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Old 26 Oct 20, 11:25 PM  
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Twin mummy
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For Mr Tom Morrow and others- my work as a Holocaust Educator

I mentioned on another thread that I'm a holocaust educator and Tom and others asked me to share a bit about what I do, it's something I'm really passionate about so please tell me to shut up if I go on too much!

I was lucky enough to do a fellowship with the Imperial War Museum in Holocaust education about 15 years ago, we had lectures in London and at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem by leading holocaust educators, historians and survivors and then travelled around Lithuania and Poland looking at holocaust sites, we finished in Auschwitz. It's an experience that will stay with me for my whole life, it was truly life changing though harrowing and I met some amazing people.

My main job is as a teacher (started as a secondary history teacher and now teach RE and PSHE in a prep school) but for the last 12 years or so I've also done freelance work for the Holocaust Educational Trust. I'm mainly worked on their Lessons from Auschwitz programme which takes 6th form students on a day trip (yes you've heard that right) to Auschwitz.

It's a 4 part course, the first part is an orientation seminar, when they listen to a survivor and we give background history and get to know our group. The second part is the day trip to Auschwitz, we leave a regional airport early in the morning (the trust charters the planes) arrive at Krakow and start at Oświęcim, the town where Auschwitz was built, the aim is to show the void left in the town, and by extension, in all European Jewish communities. We then go to Auschwitz one, the main museum and have a guided tour, we then go to Birkenau. We end with a memorial service at the end of the train tracks and light candles. We then return by about 10 at night. The third part is a follow-up seminar, we debrief the visit and then talk about their next steps, which is the 4th part and is something they do in their school to share their experience.

My main role is to rehumanise, to give a voice to the victims and start to see them as individuals who had lives that were brutally cut short. We do this through readings and testimony. The hardest part of this is rehumanising the perpetrators, it's easier to think of them as monsters, but on the whole they were ordinary people who carried out monstrous acts and understanding that is terrifying but, I'd argue, vital in trying to stop future genocides.

We also try to put Auschwitz and the other concentration and extermination camps into context, they were the end of a long process that started with laws and dehumanisation, went through ghettos and the Eiinzangruppen killing squads in Eastern Europe.

I've been lucky enough to hear numerous inspirational survivors speak, they are truly remarkable people. I've visited a number of sites and camps. I was supposed to educate on Belsen 75, a project to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Bergen Belsen last year. I visited as part of my training but unfortunately COVID cut short the project and my trip with students was cancelled.

Hopefully I've not gone on too much, more than happy to answer questions or talk more.
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Old 26 Oct 20, 11:47 PM  
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duchy
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Fascinating , my family fled the Pogroms in Lithuania in 1900 but we have branches who lost almost everyone to the camps during WW2 .
It’s certainly something that should never be forgotten.
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Old 27 Oct 20, 12:04 AM  
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ginwithaslice
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Fascinating, I still remember a camp survivor coming to talk to us at school years ago.

Amazing work.
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Old 27 Oct 20, 12:09 AM  
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RachaelC
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This is fascinating, thanks for sharing. It’s also apt timing as I took my DS to the IWM today.

He found the Holocaust exhibition the most interesting, he’s in year 6 and learning about WWII, but they’ve not covered the Holocaust yet. He had about a billion questions and I could barely answer any on the way home. Do you know of any books that might be good for him to find out more?
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Old 27 Oct 20, 12:52 AM  
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nadya
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Thanks for this,my mum was in the camps,I recently found her mother (my grandma)through the use of a dna site my sister used.It was amazing to know we have family in the USA,my dear mum passed away thinking her family died in the camps,and sadly my grandma died never knowing my mum survived either,they were separated when mum was around 2,we always believed that my mum was born in the camp.We did find my mums sisters,and a brother she never knew she had.This is my mums story
today/parents/mother...ch-eva-t183383
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Old 27 Oct 20, 01:02 AM  
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My grandfather was one of the first going into Belsen
He rarely spoke of it
When he died we found letters he wrote but never sent to my grandmother
Harrowing to read we gave them to a friend of my mother who walked her younger siblings across Europe when her parents were interned as she knew she had relatives in Dundee Rhoda was 13…at the time
They are now with;her families papers where they need to be
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Old 27 Oct 20, 01:15 AM  
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levtweeney
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We have pupils at our school who take part in the day trip to Auschwitz and they pretty much all say the same thing, that it changes their whole outlook on life. We also have had visits from Zigi Shipper a survivor who blew our kids away with his story.

This needs to be taught in all schools so we can all see what happens when we allow terror to run free.
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Old 27 Oct 20, 03:12 AM  
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DonnaD
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Originally Posted by nadya View Post
Thanks for this,my mum was in the camps,I recently found her mother (my grandma)through the use of a dna site my sister used.It was amazing to know we have family in the USA,my dear mum passed away thinking her family died in the camps,and sadly my grandma died never knowing my mum survived either,they were separated when mum was around 2,we always believed that my mum was born in the camp.We did find my mums sisters,and a brother she never knew she had.This is my mums story
today/parents/mother...ch-eva-t183383
What an amazing story. The article and video had me in tears. Hopefully you will get to meet in person soon.
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Old 27 Oct 20, 08:25 AM  
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My eldest was picked to do that with his school - anyone that wanted to go had to write why and the teachers picked. He loved history and thoroughly enjoyed everything - though it nearly didn’t happen ! Just before we left for the airport I asked him to check he had his passport , he checked he did then promptly put it down on kitchen side and we left ! Didn’t realise until we were at the airport - luckily his dad managed to get to us in time but that was so stressful ! How long have you been doing it ?
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Old 27 Oct 20, 08:27 AM  
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400ixl
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Our DD was supposed to do the trip this year via what I assume was the org you work with but couldn't. We plan to take her when we can as she want to go and see it.

Been a long while since I have been there, but very much remember it, but very different to how it is today with all the restoration. We lived in West Germany at the time and drove across East Germany and all the check points back then.

Must be a very rewarding job to be educating new generations, but equally such a sad event in history.

Edited at 08:29 AM.
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