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

[RachaelC]

Originally Posted by Twin mummy

So many books, I'd start off with something like 'When Hitler stole pink rabbit' by Judith Kerr or 'Hitler's canary' by Sandi Toksvig (both true stories) or Once by Morris Gleitzman.
The Holocaust Educational Trust have also produced some family learning material which he might like, het.uk/images/home-l...rning_pack.pdf
At Year 6 we tend to focus on the Kindertransport and leave the more traumatic aspects until years 8 or 9.

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Brilliant thank you. He was somewhat shocked by the pictures of mass graves etc in the exhibition, but he’s quite mature, so I thought he could handle it. I’m not sure I think he’s ready for all the graphic details yet though so I’ll check those recommendations out.

[Twin mummy]

Originally Posted by Gryff

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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What those soldiers must of seen and yet most didn't talk about it. I'm full of admiration for them. Belsen is eerie even now, nothing remains of the concentration camp as all the buildings were burnt to try and stop the spread of Typhus but the German baracks (which became the displaced persons camp) still remains.

I couldn't get my head around that many displaced persons spent more time in the displaced persons camp after the war than they did in the concentration camp which was a stone's throw away.

[Twin mummy]

Originally Posted by JLH

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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Ha, I've seen some sites at the airport over lost passports, it's amazing how well the students cope with the whole thing, it's not an easy experience.

I've been an educator for over 10 years- tend to do 2 trips a year now, it's too mentally and physically draining otherwise.

Originally Posted by 400ixl

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.

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They are putting together a 'virtual trip' for this year, it's such a shame we couldn't physically go. It's the students who make me keep educating, their passion is amazing.

[Twin mummy]

Originally Posted by levtweeney

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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It's the only part of the history national curriculum that is compulsory but of course academies don't have to teach the national curriculum.

Zigi is an amazing man, I've been lucky to hear him talk many times and he makes me cry every time. His talk to students is amazing but when he talks to just adults he tells some things he doesn't tell the kids- lets just say he's had quite a life.

The survivors are incredible and I'm in awe that many are still educating in their 80's and 90's.

[Twin mummy]

Originally Posted by RachaelC

Brilliant thank you. He was somewhat shocked by the pictures of mass graves etc in the exhibition, but he’s quite mature, so I thought he could handle it. I’m not sure I think he’s ready for all the graphic details yet though so I’ll check those recommendations out.

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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.

[nadya]

Originally Posted by Twin mummy

What those soldiers must of seen and yet most didn't talk about it. I'm full of admiration for them. Belsen is eerie even now, nothing remains of the concentration camp as all the buildings were burnt to try and stop the spread of Typhus but the German baracks (which became the displaced persons camp) still remains.

I couldn't get my head around that many displaced persons spent more time in the displaced persons camp after the war than they did in the concentration camp which was a stone's throw away.

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Yes my grandma was in the displaced persons camp for quite a while,she kept returning to look for mum.Mum was adopted and her adopted parents were in auschwitz,my grandad would never talk about it,but I remember seeing his number on his arm.

[Twin mummy]

Originally Posted by Mr Tom Morrow

Helen. Thank you very much for answering my request I am very grateful.

Your work is truly inspirational and I give you enormous credit for tackling what must be both a traumatic topic to teach but also a very satisfying one as it serves to teach the youth of what is becoming ever more distant in our history as time marches on.

I have never been fortunate enough to attend such a lecture but living only a few hundred yards from our local Synagogue I am well aware of how such atrocities shaped future generations and sadly how prejudice and hate is sadly still alive and well in local communities.

What I find dreadful is the fact that my local Orthodox Synagogue has to employ Security Guards each Festival and Saturday and the Jewish Cemetery is permanently locked to stop vandalism.

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Happy to share, as you might have noticed it's something I'm really passionate about.

It is traumatic but so necessary and even more vital in our current world. As you've said anti-semitism is still a huge issue in Britain and Europe today and I'll stand together against it (and all other forms of racism, prejudice and hate) as much as I can. It's only a small thing educating but hopefully an important one.

One of the impressions that stays with me is the Jewish cemetery in Oświęcim. It's overgrown and unkept and not really looked after, not because of vandals but because the Jewish generations who never had the change to be born because their relatives were all murdered. Some educators talk about a void- the generations who never had a chance of life.

It's also why the stories of the rescuers are also so important, they did make a difference, often at great personal risk. One of my favourite stories is that of Nicholas Winton.

[duchy]

Couple of years ago I was contacted by a lost American cousin . His grandfather (my grandfather’s brother) left Lithuania around the same time but instead of going to London or Leeds like his brothers ended up in America . He married and raised a family of his own but his own children always assumed he was an only child as he never mentioned he had siblings. We will never know why , we suspect he believed they were dead or that it was too painful to look back. His son is in his nineties , I’m hoping to meet him in Arizona once restrictions lift , his own son visited me in London and plans were made but Covid scuppered them.
My uncle’s second wife was smuggled out of Vienna as a child with plans her parents and older siblings would join her , none of them survived the camps. She never returned to Austria even for a visit, she said it would be too painful.
Ironically my ex MIL’s stepfather was a former SS officer in Vienna in charge of a factory , in the latter days of the war the local resistance gave him a letter thanking him for the Jewish lives he had saved by claiming individual Jews were essential to the factory when they were slated for trains to the camps. (He refused to speak of it ever but my MIL found the letter and had it verified by the Simon Wiesenthal Center And received a lovely letter confirming its authentication and thanking him . He still refused to discuss it.)
Extraordinary stories from a time we should never forget. The fact the survivors lived with the consequences for the rest of their lives is as tragic as those who lost their lives.

[Loopylooloo]

Some of these posts are so moving! Helen thank you for sharing your knowledge, its so interesting and important that people understand what happened.

[MinniMouse]

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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What a story! How heartbreaking for your gran and mum, just unimaginable. It would be lovely to hear how you get on when you eventually meet your aunties.