To mark Yom Ha’Shoah, Holocaust educator Susy Stone reflects on new ways of learning despite restrictions imposed by the pandemic
As a child growing up, I was aware from an early age of the impact of the Holocaust on our post-war Jewish family. My mother would talk of her Belgian cousins, captured by the Vichy government after fleeing to France, and of the fate of Hershel, the only one of her father’s siblings who remained in Warsaw. I’ve since read avidly about the period and eventually, as a teacher in both Jewish and non-Jewish sectors, have identified ways to incorporate my learning in my teaching. Now, in Covid world, I have once again had to adapt my Holocaust education.
The past year has been challenging, as the pandemic has forced the worldwide closure of Holocaust museums and sites. Survivor support organisations and Holocaust educational institutions have had to reassess – and in many cases reinvent – their vital work. I have benefitted greatly from the opportunity to pick up my Holocaust learning in this context. At a time when the survivor generation is sadly diminishing and with the disturbing increase in antisemitism, this learning has rarely seemed more necessary.
Frank Meisler’s Kindertransport statue, Liverpool Street Station, London
My own journey of discovery formalised in 2006, when I spotted an opportunity to join a fellowship programme with the Imperial War Museum to train as a teacher of the Holocaust.
The programme enabled me to learn with an inspiring group of teachers, both Jewish and non-Jewish. I was able to further develop my skills when I became head teacher of Akiva Jewish school in 2008. With the support of talented colleagues and community contacts, we created a unit of work on the Kindertransport that included visits by survivors, annual trips to Frank Meisler’s statue in Liverpool Street Station and a unique collaboration with composer Carl Davis on his choral piece ‘Last Train to Tomorrow’.
After years of pursuing these efforts, I wasn’t going to let a pandemic stop me in my tracks. So for those who share my interest, and to encourage those who don’t to learn more, I want to share some highlights of Holocaust education in the age of Covid.
Organisations
Yizkor, a documentary-play developed with the support of the Imperial War Museum Fellowship in Holocaust Education
Many organisations across the world provide information about the Holocaust and in the UK, the Holocaust Education Trust (HET), The Holocaust Exhibition and Learning Centre (HELC), Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR) and The Wiener Holocaust Library all have excellent online programmes. Other places I’ve found myself returning to are the Ghetto Fighters’ House, Classrooms Without Borders, Yad Vashem, Liberation75 and March of the Living. Most of these organisations offer free programmes and request an optional donation. Through their agency, it has been a privilege to learn in my living room from experts such as Israeli historian Yehuda Bauer, Dr Stephen Smith, founder of the UK Holocaust Centre, and UCL professor Shirli Gilbert.
Books
There seems to have been an explosion recently of writing based on personal history, including the traumas of the Holocaust. AJR launched the My Story initiative in 2018 to support survivors and second-generation family members in telling their stories, resulting in several online books. Elsewhere, other recent texts have been inspired by new discoveries of photos, letters and documents. Among my favourites are The Ratline by Philippe Sands, Hadley Freeman’s House of Glass and, top of my list, When Time Stopped, a particularly heart-rending and beautifully written story by Ariana Neumann about her father’s painful suppression of his remarkable story.
You’ll also find books detailing the role of courageous individuals, such as Henny Sinding (Henny and Her Boat by Howard S Veisz), a young woman who risked her life to rescue Danish Jews, or Witold Pilecki, a Polish army officer who infiltrated Auschwitz to lead resistance activity in the camp, as revealed in The Volunteer by Jack Fairweather. In Survivors, author Rebecca Clifford tracks the impact of the Holocaust on the lives of child survivors, while The People on the Beach by Rosie Whitehouse tells of the survivors who travelled in 1946 on a secret ship from Italy to Palestine.
Films
UK Jewish Film this year debuted When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit (pictured below), Caroline Link’s touching adaptation of Judith Kerr’s semi-autobiographical novel, and Resistance, Jonathan Jakubowicz’s film about mime artist Marcel Marceau and how he contributed to the rescue of Jewish children during WWII. Another of their films that might have escaped notice, and is deeply moving, is Besa – The Promise, about the exceptional rescue of Jews by their neighbours in Albania.
In the autumn term HET hosted a Virtual Film Club every two weeks, with films discussed ranging from Inglorious Basterds to Paddington. Participants were also introduced to lesser-known films, such as In Darkness, a striking Polish production based on the true story of a sewer worker who sheltered a group of escapees from the Lvov Ghetto.
Other films to explore on streaming sites such as Amazon Prime and Netflix, include Ferne Pearlstein’s The Last Laugh, a thought-provoking exploration of whether the Holocaust can be the subject of humour; Eva: A-7063, about Eva Mozes Kor who, along with her twin, was experimented on by SS Doctor Josef Mengele at Auschwitz – she famously forgave him publicly; and Shores of Light, about a group of women born in a displaced persons’ camp in Salento, Italy, available to stream in full on Vimeo.
Survivors
Eva Clarke’s in Portraits for Posterity by Matt Writtle
It is remarkable how the survivors, many in their 80s and 90s, have adapted to the online world. The jewels in the crown of Holocaust education, always beautifully dressed and coiffed for the occasion, they continue to tell stories that I never tire of hearing. While many of these can be accessed via online resources, to hear survivors such as Mala Tribich MBE, Lord Dubs and Eva Clarke BEM in person, albeit across Zoom, is a privilege. There is also a particular pleasure in being with survivors in a virtual audience, where they often add detail and depth to the learning. Portraits for Posterity, a book by photographer Matt Writtle, is a beautiful collection of photographs and stories that celebrate just some of these remarkable people.
Virtual visits
Faced with physical closure, Holocaust museums and sites have adapted and increased their online presence with panel discussions and virtual tours. Through these media I have, for example, toured the Jasenovac Roma and Sinti camp and explored artefacts from the Vilna Jewish Museum.
If not now, when?
It is of course reasonable to question the suitability of researching this subject matter in particularly challenging times. When I studied at Yad Vashem we were taught that we should teach the Holocaust “as a human chronicle rather than a historical narrative”; to “rescue the individual from the pile of bodies”. By studying this material at this time, I have been able to bring perspective to some of the big questions raised by these turbulent months. At the same time, to study the Holocaust in the age of Covid is to find solace and inspiration in accounts and personal stories of courage, determination, resilience and hope.
By Susy Stone
Susy Stone is the former head teacher at Akiva and IWM Fellow in Holocaust Education.