For Mr Tom Morrow and others- my work as a Holocaust Educator

[soooexcited!]

What a gift to be able to pass onto others, your knowledge and compassion on the history. I was booked to go to Krakow too in September as felt for a long time I needed to go. Ive watched many programmes on Auschwitz and Bergen Belsen. It wasn't until recently I realised what the former use of Trenchard barracks in Celle was in Germany. My 1st husband was stationed there and I visited a few times in my late teens. Never knowing its dark history and relationship to Bergen.

[NewtoOrlando]

Originally Posted by Mr Tom Morrow

Snap. We were due to go in June and also got cancelled. It was a gift from our Son as well.

Thankfully he has recouped all his outlay and rebooked us for June 2021. My Wife has very mixed emotions about going to Auswitch but I’m sure she will be ok.

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Originally Posted by SussexFamily

We were due to visit Krakow in April too and had lined up a trip to Auschwitz, something Ive wanted to do for many years. Alas, there is no way of being certain of when we will make the trip... realistically Im also writing off 2021 too.

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We were looking at booking again for next December to line up with the Christmas markets, but I was due to have surgery at the start of 2021, but that's now looking more likely that it will be pushed back to the end of the year so I don't want to book anything yet. We paid for my parents to go for their Christmas present a few years back and they have a fantastic time (aside from the emotions of the camp)

[Lily8]

Originally Posted by Twin mummy

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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Thank you for sharing details of your work. Education is the only way to fight ignorance and hate, and is a really good way to commemorate victims of the Holocaust. This is becoming increasingly important as there are fewer survivors left to share their stories.

Originally Posted by nadya

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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Thank you for sharing your story. How very sad that mother and daughter were never reunited in their lives, but lovely that you are now able to reconnect with your relatives (albeit virtually). I think individual stories like these really 'bring home' the tragedy that was (and is) the Holocaust.

Originally Posted by Twin mummy

A good, age appropriate clip is this one from the bbc. bbc/newsround/46932823
A lot of holocaust education has definite views about no graphic images, you can get over the horror without them and it's even more dehumanising for the victims. The Nazis tried to strip them of their dignity and humanity and I want no part in continuing to do that so it's a really important principle for me.

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I think this is a really important point. Like many children in Israel in the 1970s and 1980s, I grew up in the shadows of the Holocaust and have been exposed to some content (graphic or not) which has haunted me for years after (I remember leaving the cinema half way through 'For Those I Loved', I must have only been 11 or 12 years old and just couldn't process it all emotionally). I think Holocaust education has since developed and changed, but the emphasis on age-appropriate content is certainly something I keep in mind when I discuss this with my daughter.

Originally Posted by duchy

Despite my heritage I have no desire to visit the camps personally as I feel I know enough from first hand accounts.
It’s a very personal decision.

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I've always felt the same, but as I get older I've begun to question whether this is something I ought to do after all?

[4fromsuffolk]

nadya - So very sad that each looked for each other but didn’t find each other in their lifetime. I hope you meet your new family soon xx

[nadya]

Originally Posted by 4fromsuffolk

nadya - So very sad that each looked for each other but didn’t find each other in their lifetime. I hope you meet your new family soon xx

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Thanks,it was very bittersweet to find out mums origins, she looked and wondered her whole life and after she died we continued to try and find out,hard when there was no concrete details before mums adoption.I hope they both know each other now somehow,and that we get to meet my aunts and family.
Had the sad news yesterday that my aunts cancer has returned,praying that she recovers.

[nadya]

Originally Posted by Lily8

Thank you for sharing details of your work. Education is the only way to fight ignorance and hate, and is a really good way to commemorate victims of the Holocaust. This is becoming increasingly important as there are fewer survivors left to share their stories.



Thank you for sharing your story. How very sad that mother and daughter were never reunited in their lives, but lovely that you are now able to reconnect with your relatives (albeit virtually). I think individual stories like these really 'bring home' the tragedy that was (and is) the Holocaust.


I think this is a really important point. Like many children in Israel in the 1970s and 1980s, I grew up in the shadows of the Holocaust and have been exposed to some content (graphic or not) which has haunted me for years after (I remember leaving the cinema half way through 'For Those I Loved', I must have only been 11 or 12 years old and just couldn't process it all emotionally). I think Holocaust education has since developed and changed, but the emphasis on age-appropriate content is certainly something I keep in mind when I discuss this with my daughter.


I've always felt the same, but as I get older I've begun to question whether this is something I ought to do after all?

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Yes I've often wondered wether to visit the camps,my mum always wanted to but never did, she felt she may not cope with it.My daughter visited last year and found it very moving.I may visit one day.

