VALA Conference

23rd June 2017

What is Courage to Care?

• Backdrop of the Holocaust with emphasis on those who stood up and saved people

• Helping students understand issues about prejudice, racism, and discrimination

• Encouraging students to stand up against injustices

Two Main Themes

• Prejudice

– Respecting people and treating them fairly

• Bystander/Upstander

– Taking action if others are being treated unfairly

Four Main Messages

• Having consideration for all people

• Rejecting racism, prejudice, and intolerance

• Standing up against injustice

• Showing that each one of us can make a difference

How Does the Program Work?

• 110-minute program

• Can be part of regional exhibition (e.g. 1-2 weeks) with students being bussed in

-OR-

• Can be set up in one school (incursion)

What is the Program’s Structure?

Four Segments:

1. Film on the Holocaust -tinyurl.com/C2CVic-WhatWeDo

2. Holocaust survivor’s testimony

3. Exhibition

4. Facilitation groups

Holocaust Survivor Speaker

Exhibition

Exhibition

Exhibition

LOCAL HERO Indigenous activist and advocate

Shaylene Black

Exhibition

Facilitation

Facilitation

• 10-12 students with trained facilitator

• Emphasis on students’ lives and action when confronted with injustice

• Key terms:

– Victims

– Perpetrators

– Bystanders

– Upstanders

Four Main Messages

• Having consideration for all people

• Rejecting racism, prejudice, and intolerance

• Standing up against injustice

• Showing that each one of us can make a difference

Lessons from the Holocaust(from the Holocaust Museum, Washington, DC)

• Democracy is fragile

• Dangers of indifference/silence to suffering

• Roots and ramifications of prejudice

• Importance of individual and civic responsibility

Classroom Relevance

Application across the curriculum:• VCAL Literacy and PDS

• History

• Civics and Citizenship

• English

• Religious Education

• Philosophy

• Drama

• Art

Application in VCALLiteracyTexts such as

• Night by Elie Wiesel

• Alexander Altmann by Suzy Zail

• Maus by Art Spiegelman

• Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

• The Zookeeper’s Wife by Diane Ackerman

• The Wrong Boy by Suzy Zail

• The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

• The Boy in the Wooden Box by Leon Leyson

PDS• Unit on Leadership using the

examples of the Righteous Among the Nations such as OskarSchindler or Raoul Wallenberg

• Organising a Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony

• Organising Tolerance activities with younger students

• Creating a memorial

HOW ALKIRA SECONDARY COLLEGE COMMEMORATES

HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE

CEREMONY

Presented by Nicole Scott

Why use a ceremony?

• Students are used to ceremonies and can relate to them. Some examples of ceremonies commemorated in Australia are those for ANZAC and Remembrance Day.

• To honour the memory of the 6 million Jewish people who perished in the period of the Holocaust by creating a remembrance event.

• Students will remember a ceremony that they have been actively involved in long after they have left school.

• After the ceremony, students feel empowered and want to take action.

• The special guests from the Jewish Community and local MPs or the Mayor add to the importance of the event for students.

• To make the ceremony a part of the school culture with the expectation that it is run by the VCAL students every year.

PROPOSAL:

TOPIC:

Remembrance of the Holocaust

on Friday the 26th of May.

PROPOSAL:

AIMS:1. To commemorate those victims who lived, died and survived the period

of the Holocaust.2. To give identities to individual victims and survivors of the Holocaust by

researching and telling their stories using historical records.3. To annually run a ceremony remembering the Holocaust for our school

and local community.4. “The well being of history lies in its telling, for unless the story is

transmitted across the generations it is lost.” By Michael McKernan, historian. If students don’t have the opportunity to apply the knowledge that they have learnt by passing it onto others, then there is a greater risk that it will be lost.

5. To successfully meet VCAL Outcomes in Literacy and Personal Development Skills.

INVITE IMPORTANT GUESTS

• One of the important tips I learnt from a VCAL Conference years ago was to ask everyone and eventually someone will say ‘yes’. Contact your local Members of Parliament and invite them to your ceremony or the Mayor.

• Contact the Jewish Holocaust Centre and Courage to Care Victoria. Both of their contact details are available from their websites. There will be volunteers at these associations who will attend your ceremony and speak, if requested and given notice. They will invite other guests who will attend too. These organisations are happy to become a part of your extended school community.

INVITE IMPORTANT GUESTS

• Contact a Jewish School such as Mount Scopus Memorial College. The students from this school may be able to attend. It has been a great honour for Alkira Secondary College to have the students from Mount Scopus Memorial College attend for the last three years.

Format of the Ceremony:

A wide range of suggestions for ceremonies is available at:

• http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/education/ceremonies/index.asp and http://www.ushmm.org/remembrance/dor/organize

CEREMONY:

The following slides are examples of the different parts of the remembrance ceremony and what could be included in it.

Firstly, there would be an introduction explaining the importance of this ceremony and the significance of the date chosen. The students would also arrange for a guest speaker to address the audience.

CEREMONY:

SAMPLE INTRODUCTION

This ceremony is to honour the memory of the 6 million Jewish people who perished during the period of the Holocaust, 1.5 million of whom were children. Other victims of the Holocaust included Polish and RomaniCivilians, homosexuals, those with disabilities, leaders of political and religious organisations, Soviets and those who were prisoners of war. This ceremony at Alkira Secondary College is to ensure that this great loss to the world is never forgotten.

The importance of remembering the Holocaust is explained by Josh Frydenberg in 2012.“As the years progress the task before us to commemorate the Holocaust and preserve the memories of all those who perished grows more important and urgent. The eye witnesses are leaving us one by one and it is only natural that with time memories will fade.

