By Mrs Cruse (Head of Years 7 and 8)

To mark the Holocaust Memorial Day, which was observed globally on Friday 27th January 2023, the Years 7 and 8 have been doing some activities during form time, this year’s theme, Ordinary Lives.

The focus this year is on the ordinary people who actively let the genocide happen, the ordinary people who actively perpetrated genocide and the ordinary people who were persecuted.

The students have learnt about how genocides continue to happen around the world to this very day and are facilitated by ordinary people who turn a blind eye, believe the propaganda and join the murderous regimes. Innocent people are persecuted and murdered through genocide not because they have committed a crime, they are persecuted because they are ordinary people that belong to a particular group or religion. Both year groups also discussed how in every genocide there are remarkable ordinary people who go to extreme lengths to rescue and save people,

During their assembly on Monday 30th January, the students learnt about one of the most famous ordinary families which was persecuted during the Holocaust, the Frank Family.  They focused on Anne Frank’s diary which has become one of the most read, most important and inspiring books in the world. Anne always wanted to publish a book, her father Otto Frank fulfilled her wish, her diary has been translated into more than 70 languages.

The students have looked at some of Anne’s inspirational quotes: ‘Where there’s hope, there’s life. It fills us with fresh courage and makes us strong again’ ‘What a wonderful thought it is that some of the best days of our lives haven’t happened yet.’  For someone so young to have such hope and a positive outlook while in a small attic hiding from the Nazi regime is inspirational for us all.