Exploring the Holocaust

 Exploring the Holocaust through Virtual Reality - Testimony 360

On the 29th of April we were privileged to welcome the Holocaust Education Trust into school. Selected year 9 students were given the opportunity to deepen their understanding of the Holocaust through a brand new exciting and interactive workshop. 

Students were able to build upon their learning from history lessons through two new types of technology. One of these involved using pre-recorded survivor testimony to ask questions to a Holocaust survivor, Susan Pollock. Students were able to have their own personal conversations with Susan and question her about her pre-war and post-war life as well as her experiences surviving a Jewish ghetto in Hungary and Auschwitz concentration camp. This challenged students questioning skills and made them responsible for their own enquiry based research, a skill useful in their upcoming GCSE course. 

To allow the students to place their findings within a visual context, they then used virtual reality headsets to take a tour of Felsogod, Susan's home town, Auschwitz concentration camp where her family members were killed, and Bergen Belsen camp, where she was finally liberated by British troops.

Below are some comments from the students who took part as well as our team of history prefects.

"I enjoyed talking to the testimony recordings- they were so interactive and gave interesting facts" (Rocco, Year 9)

"I really enjoyed not just learning about the subject but also being able to interact and see as if it were real life" (Ben A, Year 9)

"It was great to be able to interact with a real life survivor and understand their experience by humanising them instead of thinking of them as victims." (Ayra, History Prefect)

"I really enjoyed learning about the Holocaust through a visual and personal perspective. It was a great way to show the impacts that such a tragic event had on millions of people whilst reminding us that the victims and survivors should not just be defined by those events, but should be remembered as real people with lives and hopes before the Holocaust." (Eva, History Prefect)

Mrs Harnett 

Head of Winston Extra and PSHE