Local newspaper coverage

Today we had an article about our visit to Auschwitz featured in our local newspaper, the Redditch Advertiser. This is really encouraging for us to know that our local community are interested in our work with the Lessons from Auschwitz programme, which helps us to ensure that the Holocaust will not be forgotten, especially within our local area. As we continue to work through our next steps projects, we hope that it will also receive local press coverage, to further increase awareness and understanding of the Holocaust in our community.

The link to the article is below.

http://www.redditchadvertiser.co.uk/news/12977008.Redditch_students_visit_Auschwitz_concentration_camp/

Heather and Anna

Orientation Seminar-My Expectations

On the 26th April, we both attended the orientation seminar at the Jury's Inn hotel in Birmingham in which we heard about the context of the holocaust and the pre war Jewish life. The day was split up into two different sections, with the first half of the day focusing on the context of the Holocaust, and hearing from a Holocaust survivor, Susan Pollack. The second half of the day consisted of group discussions before we visited Auschwitz.  

When we arrived in the conference room, we were presented with little cards with the words, 'My Expectations' written on the front, with  three sentences written on the other side: 'Something I know about Auschwitz' 'What I imagine Auschwitz is like' and 'Something I hope to learn from the LFA course'. The sentence regarding what I imagine Auschwitz is like was something I found quite challenging, even though it is just a simple sentence. The part I found most difficult was picturing what a place of mass murder would be like, where 1.1 million innocent people spent the last moments of their lives, whether it was days or just a few hours. I found it so difficult to comprehend how this would feel to stand in the same place where people took their last steps, their last breath, particularly as it is such a significant place.  

Our responses to the questions are listed below. They were both very similar answers, so we have opted to post one set of responses rather than two.  

Something I know about Auschwitz 

'I know that at least 1.1 million people died in the concentration camps at Auschwitz, which was one of the most well known and largest concentration camps This year marks the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp' 

What I imagine Auschwitz to be like 

'I imagine Auschwitz to be eerie and silent, but I also think it will be an overwhelming experience with a lot to learn.' 

What I hope to learn from the LFA course 

'I hope to learn about the Holocaust in a greater depth, and I also hope to learn about the individual experiences that people had of the Holocaust, as well as their lives before the Holocaust.' 

This day was very insightful and interesting, therefore, it will be posted in segments rather than a whole blog post, so in the next few days we will write posts about the group discussions and the testimony from Susan Pollack.  

Heather and Anna 

Assembly

On the 24th February,  we took part in an assembly for our year group in which we outlined the reasons for participating in this project, and we outlined the stages of the project. We informed our year group about the Lessons from Auschwitz programme and the context of the Holocaust. As our assembly was a month after the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, we showed a video from a Holocaust survivor, Roman Kent, about how we should never forget about the people who expereienced the terror of the Holocaust. The link to the video is below.

 This marked the start of our role as ambassadors for the project, and as we progress through the stages of the programme, we hope to inspire others to participate and aim to remember the Holocaust as well as preventing any event like this occuring in the future.

 Heather and Anna

https://m.youtube.com/?reload=2&rdm=1k28cj1f5#/watch?v=4pie2Oyrxo4

Before the Visit -Reasons for taking part

On the 29th April, we visited the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland as part of the Lessons from Auschwitz project. We are taking part in this project for a number of reasons. Firstly, we both feel it isimportant to learn from the mistakes of the Holocaust and to teach others about these so humanity never commits these crimes again. Moreover, this year marks the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, so it is of even more importance that we visit and remember the lives that were lost.

By visiting the concentration camp, it will enable us to comprehend the traumatic ordeals people suffered, ensuring that the memories of those who died will continue to live on through the work that we will do. As part of this project, we heard from a Holocaust survivor which made it more personal and added greater meaning and significance to the Holocaust.

We are also taking part in this project because it will offer us the opportunity to take an active role within our school's teaching of the Holocaust via becoming ambassadors for the project. We are passionate about teaching students in lower school about the importance of remembering the Holocaust and the lives which were lost, therefore this project will help keep the memory of the Holocaust alive, honouring those who lost their lives.

 Anna and Heather

Welcome to the blog

Welcome to the blog!

This blog will document the journey through the Lessons From Auschwitz project, from the seminars and the visit to Auschwitz to the steps we will take to ensure we remember the Holocaust and rehumanise the victims. We also also aim to post testimonies of survivors and post blogs about the various projects we are creating as part of our next steps. This is our journey through the LFA project.

Anna and Heather