Learning righteous lessons from the past
A KEY MESSAGE when teaching children about the Holocaust is the importance of learning from the the past.
Over the past two months, the Polish Embassy in London has focused on spreading this message, by holding a series of workshops entitled “Learning from the Righteous”.
During this time, embassy representatives have visited both Jewish and Polish-speaking schools in London, including Akiva Primary, Kerem School and New North London Synagogue — all in north London — as well as the Maria Konopnicka Polish Saturday School in Willesden Green and the St Jadwiga Polish Saturday School in Forest Gate, Ilford.
There, pupils aged between 10 and 13 were encouraged to write essays and poems on the subject of courageous and selfless acts carried out by non- Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust.
These contributions were then taken back to the embassy, culminating in a special exhibition held last Sunday to coincide with the European Day of the Righteous, which celebrates courageousness against inhumane acts.
“‘Learning from the Righteous’ is a wonderful project, uniting Polish and Jewish youth around questions of crucial educational value,” said Professor Piotr Glinski, Minister of Culture and National Heritage of Poland, who welcomed pupils, their parents and teachers, as well as rabbis and Holocaust survivors to the embassy to launch the exhibition.
“There were indeed people in the horrible days of the Holocaust who had it in them to behave decently. We have to remember these choices — that even in the darkest hour, one can remain true to universal human values.”