Holocaust Memorial Day
In our assemblies last week, led by Mrs Wright, our school marked Holocaust Memorial Day, the national day of remembrance for six million Jewish men, women and children who were murdered under Nazi persecution.
As part of this year’s commemoration, four of our Year 13 History students, Maryam, Reyan, Chara and Charlie shared their reflections from their visit to Auschwitz. Their accounts emphasised how seeing the camp in person put the statistics into real human stories. When reading the names, seeing faces and viewing the belongings such as clothing, suitcases and even hair made the victims’ suffering deeply personal and profoundly moving.
Students described the haunting atmosphere of both Auschwitz I and Auschwitz-Birkenau: the identical photographs of prisoners stripped of identity, the vast train tracks leading to the camp, the oppressive silence, and the harsh conditions of the barracks where disease and despair were ever-present.
They reflected on the overwhelming emotions felt of sadness, confusion and disbelief that such cruelty could be carried out by humans against other hu-mans. The assembly closed with the following prayer.
“Loving God, help us to remember the past with honesty and compassion. Fill our hearts with courage to stand up for justice and peace, and guide us to be bearers of hope in our school and in our world. Amen.”