Our Headteacher Ms Williams, Humanities teacher Mr Newbold and two senior students have been delivering a powerful Holocaust assembly to all students this week as Thursday 27 January marks the 77th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp.
The assembly has focussed on:
- learning about the Holocaust and how it affected the lives of Jews across Europe
- how Oskar Schindler saved the lives of 1200 Jews, immortalised in the film Schindler’s List
- why the Holocaust is still relevant today.
As part of the assembly, Ms Williams has been reciting the moving poem, First They Came by Pastor Martin Niemöller:
First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me.
The assembly is linked to our values of courage, respect and compassion.
In the library, there is a dedicated display of books related to the Holocaust to help students learn more about it. They have been posed two questions to respond to after reading the books.
To find out more about Holocaust Memorial Day please visit the website – https://www.hmd.org.uk/