Melbourne Holocaust Centre Visit

Year Eleven and Twelve History students recently visited the Melbourne Holocaust Centre as an adjunct to their examination of ideologies. Students were involved in a series of activities relating to using primary source material and historic artefacts to document the atrocities inflicted on the Jewish population of Europe prior to, and during, World War. One striking element of the tour included an unusual collection of buttons collected by the students of a Jewish school in Melbourne. The 1.5 million buttons represented the number of children executed during the Nazi reign of terror. A very sobering physical representation of the Holocaust indeed.

Students were also fortunate enough to meet with a Holocaust survivor whose survival in such perilous times was inspiring. To finish the day, students participated in a brief memorial service to commemorate those who died but to also pray for a more tolerant society in the future.