[amy56]

We were very fortunate to take our boys (aged 16 and 13) to Kraków and Auschwitz in February half term just before lockdown.

I grew up with stories of the war from my Grandad who served in Burma and my Nan who survived the Blitz here in Exeter, sadly they both passed away before my boys were born, but they instilled in me how important it was for us never ever to forget. It was therefore important to me to take them to Auschwitz to help them realise the enormity of the awful things that happened, so that future generations never ever forget.

Thank you so very much for the vital work you do to help us always remember - I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a job that I would find so fascinating, harrowing and rewarding in equal measures - well done you! Xx

[4fromsuffolk]

Oh no, your poor Aunt. I would like to believe they have found each other now ❤️.

[dizzymcfarlane]

This has been such an interesting post - from the original post describing their job to all the contributions by others. It sounds ‘wrong’ to say it but it’s such a difference to some recent posts which have turned abusive and rude. I’ll say it again - so interesting.

[Twin mummy]

Originally Posted by ERICSMUM

Has anyone seen the documentary “Night Will Fall”made from recordings of the liberation of a concentration camp including a report from Bergen-Belsen by the late Richard Dimbleby ?

Obviously it is a harrowing watch but personally I think it’s something everyone should have the opportunity to watch.

I’ll look for a link and post later.

Here :
en.wikipedia/wiki/Night_Will_Fall

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Some of the Belsen footage is so harrowing, I can't watch it.

Originally Posted by DiszeeBelle

We visited Poland in 2016, took my 2 daughters aged 13 and 10. It was certainly an experience none of us will ever forget. I think it brought it home more for them because they said it was not long before us (the parents were born) it was 40 years haha but i knew what they meant. They keep saying they hate to say they enjoyed it as it sounds wrong but they did. We are hoping to return to Poland one day.

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One of the things I often get when I've been on a trip is "did you have a nice time" and then people look horrified as they realise where I've been.

Originally Posted by disney332

Just as an aside to these heartfelt posts, one of our best trips whilst in Washington a few years back was the Holocaust Museum.

So sombre, so profound, but at the same time so important to be remembered. I was really moved by some of the stories.

If you ever have a chance to do a stop over., it is well worth it.

Disney332

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I really want to visit USHMM in Washington, trying to persuade my husband but he's not as keen, might have to do a solo trip when we can travel again.

Originally Posted by Tinkerbell 1

.
Why can’t everyone just learn to live together and respect each other 😢

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That's the million dollar question isn't it?

Originally Posted by soooexcited!

What a gift to be able to pass onto others, your knowledge and compassion on the history. I was booked to go to Krakow too in September as felt for a long time I needed to go. Ive watched many programmes on Auschwitz and Bergen Belsen. It wasn't until recently I realised what the former use of Trenchard barracks in Celle was in Germany. My 1st husband was stationed there and I visited a few times in my late teens. Never knowing its dark history and relationship to Bergen.

See more...

It's such a complicated site with a complex history.

Originally Posted by Lily8

Thank you for sharing details of your work. Education is the only way to fight ignorance and hate, and is a really good way to commemorate victims of the Holocaust. This is becoming increasingly important as there are fewer survivors left to share their stories.


I feel I 'owe' it to surviovors and those who didn't survive to make such their stories aren't forgotten.


I think this is a really important point. Like many children in Israel in the 1970s and 1980s, I grew up in the shadows of the Holocaust and have been exposed to some content (graphic or not) which has haunted me for years after (I remember leaving the cinema half way through 'For Those I Loved', I must have only been 11 or 12 years old and just couldn't process it all emotionally). I think Holocaust education has since developed and changed, but the emphasis on age-appropriate content is certainly something I keep in mind when I discuss this with my daughter.
I hope Holocaust education has changed, it's so important to get it right both for the children we are educating and for the survivors and the victims

I've always felt the same, but as I get older I've begun to question whether this is something I ought to do after all?

See more...

Originally Posted by nadya

Yes I've often wondered wether to visit the camps,my mum always wanted to but never did, she felt she may not cope with it.My daughter visited last year and found it very moving.I may visit one day.

See more...

Originally Posted by duchy

Despite my heritage I have no desire to visit the camps personally as I feel I know enough from first hand accounts.
It’s a very personal decision.

See more...

I can totally understand why it would be so difficult to visit with personal connections, it's hard enough with none.
When I first visited Auschwitz I was quite shocked by some Israeli youngsters who were visiting as they were singing and draped in flags, A Jewish friend saw my discomfort and said, just think about it, they are putting 2 fingers up to Hitler and the Nazis who wanted to wipe them all out. They are showing that the Nazis failed.