Holocaust Educational Trust Ambassador Conference

On the 6th of July, we visited the City of Westminster to attend the annual Holocaust Educational Trust Ambassador Conference. After taking advantage of the free pastries and signing up for our days activities we entered the main conference suite to listen to the Holocaust Educational Trust's Chief Executive, Karen Pollock, who gave an introduction talk before handing over to Sir Peter Bazalgette who talked about remembering for the future; why we should remember the Holocaust. Historian and documentary film maker Laurence Rees then spoke about his experience making films and talking to living Nazis, especially concentrating on their inability to repent. It was then time for our first workshop of the day; we had both chosen the workshop named 'Earth Conceal Not My Blood' run by Dr Caroline Sturdy Colls, Associate Professor of Forensic Archaeology and Genocide Investigation at Staffordshire University. The talk was on unearthing Nazi crime through forensic archaeology.  Dr Caroline Sturdy Colls talked about the work she had done in Treblinka Extermination and Labour Camps in Poland as well as the place of Archaeology in Holocaust research.

It was then time for Lunch, followed by our second workshop of the day. Alice then went to Professor Robert Eaglestone's workshop titled 'Writing the Unwritable; Literature After The Holocaust'. The workshop explored the ways in which the Holocaust has been represented in Literature and what this can tell us about the Holocaust and the remembrance of it. Meanwhile, I attended a workshop about the Roma genocide called 'Overlooked and underacknowledged'.  Professor Rainer Schulze looked at the history of the Roma people and the Nazi genocide policy towards them. The workshop also looked at the question of why the genocide of this particular group as well as others has been largely overlooked when talking about the Holocaust.  This was then followed by a panel discussion on how the Holocaust should be represented. Journalist Hugo Rifkind, Professor Robert Eaglestone, documentary film maker Rex Bloomstein and Dr Caroline Sturdy Colls talked about issues ranging from literature, to social media, to film amongst other issues.

The panel discussion was followed by a Holocaust Survivor Testimony from Mala Tribich MBE. Mala talked about her life in Jewish Ghettos, living in hiding, losing her cousin who claimed to be living with friends of her parents and life in Ravensbruck concentration camp. Mala then talked about how she was then sent to Bergen-Belson, her liberation and life after the war. Mala was then followed by Bernard Levy, one of the British soldiers who liberated Bergen-Belson in 1945. Bernard Levy talked about his life as a soldier, the liberation as well as the work he did with the victims of Bergen-Belson immediately after the war. The day was brought to a close by Nick Robinson, BBC Political Editor, who talked about the role of young people in remembering the Holocaust. We would like to thank the Holocaust Educational Trust as well as all the speakers and organisers for this interesting and insightful day. 

Interview with Bishop Alan Winton

Bishop Alan Winton with HET Ambassador Alice Bate.

Just before the end of the Summer term, we had the privilege of interviewing the Bishop of Thetford, Alan Winton, as part of our project. Before his ordination, Bishop Alan completed a PhD in Biblical Studies and worked with the European Ecumenical Commission for Church and Society. With his wealth of knowledge and passion about both theology and human rights, we had a fascinating discussion about the ways that faith interlinks with the Holocaust and intolerance more widely.

Bishop Alan talked to us about the ways in which religion can drive people to do both immoral and greatly moral things. During the Holocaust, many Christians actively supported the Nazi regime, and the Church did little to oppose it. For victims of the Holocaust, too, the existence and morality of God was called into question., Whilst some lost their faith, others found that it provided the strength to carry on that they so desperately needed.

We also talked about the way that religion can promote values of respect and tolerance, and what he feels are important instances of dehumanisation in the world today which we need to be fighting. This included the negative, demonising rhetoric surrounding particular groups in our society, in addition to wider discussions of conflict internationally. As a public figure, he interacts with people from all walks of life and hears many stories, both of blessing and hardship. For him, the most important thing we can do is learn from the past in order to create a more positive future, through schemes such as the Lessons from Auschwitz project.

We would like to thank Bishop Alan for sparing the time to share his ideas with us. We look forward to sharing them with you when the video is published.

Project update: MP George Freeman

Photo credit: George Freeman's Twitter account.
Top right image L-R: Charlotte Ball, George Freeman, Alice Bate, Miss J Marsh.

On the 19th June, we were fortunate enough to interview Mid Norfolk MP George Freeman about the Holocaust and the ways that we can tackle discrimination in the 21st century.

George Freeman has been MP for Mid Norfolk since 2010, and Minister for Life Sciences since July 2014. He was recently awarded the Grassroot Diplomat Initiative Award for his work on The Norfolk Way, which aims to encourage entrepreneurial enthusiasm here in Norfolk.

We spoke about Mr Freeman's own impressions of Auschwitz, as he visited with Wymondham College and the Holocaust Education Trust on this very same project several years ago. We also discussed the discrimination and prejudice he sees in the world, from mistreatment of the elderly in care homes to conflicts and terrorism abroad. We also considered these issues from a political perspective. Overall, the interview raised many interesting ideas about the ways that we can all help to make the world a more respectful, tolerant place.

This is the first video interview we have completed, and it was an excellent start. Mr Freeman was extremely generous with his time, and we are very excited to publish the interview here soon.

Alice and Dylan