This blog has been written by Philip Arkinstall, member of the Secondary Committee of the Historical Association, former Head of History and now Lecturer in the Faculty of Education at the University of Gloucestershire

The week of the 27^th January was always a time I felt leading an assembly had a fantastic cross-school impact. Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) when introduced in 2001 allowed schools a point in the calendar to consider the impact of The Holocaust and genocide, as well as act as a mirror to societal behaviours. In this blog post I aim to discuss how I approached HMD and how it became a resonant part of the school calendar.

Rationale

As a head of department it was something that I felt should not just be a one-off assembly that was delivered each year following the different themes from the HMD organisation. The themes acted as an excellent stepping stone to deliver a sequence of assemblies that built across the year groups. I would often reference last year’s assembly as the year groups moved up. I felt that only Years 10 and upwards were aware of The Holocaust in detail from their history lessons and that as a result the narrative needed to be constructed in a steady way to lay the groundwork from Year 7 to 9. This would be the first place that some students would be introduced to The Holocaust. As a result, I believed that the start point should be the Kindertransport, which was the introduction that many in the UK had towards the persecution occurring in Europe pre-1939. This would then be built over the years to looking at local issues relating to discrimination and then denial and global genocide by Year 12 and 13.

Delivery

When delivering the assemblies, I was aware of how we teach it in our lessons, which is to consider the language and understanding, the context that students would need in a 15-to-20-minute assembly, and the imagery/videos that should be used. There are so many fabulous resources which can be found on the Imperial War Museum website and Holocaust Memorial Trust website, as well as other organisations.

I would script out the direction of the assemblies to ensure consistency when new teachers were invited to lead any of these assemblies and we would look at as a department at the messages and consider replanning or changing the assemblies as each theme came out. This way the core message of our assemblies would remain – such as objects or belonging, but the core theme of the year would also sit alongside it.

Overview

Below is a plan of how the assemblies worked

Year Group	Theme	Content
7	Kindertransport	Students would be invited to consider the journeys they take to school and how long it may be or how difficult it may be. This is linked to the idea of the Kindertransport and the context of what was going on in Europe. The story of Ann and Bob Kirk is then shared with a quote before linking to the theme of HMD
8	Objects	Pupils are asked what objects are their most precious. I then share my teddy bear and explain its importance to me. We then look at images of objects from The Holocaust and discuss the context of how a government could take away your rights, leading to you needing to leave.
9	Discrimination and stages leading to genocide	This is a stronger assembly and is often directed towards the community. It begins with images of a diverse audience, and I ask them to consider the people they are looking at. This leads to discriminatory thoughts and how if unchecked it can lead to persecution. I share the ten stages to genocide image from the Holocaust Educational Trust, before showing a video of discrimination in Bristol. It is then linked to how to not turn away and to act. Here I look at statistics of Anti-Semitism and relate that to the fact that this isn’t history = but happening now and we all have a part to play in stopping it
10	What does the story of Leon Greenman tell us about Anti-Semitism	I talk through who Leon Greenman was and discuss the events of The Holocaust for the first time in an assembly.
11	Denial	I use a story from the Kosovo war of the tribunal of Radavan Karadik and ask the room their thoughts. This is followed up by what denial means and then I play the film trailer from the film Denial. I talk about the context of the film and what this means today. Statistics are shared of hate crimes in the UK and it is related back to the stages of genocide and what happens when we begin to accept denial and not challenge it.
12	International genocide	This takes a look at the geographical locations of genocides and makes reference to actions that have taken place in Darfur and Myanmar in recent years. I used photographs in black and white so that students couldn’t work out whether it was the 1940s or today. We then discuss modern-day concentration camps and stories from places like North Korea.
13	Legacy	Start with your earliest memory and then show images from children who have fled genocide to look at their memories. Discuss the history of the Holocaust and consider the impact on today and around the world using examples from modern-day genocides to consider the legacy I want Year 13 to take away. The story here is about stopping it by engaging with actions they can do today.

