Next year it will be 65 years since the liberation of Auschwitz- Birkenau, where more than a million Jews lost their lives. To mark the occasion, the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust has launched a website that will allow every teacher in every subject to teach pupils about genocide.
Since 2001, Holocaust Memorial Day has been January 27, the day in 1945 when Soviet soldiers liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau, finding several thousand emaciated survivors, and the smouldering remains of the gas chambers and crematoria.
“It’s not just about remembering, but about acting and using these lessons on what happens when hatred develops on a mass scale,” says Carly Whyborn, who heads up the trust.
Next year, the theme is “the legacy of hope”.
“When we were trying to come up with the theme, our thoughts turned to the survivors and the excruciating times they have been through,” she says. “We can’t begin to imagine what it was like, but we can listen to what they want from us and feel we all should learn.”
The trust has, therefore, launched a new educational website which will make it easier for teachers to plan lessons for children relating to the Holocaust and other genocides.
Materials on offer include assemblylesson plans; worksheets and activities; advice for teachers on how to approach the subject; case studies documenting individual stories; podcasts and video content
http:www.hmd.org.uk.