Sixth Form students Fern Miller and Xander Hall took part in the Holocaust Educational Trust’s groundbreaking Lessons from Auschwitz Project last term. The project involved an orientation seminar and a visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau, the former Nazi concentration and extermination camp, followed by a ‘next steps’ project to disseminate their learning to the school community.
Reflecting on the experience, Fern said, “It was interesting to learn how people have responded to the Holocaust. I found particular interest in the fact that the Book of Names is missing 2 million people who were completely erased from history by the Nazis. The overall experience showed me how dehumanised the victims were made to feel, and how many used spiritual resistance to try to preserve their humanity.”
Xander stated that “It was an incredibly eye-opening experience, which I would recommend to anyone who was interested in a deep study of the holocaust to better their understanding.”
Fern and Xander have created a display in the school foyer to outline the role of the Holocaust Memorial Trust, raise awareness of genocides and share their accounts of their visit.
Holocaust Memorial Day takes place on 27th January each year, to coincide with this, History Teacher, Mr Campbell has been delivering assemblies to Years 7 to 11, and information booklets and HMD stickers are available in the foyer.
