Holocaust Survivor Evening
It was a great privilege for Selby High School to welcome Mr Arek Hersh to Selby High School on the evening of Monday 9th November. He shared his incredible testimony of life as a Jewish child in Nazi-occupied Poland as well as his time in the notorious Auschwitz Birkenau Death Camp. He then offered a chance to ask questions about his experiences during the Holocaust. As you may be aware, the opportunity to hear such a testimony is becoming increasingly rare due to the age of the survivors. As such, we believed it was vital that we provided opportunities for our students to experience such a significant talk.
As a school we became one of only twenty schools in the country to be awarded the status of a Holocaust Beacon School in 2014 by the Holocaust Education Department at the world-renowned Institute of Education, London As such, we recognise that knowledge and understanding of the Holocaust is crucial to developing the social, moral, spiritual and cultural awareness of our students. Through this very special talk, students will have the opportunity to gain a personal insight into such a distressing event in European History as well as being challenged to question how and why this event happened.
This was a once in a lifetime opportunity for our students, one that we feel will have a significant impact on their social and moral development. It is also a valuable chance for Parents/Carers and Guardians to experience this event with our students and to encourage them to discuss and challenge what they hear long after the talk has finished.
The Hall was packed for this very special event and Mr Hersh received a standing ovation at the end in respect of his truly gruelling testimony. Mr Hersh is an incredibly determined and inspirational man and his story will remain in the minds of those who attended for many years to come.