Script Example – This was used as a prompt. I would always deliver these without a script, unless reading a narrative or quote

1. What object would you take on a long journey? (ask 3 pupils)
2. Show of hands and keep hands in the air as you go down the list… Once you get to boat you should have no-one left. Mention how some people in the world today make long journeys to move away from horrors at home.
3. Today, we are talking about Holocaust Memorial Day – show title slide and 2015 theme slide
4. Definition of genocide and where it has occurred in history
5. Mention people have moved great distances to escape genocide
6. Example of a journey. Kindertransport story – who organised it and who was involved… BRIEFLY READ BOB and ANN’S STORY. Show images of them today.

Information on the Kindertransport:

In 1938, nine months before the Second World War, England opened its borders to around 10,000 children, mostly Jewish, who were fleeing the Nazi regime.

The children were sent, without their parents, out of Austria, Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia in a process that became known as Kindertransport.

Most Jewish families were prevented from travelling abroad by a lack of funds or the stringent visa controls imposed by countries such as Britain and the USA.

Charitable organisations, such as the Red Cross, organised the Kindertransport, whereby unaccompanied children between the ages of 5 and 17, were allowed to travel to Britain by train and boat via Holland.

It saved their lives, but it was a traumatic rescue and the forced separation from their parents was only the beginning.

The fleeing children had to survive in a strange new world, where they couldn’t speak the language and had no idea who was going to care for them. Older children lived in hostels; others were lucky enough to have loving foster families, although a small number were treated cruelly by their foster families.

British generosity in granting refuge did not extend to the parents. Children had to leave their parents behind and by the end of the war many were orphans.

• Message of Holocaust Memorial Day this year – Sharing memories. Show the video… ( 3 mins)
• Reveal task for tutorial… tag to record stories.
• Reflect upon the meaning of this year’s Holocaust Day and think of ways you can show your support – visit the HMD website and READ other stories.

Thank you

Omissions

When doing these assemblies, I do mention Auschwitz from year groups 8 onwards, but it is factual knowledge of the camp, when it was liberated and who was housed within it. This is linked to why we remember this day. See the script example above for how it is planned out. Another thing that I try to do is ensure that the narratives from survivors used in the assemblies aren’t repeated in our history lessons, but compliment what we cover.

Resources

Some of the great resources that I have used include video testimony, such as Leon Greenman’s interview. Finding a strong clip can be immensely powerful and videos made by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust often support the theme of that year. One of the greatest clips I have used was from 2013 and was called Lessons Learnt. It involved a school photo being taken with a diverse group of pupils, slowly as the camera zooms in an out people are removed due to race and differences leaving only a handful of white students on the chairs. It is a powerful image of exclusion and reasons behind it. As the students return to the start it reminds us to accept our differences.

Similar to my Remembrance Assemblies, I use one story to anchor the theme. In the Year 7 case this is Ann and Bob Kirk who met once they had arrived in England in 1939. For Year 10 it is Leon Greenman, whose story reveals not just what happens to Jewish people in the 1940s, but post-war and how people like Greenman felt they needed to protest against the rise of the Far Right in London.

Conclusions

The joy of constructing these assemblies came from the selection of materials and delivery. In recent years the messages from them have been getting closer to home, especially with the war in Gaza and rise of Anti-Semitism in the UK and other countries. Following up with tutor activities also brings the school community together with one voice. The last project that I led was to create a giant flame (the Holocaust Memorial Day logo) that brought together messages from across the school of what to do to stand up against fear, hate, discrimination and persecution. It was displayed in the school as a symbol of a whole-school message of unity against a background of disturbance around the world.

This year HMD’s theme is Bridging Generations and looks how to use testimony from survivors who are no longer with us and to make the stories of the past resonate with people today. If you are constructing assemblies this week or over the weekend I hope that there is something useful here that you can use.