Holocaust Memorial Week

Last week, Sixth Form students, Vanessa Hedley and Beth Swinburn,  presented their experiences and thoughts in school assembly to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Week. In October 2011, through our study of A Level History, we were given the opportunity to witness firsthand the lasting scars that history has left behind.  A holocaust is literally defined as “a sacrifice consumed by fire”. But most would define it as the mass slaughter of European civilians, including over 6million  Jews, by the Nazis during WW2. During the Holocaust, factories of death, such as at Auschwitz Birkenau were built to ensure that the mass murders were carried out. The holocaust memorial week is about us considering what we see and hear around us, and using our voices to Speak Up against hatred and discrimination. In order to ensure something like this never happens again, we must remember what humanity is capable of. It was not monsters that committed such atrocities, no fictional, scary characters, but human beings. However, Genocides have happened since the persecution of the Jews during World War II in places like Bosnia, Rwanda and Darfur. Prior to our visit to Auschwitz, we attended a seminar where we listened to the sorrowful account of Holocaust survivor, Lesley Kleinmann. He told us of the horrors he and his family endured, but insisted that he, still to this day has no hatred for the Nazi’s as he had witnessed firsthand what hatred can lead to and continues to encourage forgiveness and tolerance. On October the 11th, 2011, the four of us flew from Newcastle Airport to Krakow, Poland and then got the coach to Oswiecim (aus-vi-ention) as the town was formally known, before the Nazi renamed it Auschwitz. Here we saw how the town had lived in peace before the war. All religious communities lived in harmony and the local Temple was next door to the Church, and the Priest was said to have been best friends with the Rabbi. This however was before the Temple was burned down and Jews were driven out of Oswiecim, (aus-vi-ention) the last Jew living there, actually died only 3 years ago.  When we got to Auschwitz, it looked different to we expected, it appeared well organized and an efficient place of work, almost like an old factory. We went into one of the buildings, which was set out like a museum. Possessions taken from the people were stacked up in big glass cases. This included seven tons of human hair shaved from prisoners' heads, 460 artificial limbs, hundreds of prayer shawls, combs and even baby clothes were on display. However, the one that really changed our day was the display of suitcases. Every suitcase had a name, date of birth and address on them and as we walked down it really made us realise that the statistics were people. Each number represented a person - Standing there was quite a harrowing experience. We then moved on to the cells. Standing cells were used, where as many people as possible would be crammed into a metre square cell, causing mass discomfort, exhaustion and sometimes even suffocation. After looking around Auschwitz I we moved on to Birkenau (Auschwitz II), which was about 2km away. The feeling of Birkenau was very different; the buildings that were there before no longer stood like the ones at Auschwitz I, only the chimneys were left still standing. We were given the opportunity to walk up to the top of the ‘watch-tower’ which many of you may have seen in the film Schindler’s List. Our guide took us into the prisoner barracks which held upto 700 innocent jews, blacks, homosexuals and gypsies. - The living conditions here must have been awful - people sleeping on three-tiered bunks, many dying of diseases that spread rapidly in the overcrowded and unhygienic conditions. We went to Auschwitz in October and thought it was freezing; however we had our coats, our hats and our scarves. We could not imagine how the prisoners must have felt in the colder months, in the snow and rain, only wearing their ‘striped pyjamas’, which stripped them off their individuality and dignity. We were then taken to the where the gas chambers and crematoriums were. It really was a disturbing thought that I was standing on one of the biggest sites of mass genocide the world has seen. Some 2.2 million people had died there in total, 1.5 million being Jews. We then had a final ceremony of remembrance, led by Rabbi Joseph, by the remembrance statues, which were surrounded by flowers and pictures. As we walked back along the train tracks we each lit a candle and placed it somewhere along the lines. This was an incredibly moving and emotional experience, which we will always remember. As a result of our experiences at Auschwitz-Birkenau, we now realise that it isn't just about statistics. It's an important event that we must learn from. We need to make sure that nothing like this happens again - it is our job as the next generation to pass on the information so that it doesn't."   Students and teachers commented: "We thought it was very thought provoking, especially the personal accounts from the Sixth formers who visited the site." "Firstly, it's great to see sixth formers presenting the assembly. I think that sends a good message as role models. I have some issues with attitudes to homework in Year 10 and this kind of thing helps show them that independant research is a positive quality in a student. The content itself was powerful and well crafted. The readings were confident and well prepared; it's important in the main hall to be heard. I thought it was a thought provoking and emotive assembly. Well done. On a personal level it made me think. I've always been one of those people who thought about going to one of the death camps but then kept saying to themselves - no it would be too upsetting. I felt like this about Dachau and didn't go in the end. On the other hand it's an important part of history and the assembly was relevant and interesting."