UCL Centre for Holocaust Education marks Holocaust Memorial Day 2021

One blog, by Corey Soper and Nic Wetherall, explores the #Leon110 programme. This programme commemorates the 110th anniversary of Holocaust survivor and anti-fascism campaigner Leon Greenman’s birth and gives schools and their communities the opportunity to reflect on Leon’s life, his legacy and his tireless work in Holocaust education and anti-fascist activism.

As part of the work, the pupils completed an unfinished poem of Leon’s, and were asked to give the poem a title and to finish it with a final stanza either as Leon, or in the form of the student’s personal and direct response to his doubt.

Programme Director, Ruth-Anne Lenga, said: “Moving, insightful, inspirational, powerful, compassionate – these are key words that describe the many poetic entries from students across the country who responded to UCL’s #Leon110 poetry challenge. Staff here at the Centre marvelled at the poet’s level of understanding of Leon’s trauma and his determination to live his survival fully in the fight against racism and hate. Thank you from the Centre and from me personally, a close friend and confidante of Leon. I know how deeply heartened he would have been by the young poets’ ability to understand something of his struggle.”

The Centre for Holocaust Education has also published a blog by Dr Rebecca Hale, reflecting on the theme for Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) 2021 and research from the Centre. This particular study found that for many of the participating students, it was the first time they had learned about the Holocaust and confronting such darkness elicited responses of disbelief that such a thing could happen and that humans were capable of committing such atrocities. Students struggled to grasp the scale of the Holocaust; in particular, the number of people who were murdered. They also recognised the long-term impact of this devastating event on the survivors.

In her blog, Dr Hale concludes: “Be the light in the darkness is a powerful theme which forces us to confront the dark reality that genocide continues to happen.  Genocide is built upon processes that have not been consigned to the history books, but are very much in the present, worryingly gaining traction in the current climate of fake news. As the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust highlight: ‘As the world deals with the unprecedented challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, dangerous myths and hate-filled conspiracy theories are blaming and demonising people because of their identity. Spreading quickly on social media, it is crucial that we work together and speak out with the truth whenever we encounter lies and fake news’.

“We need to equip young people with the knowledge, proficiency and confidence to be the light in the darkness. Fortunately, we have incredible teachers who are committed to delivering high quality Holocaust education.

“As a Centre that has had the privilege of working with thousands of teachers for over a decade, we know that they are committed to supporting their students to grapple with the complexities, challenges and nuance that are inherent in any study of the Holocaust and other genocides. Thus, teachers not only empower their students to be the light in the darkness, they too are lights in the darkness.”

Links

• Fighting racism, standing up against hate: #Leon110
• Students and teachers: lights in the darkness – by Dr Rebecca Hale
• ‘They were just following orders’
• Centre for Holocaust Education
• Department of Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment

Image

• 'Candle' by Shawn Carpenter via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)