire fence on the way to school could see the prisoners making their way to the gas chambers.
The crematorium still stands on a hill overlooking Lublin, where 40,000 Jews once lived. A Jewish community had lived in Lublin since the 14th Century. In 1944, that history came to an end. The Nazis had murdered them all.
Majdanek is a sorrowful place. 500,000 people from 28 countries, including US, British and Soviet POWs passed through the camp. 360,000 perished. One prisoner called Majdanek the “Kingdom of Death”, where death reigned and life was slaughtered. As we walked round the camp, with its rows of wooden huts, each once holding hundreds of slave workers sharing their foul mattresses with typhus and cholera, we saw the small, but once efficient, gas chambers.
Then the journey took us to the crematorium with the autopsy table. All victims were ordered to hand over valuables as the arrived at the camp. Many were reluctant.
There are records of people swallowing wedding rings or other personal mementos. If spotted, they were murdered by the SS; their bodies taken to the autopsy room, their remains cut open and their valuables removed. Like many of those murdered at Majdanek, their bodies would be cremated and their ashes used as fertiliser.
When the camp was liberated by the Russians, heaps of human ashes were found all around the crematorium ready to spread over open fields. The Russians collected the ashes and eventually placed them under the cover of a giant dome: a mausoleum to the dead. Beyond the mausoleum is a field. In 1943, the order was given to exterminate the remaining Jews in the area. Over November 3rd and 4th 1943, the SS shot dead 42,000 people. The slaughter took place in the field before me. The massacre at Majdanek was the worst ever recorded.
I find it impossible to understand how anyone could do this. But they did, and in other parts of the world they still do. As I write, Radovan Karadzic, the ex-Serbian leader, faces trial for crimes against humanity. At least he will have a fair trial. The victims of genocide never do.
The day I returned, a town council by-election was held in Newton Aycliffe, in my constituency. The BNP were standing. The BNP’s founding father, John Tyndall, said Hitler’s Mein Kampf was his “bible”. The present leader, Nick Griffin, has denied the Holocaust ever happened. He does so because if you can convince someone to deny the undeniable, you can convince that person to believe anything. If the past can be denied, history can be rewritten and ultimately repeated.
I left the country where Nazis perpetrated the most profound crimes against humanity to see them seeking election on the streets of Newton Aycliffe.
Last year I visited Auschwitz. The BNP compared the death camp with “Disney World”. Unlike a pleasure park, I never want to visit Auschwitz or Majdanek again. But until the echoes of Nazism are defeated on the streets of my constituency, and elsewhere, I know I will have to.
Mr Wilson’s visit was facilitated by the Holocaust Educational Trust and the All-Party Group against Anti-Semitism.
The Northern Echo
Unlike Treblinka, Majdanek is not hidden away in a forest, or like Dachau behind a high wall. Majdanek was built metres from the city of Lublin, where people could see and hear what was happening. Children, walking past the barbed wire fence on the way to school could see the prisoners making their way to the gas chambers.
The crematorium still stands on a hill overlooking Lublin, where 40,000 Jews once lived. A Jewish community had lived in Lublin since the 14th Century. In 1944, that history came to an end. The Nazis had murdered them all.
Majdanek is a sorrowful place. 500,000 people from 28 countries, including US, British and Soviet POWs passed through the camp. 360,000 perished. One prisoner called Majdanek the “Kingdom of Death”, where death reigned and life was slaughtered. As we walked round the camp, with its rows of wooden huts, each once holding hundreds of slave workers sharing their foul mattresses with typhus and cholera, we saw the small, but once efficient, gas chambers.
Then the journey took us to the crematorium with the autopsy table. All victims were ordered to hand over valuables as the arrived at the camp. Many were reluctant.
There are records of people swallowing wedding rings or other personal mementos. If spotted, they were murdered by the SS; their bodies taken to the autopsy room, their remains cut open and their valuables removed. Like many of those murdered at Majdanek, their bodies would be cremated and their ashes used as fertiliser.
When the camp was liberated by the Russians, heaps of human ashes were found all around the crematorium ready to spread over open fields. The Russians collected the ashes and eventually placed them under the cover of a giant dome: a mausoleum to the dead. Beyond the mausoleum is a field. In 1943, the order was given to exterminate the remaining Jews in the area. Over November 3rd and 4th 1943, the SS shot dead 42,000 people. The slaughter took place in the field before me. The massacre at Majdanek was the worst ever recorded.
I find it impossible to understand how anyone could do this. But they did, and in other parts of the world they still do. As I write, Radovan Karadzic, the ex-Serbian leader, faces trial for crimes against humanity. At least he will have a fair trial. The victims of genocide never do.
The day I returned, a town council by-election was held in Newton Aycliffe, in my constituency. The BNP were standing. The BNP’s founding father, John Tyndall, said Hitler’s Mein Kampf was his “bible”. The present leader, Nick Griffin, has denied the Holocaust ever happened. He does so because if you can convince someone to deny the undeniable, you can convince that person to believe anything. If the past can be denied, history can be rewritten and ultimately repeated.
