Pupils to learn of Holocaust horrors
A LANDMARK education project will see hundreds of British schoolchildren taught about the horrors of the Holocaust as part of a statefunded programme.
As part of the scheme 880 students and 440 teachers will next month travel to the site of the former Bergen-Belsen death camp in Germany, which was liberated by British forces on April 15, 1945.
The trip has been organised to commemorate the 75th anniversary so a new generation can learn about the suffering that took place at the hands of the Nazi regime.
Former Chancellor Philip Hammond set aside £1.7million for the Belsen 75 project.
It is being delivered by the charity Holocaust Educational Trust and University College London Centre for Holocaust Education, with support from the National Holocaust Centre and Museum in Laxton, Notts.
It is the first time two of the largest UK Holocaust organisations have worked together on such a large-scale project.
The camp was liberated by the 11th Armoured Division, which discovered 60,000 prisoners, many half-starved and seriously ill, as well as 13,000 unburied corpses. One survivor, Susan Pollack, 89, who is backing Belsen 75, told of her experience of being freed from the camp.
Susan said: “If it wasn’t for that British soldier who picked me up and saved me I wouldn’t be here today. On liberation, I was virtually a corpse, unable to walk, and would soon have died. It is our duty to tell others this story.”
Trust chief executive Karen Pollock, said: “This is a momentous opportunity to commemorate this key event in our nation’s collective history and to educate even more people about what happened during the Holocaust.
“As we approach the 75th anniversary, this is now our last chance to witness the firsthand testimonies of survivors from Bergen-Belsen, and the camp’s liberators, ensuring young people properly understand Britain’s connection to the Holocaust.”
Ruth-Anne Lenga, at UCL, said: “As survivors of the Holocaust become increasingly few with the passing of time, this anniversary is pivotal in remembering this disturbing past.”
‘It is our duty to tell others this story’… Susan Pollack and Mala Tribich endured BergenBelsen
‘If it wasn’t for that soldier I would be dead’