This is our challenge. To constantly remind the peoples of the world that among the good there is also evil.”

CEREMONY:BODY:The body of ceremony can take any format. I have proposed that the ghettos, the camps, the resistance, the death marches, the liberators and the righteous among the nations (in particular Raoul Wallenberg – who on the 6th of May, 2013 became the first honorary citizen of Australia) are all aspects that are covered.

Pastor Martin Neimoller IS

First they went after the Communists,and I did not stand up, because I was not a Communist.Then they went after the homosexuals and infirm,and I did not stand up, because I was neither.Then they went after the Jews,and I did not stand up, because I was not a Jew.Then they went after the Catholics,and I did not stand up, because I was Protestant.Finally, they went after me,and there was no one left to stand up for me.

CEREMONY:BODY:

This part of the ceremony begins with six candles being lit, one for each million Jews that perished during the Holocaust. Alternatively, each student who is going to read out a name of someone who perished during the Holocaust, should light a candle.

Ceremony:BODY:• Most of the six million Jews who were murdered during the

Holocaust have not yet been identified. One important teaching from Yad Vashem was the importance of giving these victims of the Holocaust a name and therefore an identity. Each student involved in the ceremony should be responsible for investigating a victim and mentioning their name during this part of the ceremony.

• A list of names is available at:http://www.ushmm.org/remembrance/dor/years/2013/namesreadi

ng/namesreading.pdf or a particular name or place can be searched using http://db.yadvashem.org/names/search.html?language=en

From: Yad Vashem, the Hall of Names

Ceremony:Selected members of the audience

are invited to place a stone on your centrepiece.

The reading out of the names occurs, all students could link hands as a sign of their unity in this remembrance ceremony and one minute (60 seconds) of silence will be observed.

Special guests at the end of the ceremony are invited to sign the guest book, used every year.

CONCLUSION:A student will read the final reflection.

Suggested reflections are:

• Holocaust by Barbara Sonek

• We are the Children by Rudi Raab

• Exodus by Benjamin Fondane

• Excerpt from The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

• Don’t They Know The World Stopped Breathing Anonymous

• We Do Not Understand by Rabbi Jill Hausman

• Student written poem

Six students (or each student who has read out the name of a victim of the Holocaust) will blow out the candles saying after they do this

“We will remember them”.

STUDENT SPEECH - ETHAN

When asked the question – “How did taking part in this ceremony effect you?” my answer is this. It has given me the chance to take all the opportunities that have opened up before me, cherish everything I have in life, no matter how big or small. It has made me realise, the problems we face today are miniscule in comparison to those faced by Jews seventy years ago and that I should never take anything for granted…We have to avoid becoming bystanders and stand up for injustice, no matter how distant these conflicts are from us.Link to the 2015 Ceremony -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHI2B533iXo (6:28 candle lighting) and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CTGNSCq3A8 (26:31)

GUEST FEEDBACK

“Alkira today was brilliant, as always.

The theatre was packed. Seemed to be even more students than usual. Mount Scopus Memorial College students were there, and acquitted themselves very well.

David Southwick attended and spoke. He was good.

Councillor Rosalie somebody stood in for the Mayor of Casey. Blonde, blue eyed and tall, she was the surprise packet. A touch of Jewish ancestry way back, but she spoke as though she had been mentored by Courage to Care.

Henry Ekert (survivor) was superb. He even cracked one joke and on one occasion he had to stop with emotion, which had them eating out of his hand.”

LES KAUSMAN, Courage to Care Victoria

GUEST FEEDBACK

“You are heroes.

The detail, effort and emotion shown by all involved was most inspiring.

Please pass on our thanks and admiration to each and every student, as they deserve it!”

and

“One of the highlights of our year – every year. Congratulations to Alkira on a brilliant program for the benefit of your students and society.” – Leah and Les Kausman

STUDENT FEEDBACK 2017“I promise not to allow our people to be murdered again and I will always fight for what is right for our human race.” – Kate

“Every single one of those 6 million people had the right to live, but they never got the opportunity to do so. We need to love everyone for who they are.” Alysha

“Never let something bad happen without doing something about it. One voice is all it takes.” - Kyle

UNITS OF VCAL WORK

SOURCES

1. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/af/htmlsite/

For information on…

• Anne Frank – more than a diary

• Lesson Plans for teachers

• Key Topics for student research

SOURCES

2. Yad Vashem – World Centre for Holocaust Research, Education, Documentation and Commemoration

http://www.yadvashem.org/

• Database of victims names

• Survivors testimonies

• Database for the Righteous Among the Nations

The Righteous Among Nations

Examples -• Raoul Wallenberg• Oskar Schindler• Le Chambon sur Lignon• Denmark• Nicholas Winton• Olga Nowak• Maria Prow• Varian Fry

And over 22,000 others who can be found at:http://www.yadvashem.org.il/(Go to the Righteous Link)

SOURCES

3. Jewish Holocaust Centre – Melbourne

http://www.jhc.org.au/

• Survivor testimonies

• Special Projects e.g. Lodz Ghetto

• Exhibitions

“IT HAPPENED, THEREFORE IT CAN HAPPEN AGAIN; THIS IS THE CORE

OF WHAT WE HAVE TO SAY.”

PRIMO LEVI, THE DROWNED AND THE SAVED

http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/education/lesson_plans/poems_paintings.asp

News photographer STEWART CHAMBERS

For more information on

• Courage to Care

• The Study Grants – held in Dec/January each year

Please contact:

Zoi JuvrisProgram ManagerCourage to Care (Vic.)9500 2313program.manager@couragetocare.org.au

Pauline Glass Study GrantsJerusalem

THANK-YOU FOR LISTENING: