Janine Webber

On Friday 6th November, Holocaust survivor, Janine Webber visited Wymondham College to give her testimony.
She talked about her harrowing experiences during the Holocaust. Janine was born in Lwów in Poland (now L'viv, Ukraine) in 1932. Following the Nazi-Soviet Pact, Lwów was occupied by the Red Army in 1939 and remained under Soviet rule until June 1941 when Germany invaded the USSR. Persecution of the Jews of Lwow began immediately, and Janine and her family had to leave their apartment and all of their belongings and move into an area outside of the town, in preparation for the establishment of a ghetto. After a few weeks, the ghetto was established and the family once again had to move. She now spent time in hiding and moving across Europe in search of safety. 

Her experiences and recollection of the fates of her loved ones were very harrowing, and the students were very moved. The talk was followed by a question and answer session which provoked many interesting discussions. The Lincoln reading room was full of people and many people stayed behind afterwards to express their gratitude to her and ask more questions.

Thank you to Janine Webber for sharing her story with us, it was an unforgettable day for everyone present. 

Mike Levy

In October, we organised a visit from Holocaust Educational Trust educator Mike Levy to visit Wymondham College. He ran several workshops on the Holocaust with Year 13 history classes, in addition to participating in an interview about the Holocaust. He gives talks and Q&As in addition to running sessions across the UK, in schools and organisations, about various 

The classes were on the dilemmas and decisions of the public during the Holocaust. We looked at the different roles of people during the Holocaust and the criteria needed to fit them: perpetrators, victims, and bystanders. The vast majority of the public were bystanders - the class debated whether this made them innocent, as they weren’t perpetrators, or guilty, as they didn’t actively oppose the atrocities and thus can be considered to have been complicit. As the Nazi regime dominated public life, many people were somehow connected to their actions, even if they didn’t actually commit any crimes. We also looked at the actions of various individuals who made great efforts to help victims of the Holocaust to escape persecution, such as Oskar Schindler. It was a very informative and moving day, which was helpful in our academic study of the Holocaust and our personal understanding of the ways in which the Holocaust was operationalised.

We would like to say a huge thank you to Mr Levy for giving up his time to speak to us, as it was invaluable for our project and the A Level History students.

Dee Robinson

On the 6th of August, we interviewed Dee Robinson, project coordinator of the organisation New Routes. Based in Norwich, they work across the city to promote cross-cultural integration in local communities, focusing on refugees, asylum seekers and migrants. They aim to improve community cohesion through building connections between people of different cultures and social backgrounds, providing a range of projects that bring people together in an informal and friendly atmosphere to learn new skills and meet new people.

We talked about the prevalence of dehumanisation and discrimination in contemporary society, particularly the effects of the media. She talked about how a positive or negative portrayal of minority groups in the news can have a huge impact on public opinion and, ultimately, in government policy. Understandably, conversation focused on the refugee crisis currently dominating the media, and how we can see the effects of this in our communities. She argued that we can all help promote community cohesion through volunteering for local groups like New Routes, vocally disputing intolerant views of others on social media or in discussion, and being conscious of our own actions towards others.

Professor Carmichael

In August, we interviewed Professor Carmichael, a History Professor at the UEA, about dehumanisation thought history. She specialises in the study of the Balkans and Eastern Mediterranean conflicts. She is an editor of the Journal of Genocide Research, on the International Advisory Board of Europe-Asia Studies. In her research, she is chiefly interested in the concepts of national identity, borders and violence. She is the author and editor of several books including Language and Nationalism in Europe (co-edited with the late Stephen Barbour), The Routledge History of Genocide (co-edited with Richard Maguire), Ethnic Cleansing in the Balkans: Nationalism and the Destruction of Tradition, and Genocide before the Holocaust. 

She talked about contemporary examples of conflict, and argued that such issues have always been and always will be a defining part of society’s structure. For her, it is important to understand the prevalence of dehumanisation in society and aim to minimise it with the implementation of robust laws. We would like to thank her for giving up her time to share both her extensive knowledge and interesting viewpoints. Viewing dehumanisation through a historical lens allows us to consider the social and political implications of it, and place the Holocaust in its wider context.