I left the country where Nazis perpetrated the most profound crimes against humanity to see them seeking election on the streets of Newton Aycliffe.
Last year I visited Auschwitz. The BNP compared the death camp with “Disney World”. Unlike a pleasure park, I never want to visit Auschwitz or Majdanek again. But until the echoes of Nazism are defeated on the streets of my constituency, and elsewhere, I know I will have to.
Mr Wilson’s visit was facilitated by the Holocaust Educational Trust and the All-Party Group against Anti-Semitism.
The Northern Echo
Labels:
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Lublin,
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Phil Wilson MP
March 16, 2008
Gay community 'right' to recall Nazi persecution
The chair of the Holocaust Educational Trust has defended the right of gay people to commemorate the Holocaust
Lord Janner's comments follow the remarks of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Motherwell, who said earlier this week that the 'homosexual lobby' attend Holocaust memorial events to create for themselves the image of a group of people under persecution. Bishop Joseph Devine's extremist views have been widely criticised.
Around 6 million Jews are believed to have been killed by the Nazis in concentration camps during the Second World War. Additionally, It is thought that between 5,000 and 15,000 gay people, who were seen as "sexual deviants," were sent to gas chambers. Gays were forced to wear a pink triangle under the Nazi regime between 1933 and 1945.
"They were persecuted by the Nazis and are right to recall the horrors of the Holocaust," Lord Janner told PinkNews.co.uk.
The Holocaust Educational Trust works in schools, universities and in the community to raise awareness and understanding of the Holocaust, providing teacher training, an outreach programme for schools, teaching aids and resource material.
Green MSP Patrick Harvie has tabled a motion in the Scottish Parliament in protest at the bishop's comments about the Holocaust.
"We are well used to hearing hyperbole and moral panic from Bishop Devine and he always seems to overstep the mark," he told PinkNews.co.uk.
"Not only do his comments mark a revisionism about what happened to gay people in Nazi Germany but he has also called on parents not to tolerate their gay children. This is very damaging to children who should be fully supported."
Gay equality organisation Stonewall also criticised Bishop Devine's comments.
"The bishop has revealed himself once again to be deeply un-Christian and his comments are insulting to almost anyone who was affected by the Holocaust," Stonewall chief executive Ben Summerskill told PinkNews.co.uk.
Pink News
Lord Janner's comments follow the remarks of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Motherwell, who said earlier this week that the 'homosexual lobby' attend Holocaust memorial events to create for themselves the image of a group of people under persecution. Bishop Joseph Devine's extremist views have been widely criticised.
Around 6 million Jews are believed to have been killed by the Nazis in concentration camps during the Second World War. Additionally, It is thought that between 5,000 and 15,000 gay people, who were seen as "sexual deviants," were sent to gas chambers. Gays were forced to wear a pink triangle under the Nazi regime between 1933 and 1945.
"They were persecuted by the Nazis and are right to recall the horrors of the Holocaust," Lord Janner told PinkNews.co.uk.
The Holocaust Educational Trust works in schools, universities and in the community to raise awareness and understanding of the Holocaust, providing teacher training, an outreach programme for schools, teaching aids and resource material.
Green MSP Patrick Harvie has tabled a motion in the Scottish Parliament in protest at the bishop's comments about the Holocaust.
"We are well used to hearing hyperbole and moral panic from Bishop Devine and he always seems to overstep the mark," he told PinkNews.co.uk.
"Not only do his comments mark a revisionism about what happened to gay people in Nazi Germany but he has also called on parents not to tolerate their gay children. This is very damaging to children who should be fully supported."
Gay equality organisation Stonewall also criticised Bishop Devine's comments.
"The bishop has revealed himself once again to be deeply un-Christian and his comments are insulting to almost anyone who was affected by the Holocaust," Stonewall chief executive Ben Summerskill told PinkNews.co.uk.
Pink News
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February 04, 2008
Day trip to Auschwitz for pupils from every school to learn about the Holocaust
Two sixth-formers from every school in England are to visit Auschwitz to learn about the Holocaust, under a government-funded initiative to help to ensure that the lessons of the Nazi genocide live on with a new generation.Jim Knight, the Schools Minister, wants the teenagers who take part to educate their classmates and communities in turn by giving them their own accounts of the death camp in Poland where more than one million Jews, Roma, Sinti, gay, disabled and black people were put to death. The Government will fund the greater majority of the cost of each student’s trip. While their school must find £100, the Education Department will find the remaining £200 per trip over the next three years.
Teenagers selected for the visit will meet an Auschwitz survivor, be shown around the camp’s barracks and crematoria and see the registration documents of inmates, piles of hair, shoes, clothes and other items seized by the Nazis. They will also hear first-hand accounts of life and death in the camp and end the visit at a memorial service.
