Holocaust Memorial Day activities

In recent weeks, to mark Holocaust Memorial Day, on which we remember the millions murdered during the Holocaust, under Nazi persecution and in subsequent genocides around the world, pupils have taken part in essential workshops and information sessions relating to Holocaust memorialisation.

Staff and pupils from JSoc and the Jewish Assembly put together a video for staff and pupils to mark Holocaust Memorial Day, which was informative and moving, and included testimonies from those whose families were directly affected by the Holocaust. The video was shared in tutor groups, following which pupils were encouraged to discuss what they had seen and consider questions and statements such as: “Why did so few people stand up to the perpetrators?” and “Consider how the roots of racism can lead to mass atrocities.”

On 2 February, Fourth Form pupils watched a play about the life of Holocaust survivor, Eva Schloss, followed by a Q&A session with Eva. On 28 February, Steven Frank from the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust will visit the school to speak to the Eighth Form, and soon the Fifth Form will take part in the ‘Solutions not Sides’ workshops, attended by the Sixth Form last year, on the Israel-Palestine conflict, which features speakers who have lived in Israel and Palestine and experienced the conflict first hand.