- January 30th, 2012
Holocaust remembrance in Scotland
- nickmorgan
- Comments: noneTags: holocaust education
Last week we commemorated Holocaust Memorial Day 2012 with events all over the country in communities and schools. This annual occasion is an opportunity to remember those who died in the Holocaust of World War 2 and in the genocides since, and to challenge the prejudice and discrimination which can lead to such horrors.
The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust (HMDT) takes a lead in facilitating such commemoration, and it picked the theme of ‘Speak Up, Speak Out’ for its 2012 campaign. It created education resources and material to help local organisers such as teachers and librarians to create activities which increased public participation.
Each year in Scotland one local authority hosts a national event. In 2012 Dundee City Council took the lead, working with partners such as the Scottish Inter Faith Council, HMDT, and the Anne Frank Trust. The event included participation by John Swinney MSP on behalf of Scottish Government, a local disabled dance group, students from Dundee schools, and visiting speakers from Denmark, Japan and Canada. A unique element of the evening was focused around ‘Inside Hana’s Suitcase’, the story of one victim of the Nazis, her family and how a suitcase stimulated learning about the Holocaust in many countries.
Two Grove Academy students presented personal views of the impact of their participation in the ‘Lessons from Auschwitz’ programme managed by the Holocaust Education Trust. The Scottish Government recently confirmed that it will continue its support for this programme for another year, enabling more Scottish school students to learn from the experience.
In East Renfrewshire students from all the local secondary schools were involved in a commemorative event at Eastwood Theatre, covered by one of the local newspapers.
In Edinburgh the public library service launched its Ernest Levy archive at an event hosted by Portobello High School. Ernest Levy was a Holocaust survivor who made his home in East Renfrewshire and then dedicated a great deal of time to working with schools to spread a message of tolerance and respect.
Categories citizenship, international, religious and moral education, social studies
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