“The Holocaust was one of the most significant events in world history,” Mr Knight said. “Six million people died, not for what they had done, but simply for who they were. What strikes me is the sheer scale of it and how industrialised and mechanised the process of killing people became at Auschwitz. It was not hot-blooded brutality, it happened in a very planned way, with some people designing the process of death and others carrying it out. Every young person should have an understanding of this.”
Students taking part will fly to Poland and back in a day, leaving at 5am and returning at 10pm.
The visit takes students first to Oswiecim, the small town next to Auschwitz death and concentration camp, where the local Jewish community lived prior to the start of the Second World War. They will then see the remnants of the gas chambers at Birkenau, where the vast majority of victims were murdered.
The visits will be preceded by a seminar in the UK, where students, aged 16 to 18, will hear testimony from a survivor of the camp. Following their return, they will attend a second seminar to reflect on the experience.
Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, which runs the visits, said that the project aimed to turn the educated into educators.
“We are very aware that there’s going to be a time where there aren’t any survivors left to go into schools,” she said. “The young people on these visits themselves become eye witnesses. For a lot of them it’s life changing. They suddenly realise what they value and they see it is important to challenge prejudice today. We don’t want young people wandering around the camp and sobbing. It’s not about making them cry, it’s about helping them to reflect on what it means.
Ms Pollock said that some students who visited were inspired to distribute leaflets protesting against the British National Party candidates standing in their local council elections. More usually, students gave talks about their visit to their schools and other groups.
Critics have suggested that the visits might act as a smokescreen to disguise present-day atrocities. But Mr Knight is determined that this will not happen. “We want them to see it, not as an isolated period of history, but as something real and something that can happen again and again if we let it, like it has happened since then in the Balkans, in Cambodia and in Rwanda,” he said.
This is why today he will confirm that the scheme, which has been piloted since 2006, will now be on a permanent footing receiving £1.5 million of government funding a year until 2011, with a promise of further funding in the future.
In preparation for the time when there are no survivors left alive, the Holocaust Education Trust has produced a DVD containing the testimonies of survivors. The DVD, which took four years to develop and which schools can order, contains testimonies from 18 witnesses to the Holocaust and survivors of the eugenics programme including Jewish, Roman and Sinti people, Jehovah’s Witness survivors and political prisoners.
Aristides Bernard-Grau, 19, from Graveney School in Wandsworth, South London, visited Auschwitz on an educational trip in November:
“ It felt a bit like going to Price’s candle factory. I felt very ordinary. It was when I saw the collection of human hair, literally tonnes of it, that I realised where I was standing and what I was witnessing.
It started to rain and we were freezing, even though we had our thermals on. And we thought how cold the inmates must have been as they hardly had anything to wear.
It isn’t like being in a history lesson where you are told that six million people were slaughtered. You witness it and you feel it. It was like getting into a cold bath and being incredibly shocked. I had expected to cry. But it only really caught up with me when I got home at 11pm and was talking to my mother. Then it hit me like a slap in the face.
At school you get caught up with exams and your friendship groups and you can forget about what is really important. In Auschwitz I learnt about humanity. The trip made me more respectful of others and understanding. It was life-changing. If I had my way, every single child would go.”
Grim toll
— Auschwitz started as a prison camp in June 1940.
— Mass murder began in 1941-42.
— About 1.1 million people died at the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp
— In total, the Auschwitz-Birkenau camps covered 40 sq km
— Rudolf Höss, the commander of the camp, was hanged in front of the Birkenau crematorium
Times Online
Holocaust Educational Trust
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June 22, 2007
Pupils get a glimpse into nazi past
Pupils from Woodhouse High School saw history bought to life during a harrowing trip to the former concentration camp at Auschwitz.
Staffordshire County Council issued an open invitation to sixth form students to take part in the Lessons from Auschwitz project, run by the Holocaust Educational Trust charity. A total of 32 pupils from schools across the county took part, flying to Poland for a one-day visit to Auschwitz Birkenau.
Roger Emmett, history adviser for the county council's School Improvement Division, said:
"This was an important opportunity which we felt should not be missed, hence our invitation to schools to participate. Students and staff attended a seminar in London for a talk from a person who survived incarceration at Auschwitz Birkenau. Her story was a powerful one and really brought to life the horrors of the camp."
Tamworth Herald
Staffordshire County Council issued an open invitation to sixth form students to take part in the Lessons from Auschwitz project, run by the Holocaust Educational Trust charity. A total of 32 pupils from schools across the county took part, flying to Poland for a one-day visit to Auschwitz Birkenau.
Roger Emmett, history adviser for the county council's School Improvement Division, said:
"This was an important opportunity which we felt should not be missed, hence our invitation to schools to participate. Students and staff attended a seminar in London for a talk from a person who survived incarceration at Auschwitz Birkenau. Her story was a powerful one and really brought to life the horrors of the camp."
Tamworth Herald
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